Creative Minds: Jena "Jenny" Blomquist

New Mexico-based painter Jena “Jenny” Blomquist has built a career rooted in intuition, resilience and a lifelong devotion to art. Known for working in series, Blomquist creates expressive works that reflect her rural upbringing and deep connection to the natural world. Her work often features sweeping Western landscapes and the strength of the human mind.

Blomquist describes painting as her earliest and most enduring companion. Her paintings are the stories she gathers from the world around her. 

“My grandma was really supportive of my interest in art and she actually enrolled me in a college art course when I was pretty young. I think I was probably 13 or 14 years old,” Blomquist said. “She just re-enrolled me in that same painting class for years.”

Passing on the gift of art lessons, Blomquist has taught painting and foundational art courses at New Mexico Tech for more than two decades, guiding students through the principles and elements of art while encouraging them to develop their own creative instincts. 

Raised in Magdalena, she grew up surrounded by the beautiful New Mexico skies and landscapes, the same that find their way onto her canvases.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in studio art from the University of New Mexico, Blomquist spent time working as a ranch hand to support her family, an experience that continues to shape her artistic voice.

Blomquist first climbed onto a horse while pregnant with her son, seeking relief during what she described as an unexpectedly dark and isolating time.

“I was actually pregnant when I first went riding with my son, and I was just really, really depressed.” Blomquist said.

Riding, she said, helped pull her out of one of the darkest periods of her life.

Her love of horses is one of the driving forces behind her next series of paintings, “The Horse and the Self.”

Her paintings have been exhibited nationally, including at Agora Gallery in New York, where her work was featured in their “Reprisal & Rediscovery” exhibit, which was described as: “Exploring pathways of renewal and healing in the aftermath of the pandemic.”

She said she is looking forward to returning to New York for another showing in 2028.