Biography
Jennifer Grisham has been creating realistic sculptures of people and animals since an art class in college many years ago sparked an interest in three-dimensional form. She pursued this interest at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and in classes with Anton Weiss in Nashville. Her commissioned pieces are found in private collections both here in the United States and worldwide.
A life-size portrait of President James K. Polk, commissioned by a collector in Texas has been catalogued by the Smithsonian Institution. A life-size head study of Lady Bird Johnson was commissioned by the Columbia State Community College and is on display in the Administration Building.
When working on a portrait, Grisham likes to spend time with the subject if possible in order to get a feel for the subject’s personality, whether it be a person or an animal. These personal qualities then somehow find their way into the portrait almost without conscious effort. Because of the time involved in completing a drawing, or especially a sculpture, photographs are also used.
Once the clay likeness is finished and approved by the client, the original is hand-delivered to a bronze foundry for the transformation from soft clay to practically indestructible bronze. During this process, a rubber mold is made of the original, permitting the casting of additional bronzes if desired.
Jennifer recently finished a full figure scale model portrait of Sarah Polk, the life size version of which will stand on West 7th street across from the Polk Home in Columbia, TN. Her life size bronze portrait of Minnie Pearl sits on a bench on the courthouse lawn in Centerville, TN.
“I write to congratulate you on the
magnificent rendition of our proud
mascot. I can tell you that you have
captured all of the physical traits and
features uniquely possessed by
these animals.”
Sonny Seiler, President of the University of Georgia
Alumni Association
Testimonials
“Jennifer’s ability to capture the realism and detail of what she is sculpting is nothing short of remarkable.”
Glenn Koogler
“Jennifer Grisham is an artist with gifts
of both creativity and discipline. An individual's particular features, posture, and anatomy are her study; as
she focuses on sculptural realism.
Both people and animals engage
Jennifer and her particular talent to 'see' makes her portraits capturing."
Lucy Scott Kuykendall
.