Art Studio and Gallery of Jerri Phillips opening Sept. 7
Offers classes and more
By CARL MARIO NUDI
Ellenton artist Jerri Phillips has been involved with the arts since she was a child growing up in Manatee County.
“My mother (Linda Howe), was the one that got me started in art,” Phillips said “I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember.
“I have drawings from when I was 2 years old,” she said.
The fruit of her mother’s encouragement can be seen on the walls of the Art Studio and Gallery of Jerri Phillips, 7216 U.S. 301, Suite 101, Ellenton, which she opened in June 2017.
“As a child I was more into sketching,” said the Manatee County native. “I only really started painting around 2007.”
She said she had to keep herself busy so she took up using oils and acrylics.
“I started painting, and painting, and I had too many pieces to display in my house, so I started hanging them in John’s (her husband) guitar studio,” Phillips said. “They started to sell, so I thought I’d open a gallery.”
John Phillips had a studio where he offered lessons in the back of the same building the gallery is now located.
When the space in the front of the building, which holds several other businesses and offices, became available they decided to move the guitar studio up front and open the art studio and gallery.
Jerri said she thinks her art gallery is the only one in Ellenton.
Along with Jerri’s work, other local artists are on exhibit at the gallery.
Visitors will find works by Howe, Jerri’s mother, and Barbara Hart, who paints florals, Florida landscapes and seascapes, and other subjects.
Another local artist, Wilma Kroese, also has her unique pottery pieces on display at the gallery.
All of the pieces at the gallery are for sale and Jerri also sells her paintings online and at art shows.
Along with the gallery space, Jerri moved her painting studio to the professional building on U.S. 301.
“I live within one-half mile of where I work,” she said.
Drawings of future pieces, paintings in early stages, and almost-completed works can be found in the studio off the display gallery area.
Many of the pieces are of cattle and horses and Florida Cracker lifestyle scenes.
“Part of my passion is to preserve the heritage of our area through my art because it’s going away so fast,” Phillips said. “I’m not into modern scenes or landscapes; I’m more into the natural scenes.”
Paintings of nature also are part of her body of artwork.
There is a large painting of a Rosetta spoonbill hanging on one wall in the main gallery and another of a flock of pelicans in the front gallery.
“I try to focus on ranch animals and wildlife,” she said.
Jerri’s devotion to preserving Florida’s rural history was demonstrated recently when she joined the Florida Cracker Trail Association, an organization dedicated to preserving history.
Each year a group from the Florida Cracker Trail Association ride horses from Bradenton across the state to Fort Pierce.
Jerri, who is an experienced horsewoman, plans on riding with the Florida Cracker Trail group next spring and then capturing the experience in paintings
She will exhibit the artwork at a scheduled show at the Manatee Village Historical Park in Bradenton in 2020.
“I want to preserve the Florida Cracker and cow-hunter heritage,” she said.
One scene she captured in her art was from an old photograph of Florida Cracker cow-hunter Archie Rutledge riding a horse as he wrangled a cow on his ranch.
Rutledge lived in Manatee County and died at the age of 68 in 1981.
Jerri made a drawing of the photograph when she designed the postmark for the Palmetto Historical Village Heritage Day event.
She was inspired to later create a painting of the scene, which is hanging in her gallery.
Horses appear in many of Phillips works.
“I’ve had horses all my life,” she said.
While growing up, she stabled her horses in the eastern portion of Manatee County south of the Manatee River.
But urban sprawl led her to move out to Duette where she could keep her horse Zena.
“She was my biggest equine inspiration,” Jerri said.
Zena died on Jan. 3 at the age of 27.
“We just recently moved to Ellenton,” she said.
To hone her art skills, Jerri took several certificate classes at Ringing College of Art and Design in Sarasota.
“One class was called ‘The Horse in Art History.’“ she said. “We learned that the very first painting on a cave wall had a horse galloping in a field.
“Then, later art had a horse with a rider, and later you’d find a bridle on the horse,” Jerri said. “The whole evolution of riding is depicted in art.”
But it was a workshop she took with Roger Bansemer that really gave her a boost into understanding her art.
Bansemer, who has a PBS instructional series on painting and several books on the subject, was known for his representational paintings of landscapes, shorebirds, wildlife, beachscapes and nautical themes.
“He’s the one that changed how I do art. He opened my eyes to color,” she said. “I thought I could see color before, but the way he described seeing color gives me a new understanding.”
Also while attending Southeast High School, she took art every year.
Because of her mother, she was around art all her life and in high school was allowed to do more complicated projects.
“I have always been encouraged by my teachers and friends,” Jerri said. “It’s amazing how much encouragement you get.
“I’ll always keep learning,” she said.
Knowing other aspiring artists need help and encouragement, Jerri offers classes at her gallery.
“I saw a need for art instruction, and I had the available space, so I began offering lessons,” she said.
Both Jerri and Hart offer private instruction or classes for small groups.
She also does barn parties and provides everything that one would need to complete a painting.
Phillips also has given art lessons at Colony Cove Community Center.
“My students range from 5 years old to Colony Cove residents,” she said.
Jerri said her biggest supporter was her husband John.
It was because the paintings hanging in John’s guitar lesson studio began to sell that they decided to open the gallery.
“My husband is my greatest patron,” Jerri said.
John started playing guitar in 1985 when he was around 16 years old.
“My little brother started playing, and I couldn’t let him do something I couldn’t,” he said with a smile.
When he joined the United States Army at 17, he did not play the guitar until he got out of the service.
“I got a guitar for Christmas in 1991 and been playing ever since,” John said.
He has played in churches, rock bands, a Christian music group, blues jams and weddings,
“I still play,” John said.
He began teaching guitar while he was studying music at State College of Florida.
John said he encourages the parents of his students to sit in on the lessons so they know what the student needs to practice.
He also installed recording equipment in his studio so the students can hear how they sound.
There are around 45 students a week taking classes now, John said, but during the season that number goes up to 65 to 70 students, ranging from 5 years old to seniors in their 70s.
“Who wants to take lessons during the summer?” John Phillips asked.
Jerri and John Phillips have been married for 25 years. They have a son, David, who lives in Jacksonville with his partner Aspen and their daughter Denver.
They are members of North River Baptist Church in Parrish, where John serves on the worship team.
The couple considers being involved as their duty to give back.
Jerri recently completed her term as president of the Parrish Arts Council and has stayed involved with the organization.
She will be showing her work at the Parrish Arts Council’s East2West Art Market, Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., in Palmetto.
There will also be an opening exhibition from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 7, at the Art Studio and Gallery of Jerri Phillips, where her artwork, as well as art pieces of Hart, Kroese and Howe, will be on display.
For more information about the Art Studio and Gallery of Jerri Phillips, call 941-809-5059, or email artisticadventures@hotmail.com, or visit the website, www.artisticflorida.com.
To learn more about John Phillips guitar lessons and studio call 941-915-4694, or visit the website at www.guitarlessonsmanatee.com.