Artist Spotlight: Jennifer Kennedy

Shortly after I published Watching the Wayward, I discovered a local craft fair scheduled for the following day. I sent a letter anyway, hoping to be considered the following year. God's timing was perfect for this happy introduction to Jennifer Kennedy. As I explored her Pirouetting Heart website, I learned we had much in common. She is a believer with 3 sons (and 3 daughters). We were both approaching an empty nest. She describes herself on her Instagram account as "Redeemed. Wife, mama. Artist. Blessed to bless. Comforted to comfort. Created to create. Inspired to inspire. John 17:3 #p #alwaysseeinghearts." I love her belief that we are all creative in some way.

The more I got to know Jen, the more my respect and admiration grew. She has a tender heart for the Lord and for others. When my son, Trevor, died, I knew my husband was dreading the approach of what would have been his 22nd birthday. I approached Jen, to commission a sketch or painting of our wayward son looking into the eyes of his gracious Redeemer. Her piece far exceeded my hopes and dreams. My husband wept at the sight of it. I love the wholeness and happiness she captured.

I'm hoping others will benefit from her God-given talents and abilities, as well. Thus, I am featuring Jennifer Kennedy in this artist interview:

Q1: I knew in Trevor's toddler years that he was an artist at heart. He was constantly making art out of whatever he could find, even trash on the ground (maybe, especially, trash on the ground). I've been reading a beautiful book on art, Old Soul, New Creation, by master penman Jake Weidmann. He declares, "Art chose me long before I chose it.... Art was my closest friend, my first language." How early did you recognize your artistic talents?

JK: I love Trevor's resourcefulness and Weidmann's quote. I've been creating in some way for as long as I can remember, "drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil." When I was very young, I would "sketch" by scratching one rock upon another or, in our gravel driveway, with a stick. I have a vivid memory of my mom telling my kindergarten teacher, "Yes, she is an artist." My teacher had asked us to draw one of our favorite people (I had drawn Wilma Flintstone 😊). She asked Mom to come in to see my drawing and said something to the effect of, "Did you know that she could draw this well?" I can't remember a time of not being creative in some way.  

Q2: I would also say my son was interested in various forms of art. While he was passionate about 3-dimensional art, he also loved to draw and sketch. For a period of time, he was big into graffiti. Everything seemed to be his canvas (he drew on paper, containers, shoes, shirts, and even a large discarded sheet). What are your favorite art forms you use to express yourself and your talent?

JK: Ha! Yes, I mentioned some of the things that were "canvases" for me early on. I also love various mediums and forms of art and creating. I drew with a good old #2 pencil for years. When little, I loved crayons and coloring, and then colored pencils. As a teen, doodling and then sketching became the majority of my creating. I also grew to enjoy needlework, sewing, and cross stitch. (I free-lanced and sold some of my cross-stitch work during those years.) 

I then began trying out watercolor, and took a couple of Introduction to Watercolor classes with a watercolor artist who attended our family's church. I picked up acrylics and focused on them for quite a while. I still enjoy each of these. I was afraid of oil painting for far too long. Since beginning to learn the proper use of oils, I love oil painting! Landscapes, still life, and studies of the masters. I've always loved painting small and working in detail.

Then, I was introduced to creating on a much larger scale when I got to lead the creation of a series of murals in the infant and toddler rooms of our church when our kids were young. It was a challenge, but working on that scale was very growing, encouraging, and has become so enjoyable for me. I hadn't created a mural in years, but I got to create a mountainscape on a nursery wall for a soon-to-be-born great-nephew, back in the spring of 2022. Just over this past year, fall of 2025 into the spring of 2026, I was commissioned to paint a "hope-filled mural" in a friend's new office space; it became a beautiful wall full of flowers, bugs, berries, and more. Most recently, I painted some more beautiful florals and various creatures in a new client/friend's sunroom. 

In whatever form of creating, I feel "fully alive" when I am doing so. In the movie Chariots of Fire, about the Olympic runner, Eric Liddell, his character says, "God made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." ...I can truly say from my heart, "God made me creative. And when I create I feel His pleasure." I have many "favorite" forms of creating - and I don't know that I could decide which are the "favoritist."

Q3: Was it hard to find time for artistic expression when you were in the thick of raising 6 small children? Did you say you had 6 under the age of 7?

JK: Yes and no. (Our oldest had turned 6 the end of May 2001, and our youngest was born in the beginning of September that year.) I often created with them - leading them in some creative way. Those times are some of my most loved memories.... I still doodled in my prayer journals, and drew a schedule chart for our day. I began focusing on "interior design," painting the walls and exterior doors and shutters of our home. I even ended up painting a chair I had thrifted. I DIYed in sooo many ways (most often because that was all we could afford 😊)... Not long after our youngest was born, I papercrafted/collaged a paper doll to represent our baby girl so that her siblings could change/feed/care for that "baby" while Mama (I) was busy caring for her.

I had some commissions over the years: portraits, murals, décor pieces, and I am very thankful for those, as well. ...During these years, I read a lot. A quote from one book really struck me: the author's mother had been asked why she hadn't written a book while her children were young and she replied to the effect that she was "too busy 'writing' her (5, I believe) masterpieces," referring to raising her children. I am thankful for each of our "blessings 6" and would not change a thing about those years. As I look back, truly my greatest obstacle to creating has been myself. Too often, uncertainty, procrastination, perfectionism, or misfocus held me back.

Q4: How I can relate! I've been held back by similar self-imposed restrictions. I'm always interested in preparations for creative work. What is your typical process for creating art? Do you have a favorite location? Favorite subject? Favorite tools?

JK: For years I created in the wee hours of the morning, or late into the night, at our dining room table, while my littles were sleeping. My supplies were kept in our bedroom closet, later moved into a cabinet in our kitchen/dining room once the kids were old enough not to try getting into them. Only within the last few years have I had a "studio space," a portion of the walk-in closet of our home (2020-2023), a corner of our living room in our small apartment (2023-2024), and now part of the small guest room in our "empty-nesting" home. And still I often find myself on the couch, back at the dining room table, or outside drawing or painting - especially if my husband is home, or if I'm away with him, on his fishing boat - I find myself wherever he is.

One of my favorite ways to create is in a sketchbook, using various methods. Primarily, I "study" these various methods there: watercolor, collage, and graphite sketching. Studying color Theory with colored pencils has been a fun "new" way to "just play" creatively in my sketchbook. As far as favorite location - I love to be outside! "Plein air" (open air/outdoors) painting has become a favorite way to create - and I love my "pochade" (traveling oil painting box). I love trying to capture a landscape, waterscape, florals, clouds and skies, nature in some form. One way that rolls many of my favorites into one is by going for what I call my "Spring Wood Walk," carrying a wee watercolor kit with me and creating wildflower studies in a "wee sketchbook." This has been a lovely yearly tradition for several years now (10-15?). I have begun carrying that mini-watercolor kit with me almost everywhere. I also love to help others create, so I host art parties I call "Word n' Canvas." This started with an event for some ladies in my church, back in 2013-2014.

Q5: If you had a mission statement for your art, what would it be? What do you hope your artwork accomplishes?

JK: To know the Lord, and make Him known through it. (I would say this is my life mission statement, and creating/art is just one of the ways I pray to do so.) My business name, Pirouetting Heart Art... and the notes in my IG profile share some of my thoughts behind this mission of my life and work in art. I am "redeemed" (saved from my "slavery to sin") because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I want to share this truth with others:

- that I am Blessed (in knowing Him) to bless (make Him known) - Genesis 12

- that I am Comforted (by Him) to comfort (others) - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

- that I am Created to create - Genesis 1:26-27

- that I am Inspired (by His creation/Word) to inspire (by creating - and sharing His Word - Hebrews 10:24; Matthew 5:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Creating brings me great joy, and I hope my art will also bring joy, comfort, and encouragement to others. Any good I have received in this life is a gift from God - not meant to be kept to myself, but to be given to others. He is good - and desires good for us - to make Himself known to us, I hope - and pray that my artwork leads to this being known by others. Andrew Peterson (musician, author, artist) noted as part of an introduction of himself that he wants to: "use my gifts to tell the truth, and to tell it as beautifully as I can." My heart echoes this desire.

Q6: Can you share with us the origins of your business name?

JK: I mentioned that my business name carries meaning and a glimpse into my hope/mission for my work. I would love to share the origin and meaning behind it. I was reminded of the term, "Pirouetting Heart," in a book of devotions that I re-read back in 2018. I was praying through the grief of my mama's passing the year before, and carrying a very heavy/grieving heart for various other reasons during that season (having been confronted with the brokenness of this world many times and in many ways throughout this life, as many of us have). This book was one of the numerous books I found among my mama's belongings. Intrigued by the title, Silent Strength for My Life, I set it aside for myself while sorting through her things. I picked it up again when unpacking into an apartment the summer of 2018, and was surprised to find, noted on the inside cover page, that it was my book! It had been gifted to my husband and me on our wedding day! Then I realized it must have been among a box of books I had given my mama to store when we moved years before. 

As I began re-reading that beautiful book, it was just what I needed, just when I needed it. The first few daily devotions shared the idea of our need for a "rejoicing heart" ...and that the Hebrew word(s) most often translated as "rejoice" carry the meaning of dancing, leaping for joy, and spinning or twirling about, to "pirouette" (i.e. 1 Samuel 2:1a, "My heart REJOICES in the LORD"). And I began praying that I would have a "Pirouetting Heart" before the LORD. And like the prophet Habakkuk, that I would (choose to) Rejoice "even if"--even in that time of heartache and the midst of so many questions--and in that Joy/Rejoicing in Him, find renewed strength. (Habakkuk 3:18-19; Nehemiah 8:10) So when I "retired" from work outside my home at the end of 2021, and began building my art business in 2022, I was praying over the name I would choose to represent my work and honor the Lord. It had to be Pirouetting Heart. 

Q7: Whom are you inspired by? Do you have a favorite artist or works of art?

JK: I have loved studying the Impressionists: Monet, Edward Seago, I love the work of Frank Weston Benson, a late 1800s-early 1900s American Impressionist. ...John Singer Sargent, his work in portraiture is amazing. I have also loved the art of Beatrix Potter since I was young. She is definitely a favorite. ...& so many other children's book author/illustrators: Janet and Anne Graham Johnstone (twin sisters), Tasha Tudor, Robert McCloskey, Eloise Wilkin (Little Golden Books), Janet Barklem (Brambly Hedge) to name a few.

Q8: Where can people in the Indianapolis area find you and your work?

JK: I have participated in central Indiana markets or "pop-up shops," but most of my work has been sold online or via word-of-mouth as past or current clients share my work with others.

Q9: Where can others find you online?

JK: I can be found at my online shop: Pirouetting Heart - https://pirouettingheart.com/ 

or on Instagram @ pirouetting.heart 

and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.kennedy.9674

Q10: I absolutely LOVE the personal painting you created when I sought a gift for my husband on my son's birthdate. Are you open to more commissions? What options are available? What price range can a customer expect?

JK: It is a blessing to me that you love Trevor's portrait! I pray over my work as I create, and part of my prayer over it was that it would be a comfort and joy for you and your family for years to come. I am taking commissions. The following links can be followed for more info:

- Portraits:  https://pirouettingheart.com/products/commission-portrait; 

- Wedding Bouquet: https://pirouettingheart.com/products/commission-wedding-bouquet; 

- Wedding Day Portrait:  https://pirouettingheart.com/products/wedding-day-portrait; 

- Home Portrayal: https://pirouettingheart.com/products/commission-home-portrayal; 

- Mural: https://pirouettingheart.com/products/mural-painting; 

- Or they can email me directly: jen@pirouettingheart.com

I love that Jen prays over her work. She shared with me a few videos of the process. We were blown away by the specific praise songs heard in the background while she worked. In the first video, we hear the apt lyric for, "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." So fitting, while painting an image of my son gazing into the eyes of Christ. In the second video, she was working to, "you take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good." So true in the life of my son! Finally, the third song had these lyrics, "I've kissed the dirt. I've worn the scars. I've walked through hell beneath the stars. I've hit the ground; I've lost the fight. I've crawled through more than one long night. I've heard that voice saying 'You're too far; you'll never outrun who you are!' But through the dark, above the lies, I hear the Father say, 'Get up, and rise!'" Powerful! Those lyrics are based on Micah 7:8 - "Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me." (ESV)

I'm so grateful to Jen for taking her time to field my questions, for sharing her art with me and with the world, and for seeking to serve God through the gifts He has lavished on her. She is a gem! I hope you'll check out her work.