About the Artist

 

Signature Member: American Impressionist Society (AIS)

American Women Artists (AWA),

Women Artists of the West (WAOW)

Elected & Board Member: Washington Society of Landscape Painters (WSLP)

 

Capturing Life in Oils

 

IF BOATS COULD TALK - 30 x 30 - oil - created from life during Plein Air Easton 2026. Won 3rd Place - judge Mary Morton, curator French Painting Collection, National Gallery of Art

"Stylistically, I continue to evolve from realism with feeling to impressionism with even more emotion and simplification."

Jill Banks

Life is full with family, friends like you, and an art career that keeps me smock-donned and constantly on my toes. Each year, I take personal painting trips -- with at least one to Europe - France (Paris - 2025 and the South of France - June 2026), Italy  (the hill towns of Umbria in 2025), Spain (residency in 2027) and others to favorite spots in the US. My "French Paintings Collection" can be seen online here. Every place we've gone calls me back to it. Sure makes it hard to decide what the next trip should be.

 

My passion is for capturing life -- particularly people and animals where they gather. (That's the impetus for those personal painting travel trips.) It has also driven me to become a plein air painter -- loving being right smack dab in the middle of the action. (Plein air is the one thing I swore I'd never do, ironically.)

 

Plein air competitions are balanced by plenty of exploration on my own -- with only my own drive to paint everything in sight to pressure me. ;) I'm honored to have been invited to participate in many of the top festivals including in 2026: Plein Air Easton (where I won 3rd Place!), Door County Invitational (WI), NC Plein Air (Plein Air Magazine Award), Telluride Plein Air (Top 5 Seller) and Olmsted Plein Air Invitational (#1 Top Seller). I used to think about wanting a clone -- because each time you are participating in one event, you are missing out on another. I'm attached to all the wonderful people we've met in all the events (plein air and art festivals) that have come before. It's a rich, beautiful life. Other plein air events I've participated include: Gloucester Plein Air (VA), Knoxville's Artist on Location, Sedona Plein Air,  En Plein Air Texas, Wayne Plein Air, Mountain Maryland, Harford Plein Air and more.

 

See my web site's Events page for upcoming shows and festivals.

 

Sometimes I do something spectacular. In 2011, I launched my 100 Faces in 100 Days Project, inviting friends, acquaintances and strangers of all ages to sit to have their portraits painted, allowing me to get to know my subjects and allowing my volunteers to get to know more about my passion -- painting -- in the process. For the first 100 consecutive days of 2011, I painted 100 different talking, moving faces from life and then posted photos of the paintings and reflections on the sitter and sitting on my blog (excerpts from that blog and all my faces can be found on my website here). What I learned from the project was that anything was achievable given hard work, flexibility, openness, a sense of humor and some problem-solving skills. Plus, it was exhilarating and fun living life out on a limb. That project led to my pursuing painting plein air or around town, inside and out. If people were no longer coming to visit daily in my studio, I was going to go out and find someone or something interesting to paint.

 

 

Me with some of my 100 Faces in 100 Days portraits in 2011

Photo credit: Dean Souleles

 

JILL created 12 portraits of granddaughter Emma commemorating each month of her first year.

 

Awards and rewards have been plentiful since I turned to art as a second career in 2003. They include 3rd Place in Plein Air Easton, a Best in Show in the NOAPS 2025 Associate Online Exhibition, Best of Show in the American Impressionist Society's 2024 Associate Online Exhibition, Best Signature Award in the Women Artists of the West's  2024 National Juried Exhibition at the Phippen Museum, First Place (Best in Show) at Paint Great Falls multiple times including 2026 and Knoxville's Artists on Location 2022 (judged by Kathie Odom), Best Symphony Award at the 2022 Gloucester Plein Air Invitational, Honorable Mention in the American Impressionist Society's Associate Online Exhibition, #1 Top Seller Telluride Plein Air 2020, First Place-Quick Draw and Top Seller at Telluride Plein Air 2018, Best of Show in the September 2016 BoldBrush Painting Competition (out of 1440 entries), Best in Show at the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club's  (CLWAC) Members Exhibition in NYC, three Best of Show awards at the Art League, an Honorable Mention of Artistic Excellence at Salon International, two Certificates of Merit in  the Salmagundi Club's Non-Member Exhibitions, three memorial awards at the CLWAC Annual Juried Exhibition at the National Arts Club, three-time finalist in the Artists' Magazine's Annual Art Competition, First Place in Paint Herndon! and two Best of Shows at artReston. She was twice awarded Strauss Fellowship grants by the Arts Council of Fairfax County.

 

My work has received plenty of press. American Art Collector magazine's September 2026 issue includes a full page photo of my painting Ship Shape in its six-page Show Preview article for the Washington Society of Landscape Painters exhibit "Sense of Place." My work and studio are also featured in that same issue in the Art Lover's Guide to DC and the Mid-Atlantic. I was one of three featured artists in the inaugural online Modern Impressionist Magazine - July/August 2023 - with a major spread and demo. My painting Love by the Sea was featured in a two-page spread in PleinAir Magazine's July/August 2022 portfolio editorial. My work was featured on the cover of élan Magazine in August 2020, December 2019, January 2015, April 2011 and May 2006.  I was featured as an Artist to Watch in Southwest Art Magazine's July 2017 issue. My paintings have also appeared in American Art Collector, Southwest Art, Plein Air, Fine Art Connoisseur, the Washington Post, Virginia Living, Spaces Magazine and VivaTysons. I am a signature member of three amazing art organizations: American Impressionist Society (AIS), American Women Artists (AWA) and Women Artists of the West (WAOW) as well as an elected member of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters (WSLP). All have stringent requirements and goal posts to hurdle over to gain that status ... so each are cool achievements that also provide the camaraderie and kinship with accomplished peers. Surpassing all those awards are the joy of seeing students thrive and new owners start (or continue) the journey of enjoying living with my art everyday.

 

 

AREA OF EXPERTISE

 

HORSE WHISPERS - 16 x 20 - oil

Painted during Paint Great Falls -- garnering the top prize 1st Place (Best in Show).

I love painting in as much as the middle of the action as possible. What I love the most is connecting with people in

their own special worlds while capturing it on canvas.  This painting was created at a therapeutic riding facility and

has the warmest, neatest team of people supporting it. They got a kick out of my being there -- almost

as much I did to capture life there. Special times.

 

CAPTURING LIFE IN OILS

Now decades ago, in the seventh week of witnessing my bellydancing subject work through little movements to get into the official pose, it dawned on me to ask her to dance. She did. Hearing the music, watching the fluidity of her movements made me realize how dull a single frame, out of context, is - no matter how precisely painted. Put the subject in motion and some magic happens. I paint to capture life's magic ... to transport you inside my oil paintings -- to feel that breeze, hear the sounds, watch what happens, smell the air. My dancer dances. I travel everywhere with my easel, setting it up in markets, on busy streets, in a restaurant or bar, at the farm to paint the animals as they wander around in the field. Standing there for hours, I soak up my surroundings so that what it FEELS like to be there (wonderful) transfers to the canvas.

 

 

 

ABOVE: Here I am "roughing it" on a Key West beach creating BEAUTY AND THE BEACH. RIGHT: BEAUTY AND THE BEACH (completed) - 20 x 16 - oil (available)

 

IN THE STUDIO

 

Happy in my home studio too

 

 

When I'm not out in the field painting or traveling, there are two studios ready and waiting to put all that gathered inspiration to good use. One's in my home in Fairfax. Another is a studio shared with nine other artists at the Artists' Atelier at 756 Walker Road in Great Falls, Virginia.

 

Having work space in my home affords the chance to comfortably paint whenever and however long I want. I've thrown a smock over pajamas and donned slippers many a time. For some of my paintings, I prefer the control and drama of lighting setups at night -- and then paint until midnight or so. Favorite parts of my home studio include a long full wall of shelves to hold mountains of oil paints, supplies, still life objects -- all tucked away behind curtains; and a taboret (table to hold my palette and other materials) - a red metal utility cart that was my Great Aunt Ruth's that's taken on its new life in helping me paint. There are two high long windows that let in natural light without spilling glare on the canvas. Lots of room to back up and comfy chairs as a perch to admire the day's work. Cozy, quiet, functional, great.

 

ARTISTS' ATELIER - my public studio in Great Falls VA

 

My joint "away from home" studio is in the heart of Great Falls (Virginia) at the Artists' Atelier in the Village Centre.  There fellow studiomates and visitors wander in throughout the day. My spot has a big bay window seat that looks out onto the Atelier's front porch. We all love it there -- enjoy each others' company plus being surrounded by all the activity at the Village Centre (kids tumbling on the lawn, people enjoying ice cream on the patio, summer concerts, celebrations. Visitors are welcomed often. I'm holding special open hours September 11-13, 2026 for  during the Great Falls Studio Tour in October (www.greatfallsstudios.com for info), or open hours (check www.GreatFallsAtelier.com).

 

 

MORE FLOWER POWER - 30 x 24 - oil (available)

 

"I want to build a relationship with you as enthusiast and collector."

Jill Banks

 

Stylistically, I continue to evolve from realism with feeling to impressionism with even more emotion and simplification. Painting plein air and figuring out what I'm truly working to convey naturally led to details and extra stuff falling to the wayside. Just like wanting you to hang out inside my paintings with me -- I want to build a relationship with you as enthusiast and collector. That's one of the advantages of my being a living artist. I thrive through our one-on-one connection -- while painting, exhibiting my art and talking to you at events, and guiding you toward finding the right pieces to enhance your life. Thanks to all of you who allow me to be a part of  YOUR world!

 

THE COLLECTION - 24 x 24 - oil (private collection)

Painted live during the Arts of Great Falls gala -- at the home of collectors of illustration art

 

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

 

GOOD MORNING TELLURIDE - 24 x 36 - oil, painted plein air from the balcony of the airbnb (available)

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

 

 

 

STUDIO ADDRESS

The Artists' Atelier, 756 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA 22066. Open Wednesdays: noon-4pm, Saturdays: 10-2, First Friday Art Walks: 6-8pm or by appointment anytime. Special openings throughout the year also -- including the Great Falls Studio Tour -- 3rd weekend in October.

http://www.GreatFallsAtelier.com

 

All paintings ©2011-2023 Jill Banks

 

Highlights - Year by Year

 

 

2026: 

 

• Juried or Invited to Easton Plein Air (first time and won 3rd Place), Door County Plein Air Invitational (first time), Olmsted Invitational (#1 top seller), Telluride Plein Air (top 5 seller), NC Plein Air (Plein Air Magazine Award)
• 2nd Place Award -- BoldBrush July 2026 Competition - Dan Graziano judge
• Honorable Mention, Plein Air Category -- Art Renewal Center Salon 2025 announced 2026
• Plein Air Magazine April/May issue article - Trip to Umbria with Washington Society of Landscape Painters
• American Art Collector September issue show article with full page photo of Ship Shape plus feature in the Art Lover's Guide to DC and the Mid-Atlantic
• Won Best Composition Award - NOAPS Best of America Small Works Exhibition for Waiting at the Lake

2025: 

 

• Became Signature Member - American Impressionist Society
• Won Best in Show - NOAPS Associate Online Exhibition for The Yard Birds
• First year featured artist at the Olmsted Plein Air Invitational

 

2024: 

 

• Won Best of Show in the American Impressionist Society Associate Online Exhibition -- judge Kari Mendlik
• Won Best Signature Award in the Women Artists of the West National Juried Exhibition held in Prescott AZ
  
• Juried into North Carolina Plein Air

 

2023: 

 

• Won First Place (Best in Show) in the Paint Great Falls juried plein air competition -- judge Bethanne Kinsella Cople
• Featured artist in the inaugural edition of Modern Impressionist Magazine - July/August 2023
• Finalist, BoldBrush June 2023 competition - judge Kyle Stuckey
• Painted live at the gala for the Arts of Great Falls and at the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra performance in the Tennessee Theatre
• Juried into the American Impressionist Society National Exhibition and the AIS Associate Online Exhibit.

 

2022: 

 

• Won First Place (Best in Show) in the Knoxville Artists on Location juried plein air competition -- judge Kathie Odom
• Studio visit and demo given to the Women's Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. So cool!
• Show Chair for Women Artists of the West (WAOW) National Exhibition at McBride Gallery in Annapolis (November 2022-January 2023) plus board member for WAOW.
• Love by the Sea published almost life size in two-page spread in PleinAir Magazine July/August issue

          

 

2020: 

• Invited to become signature member of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters. Woo Hoo!
• Became a Signature Member of American Women Artists (AWA) and Women Artists of the West (WAOW)
• Published - six-page cover Art in the First Person article "Everybody Knows Your Name: Thanking The Old Brogue Irish Pub" in Elan Magazine, August 2020 featuring 10 paintings created of and in this Great Falls VA favorite gathering spot.

 

2019: 

• American Women Artists, Signature Status
• Juried into American Women Artists Museum Show, Steamboat Art Museum
• Juried into American Impressionist Society Small Works Showcase
• Published Fine Art Connoisseur - two Master Class Portfolio Articles - Self Portrait and Cityscapes

2017: 

• Southwest Art Magazine, July issue, Editor's Choice: Artist to Watch. Click here for the article.
• Selected as Top 9 Painting and Drawing Teachers in Metro DC area: Expertise.com https://www.expertise.com/dc/washington/painting-and-drawing-classes
• Invited (30 top artists) to participate in the Sedona Plein Air Festival (first invitational vs. being juried in after applying)

 

2016: 

• Won Best of Show in the September 2016 BoldBrush Painting Competition (out of 1440 entries)
• Juried into En Plein Air Texas in San Angelo, TX.
• Juried into Art on the Square in Belleville, Illinois -- ranked #1 festival by Art Fair Sourcebook. Returning to Armonk NY, Wickford RI, Rittenhouse Square, Shadyside (Pittsburgh), King Street (Alexandria, VA), McLean Artfest (Virginia).
• Won Best of Show (Board of Directors Award) at the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club's Member Exhbition at the Salmagundi Club for "Seaside Sunset."
• Juried into the Oil Painters of America Salon Show being held at Castle Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
  

2015: 

• Two weeks in Madrid, Italy painting and finding loads of inspiration at the Joaquin Sorolla home and museum.
• Two weeks in and around Monterey Bay, California -- painting these incredible surroundings.
• Three plein air competitions: Telluride Plein Air, Wayne Plein Air and Brandywine Valley Plein Air.

2014: 

• Two trips, 28 days in Italy -- painting in Florence and Venice, teaching and painting in the Piemonte. Nice life!!!! 
• The year of taking my art on the road -- participating in juried outdoor art festivals in Westhampton NY, Westport CT, Wickford RI, Pittsburgh PA (Shadyside), Armonk NY, Alexandria VA (King Street Art Festival), McLean MPA Artfest ... probably more. Learned (Randy would say, sort of) how to put up a complicated and gorgeous tent creating a gallery on the go.
• Painted my way through two plein air events -- Mountain Maryland Plein Air (juried) and Paint the Shenandoah (invitational). Loved it!
  

2013: 

• Teaching plein air painting ... to an enthusiastic band of artists merrily battling bugs, breeze, temperatures etc. in varied spots around the DC area. Joyful Wednesdays.
  
• Painting on the streets of Paris. Daunting to set up the easel in this city famed for its plein air pioneers. Did it anyway.
• Chosen as a juror of selection for the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club's 117th Annual Open Exhibition held at the National Arts Club in October. Nice honor and enlightening to boot.
• Shared Awards Juror duties with Lori Goll for the Paint Herndon! competition -- that coincided with our five-artist group exhibit "Menagerie" held at ArtSpace Herndon in September.
• Quite a few neat awards. See my resumé for details.

2012: 

• Juried into the Visiting/Guest Resident Artist Program at the Torpedo Factory for  August 2012 -- working and demo'ing in Studio #333 for the month. It was a fun, different time -- spent interacting with visitors from around the world and gaining some new fans. 
• Tackling the challenges of plein air painting ... painting in and around Hilton Head and Beaufort, SC, in the glass shower and on the balcony of a hotel room in NYC, on farms in Maryland and Virginia. Juried into and competed in Wayne Plein Air, one of the top plein air competitions in the country, painting in and around Wayne and Philadelphia, PA for four and a half days. Awarded First Place in Paint Herndon Plein Air Competition.

 

2011: 

• Most significant, I launched my 100 Faces in 100 Days project on January 1. Read about each day on my blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com, January 1 through April 10 posts. This is my most massive and wonderful project to date. I painted my 100th face on April 10 ... day 100. My 100 Faces were on exhibit May 2011 at the Great Falls Library, 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA  and in August 2011 at the Gallery in the Artists’ Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA. My “100 Faces in 100 Days” exhibit reception in May was named Gallery Opening of the Week by the Washington Post, Weekend Section, p. 30, May 6, 2011.
• Awarded a second Strauss Fellowship grant by the Arts Council of Fairfax County.
• “Tranquility” won an Honorable Mention at Salon International at the Greenhouse Gallery in San Antonio, TX. Daniel Greene was the awards juror.
• “Pretty Girl Hen” chosen as one of only 75 finalists in the Richeson75 Animal, Birds and Wildlife International Online Competition.
• Purchase Award, Out & About Norfolk Plein Air Competition for "Elephant at the Norfolk Zoo"
• Raymar Art Award, Out & About Norfolk Plein Air Competition for "Fountain at the Chrysler Museum"
• First Place, Reston Century T-Shirt Art Competition sponsored by ArtSpace Herndon
• Best in Show, Great Falls Studios "Birds of Great Falls" Exhibit

 

2010: 

•  2010 has been a year that collectors truly embraced my work. 31 original paintings and drawings were purchased in December and I don’t honestly know how many were purchased for the year. Suffice it to say, that I couldn’t keep track and that plenty of my art found new homes. Exciting and a bit scary. Like I need to paint, paint, paint.
•  “Rainy Day in NYC” won Best in Show in the Art League’s August ‘Scapes (landscape) Show AND a Certificate of Merit in Oils at the Salmagundi Club’s Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition in July
•  Won Best in Show in the artReston Annual Juried Exhibition, June 2010, Reston, VA
•  Third time placing as a finalist in the Artist’s Magazine’s Annual Art Competition -- this time in the Landscape category
•  First time being juried into Salmagundi Club’s Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, NYC, July 2010 (won an award, too -- see above)
•  Second time being juried into Salmagundi Club’s Open Annual Photography and Graphics Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, NYC, June 2010
•  Second time being juried into the Biennial Art Exhibition in Punta Gorda, FL. Accepted by jury into more and more national shows.

 

2009: 

•  Juried into Allied Artists of America’s Annual Exhibition 2009 (National Arts Club, NYC, November 2009)
•  Juried into Grand National 2009 (American Artists Professional League, Salmagundi Club, NYC, November 2009)
•  Juried into Salon International 2009 (Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX, March 2009
• Exhibited at Chelsea 32 Gallery in New York City (January through June 2009)
• Juried into Salmagundi Club’s Open Annual Exhibition (Salmagundi Club, NYC, June 2009)
• Juried into MPA Artfest 2009 (McLean Project for the Arts outdoor juried festival, October 4)

2008: 

• Awarded Strauss Fellowship grant by Arts Council of Fairfax County;
• Won Casey Memorial Award at the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club’s Annual Open Juried Exhibition held at the National Arts Club in NYC;
• Won Best of Show at the Art League for second time;
• Finalist in Artist’s Magazine’s Annual Competition for the second time;
• Joined faculty at Loudoun Academy of the Arts and Great Falls Foundation for the Arts (now the Arts of Great Falls).