Award-Winning Artist Gerry Jensen Is Painting With A New Perspective

Photo Douglas Monroe

Tomorrow is not promised. Whether you comprehend that statement in an existential or religious sense, the intent of the message rings clear — revel in and appreciate today. When life changes suddenly we’re left to navigate the long roads with unforeseen endings, traversing through obstacles unplanned. If you’re equipped with or develop the fortitude and resilience to make it through with grace and strength, fueled by determination, support and love, or a combination of all, the practice of living each day with vigor and gratefulness can become second-nature. If in this process you reach a place where you discover dormant capabilities, it’s possible to perceive and live life anew. Artist Gerry Jensen has been down that challenging road, and rather than willfully follow the route which would stray him from what he loves, he embraced the struggle and charted a course in a familiar yet foreign direction. He now glows with the humility of someone who embodies the essence of living each day fruitfully, with an equal balance of patience and passion.

Encouraged by his wife Lyla, they both picked up paintbrushes in 1996; and although they each continue to paint today, the art quickly became Jensen’s life. He still owns his first painting, which serves as a reminder of when his passion began. It modestly hangs on the wall near his home studio easel, adjacent to awards, mementoes, life affirmations and articles documenting his artistic trajectory. Completely self-taught, aided by creative resources and constructive critique from colleagues, Jensen attests that his work is a production of evolution by process of learning. His oil-on-canvas landscape pieces are a reflection of his love of the lands, his view of the natural world, where his goal is to invoke a “sense of awe” in viewers, further stating his aim is to capture the beauty of life and “enable people to feel what he felt in that moment.” Through his naturalist lens, he painted his way to a successful career which garnered him both respect and accolades in the local art community and was gaining momentum, until it all come to a halt on Jan. 19, 2022.

“I got up to deliver new paintings to a gallery and my arm was getting numb,” Jensen quietly recalls of that morning. “I kept moving on, but then my legs got wobbly.” As his physical abilities quickly began to deteriorate, Jensen and his wife arrived at the ER. He had developed intermittent paralysis on his right side and scans revealed he was experiencing a stroke. He was treated immediately and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. A day that began as any other he was accustomed to turned into a month-long stay at St. Mary’s Hospital and a journey overwhelmed by a daunting uncertainty of what his life would become. For the previous 26 years he relied on his inherent, unconscious ability to paint with his right hand and, in the span of merely hours, he lost it. The months and years after his stroke would prove to be an awakening and a cemented declaration of his passion and determination to forge a new path in art and life.

A preeminent explorer and seeker of adventure, Lila admitted to both an admiration, and, at times, apprehension of Jensen’s zeal and zest. “He’s always been a go-getter,” she lovingly expresses. Therefore, it came as no surprise when he eventually made his way from his hospital bed, which was outfitted in their living room, down a few steps to his studio where he picked up his paintbrush with his left hand. “Seeing the studio from my bed was motivation,” Jensen remembers. It was an organic process and intuitive reaction to continue doing what brought him and others joy, now with a different perspective and a different hand.

For both Jensen and his wife, the experience has been physically, emotionally and financially taxing, all in various degrees, coupled with processing, coping and learning to transition into a new way of living. They credit the unyielding support of their artist community and friends for helping them manage through. But most importantly, they credit each other. As we sat together in their living room, Jensen welled up with tears. Lyla lovingly looked over to him, gently wiping her own. “I could not have survived without her,” Jensen says.

The day of the stroke and the day he began to paint again were pivotal life moments which redirected Jensen’s course. Although it was only a few steps from the bed to the studio, it was a testament to how passion can ignite perseverance through unimaginable challenge, culminating in a renewed appreciation of existence and the beauty of life, love and healing.

Of his art today, Jensen says he sees a “subtle difference, with looser, smaller and more abstract strokes.” Unseen is the path he took to arrive there and the inspiration each piece emanates.

Gerry Jensen’s most recent work can be viewed at Craig Gallery in Palisade and at Sage Mountain Gallery in Salida.

Originally published in the Winter 2024-25 issue of Spoke+Blossom.