Jennie Smallenbroek was born in 1966 in Voorburg. She has a passion for classical painting and studied the techniques of the old masters. In 2015 she went to Florence to study at the Angel Academy of Art at and in 2016 at the Florence Academy of Art in Sweden.

Her work is exhibited both nationally and internationally. She is an “ARC Living Artist” at the

Art Renewal Center in New York, a foundation dedicated to reviving realism in the visual arts. She is a finalist of the international Salon competition 2016 with the painting “the tree frog”. She is a member of the Portrait Society of America.

She drew from the moment she could hold a pencil. Also, at school she could listen better to the teachers when she was drawing. She started painting with oil paint from the age of 20. Over the years she has experimented with different materials and styles. This has resulted in a lot of knowledge and experience in the field of painting. In her paintings she uses the layered technique, comparable to that of the 17th-century masters, in which she increasingly strives for photographic realism.

She would like to share the knowledge she has built up over the years with as many people as possible so that not only the craft is kept alive, but also the many positive effects on people’s mental health. The personal development that you go through when you start painting has a positive effect on your entire life. You go the world; experience people, animals and things around you very differently because your perception changes. With practical exercises you can not only learn to draw and paint well, but you will experience your life more intensively.