artist statement
My work is rooted in color, movement, and the way a place or moment can be felt beyond its literal form. I believe original art should feel approachable and attainable, there is something irreplaceable about living with a one-of-a-kind painting, the energy created by the artist’s hand.
Influenced by the atmospheric color relationships of Mark Rothko, the expressive surface energy of Vincent van Gogh, and the bold visual language of Jane Davis Doggett, I move fluidly between coastal abstractions, florals, and narrative subjects. Through layered paint, I allow structure and spontaneity to evolve together, creating work that feels both intentional and intuitive.
Whether interpreting the coastal vitality of South Florida in my Florida Inspired series or distilling landscapes into the simplified, atmospheric shapes of Space Between Forms, my work explores how a painting can evoke memory and place. Through expressive layers or restrained color relationships, I’m interested in the tension between clarity and ambiguity, capturing the depth and rhythm of a moment without fully defining it.
about jodi
Jodi Gaines is a contemporary painter based in Martin County, Florida, whose work is deeply informed by the coastal landscapes of her upbringing. Raised in Marathon in the Florida Keys, she spent her formative years surrounded by water and the quiet rhythm of life shaped by the sea. After later moving to Martin County and attending South Fork High School, Gaines built a successful career far from the canvas, but creativity remained a constant thread throughout her life.
For years, Gaines channeled her artistic instincts into digital design, product development, and entrepreneurship, co-founding multiple software companies along the way. That experience refined her sense of composition and visual communication, yet the pull toward painting never disappeared. In 2024, she returned fully to her art, not to begin again, but to return home. In 2025, she opened her studio and gallery in Historic Downtown Stuart, Florida.
Working between abstraction and representation, Gaines creates paintings that explore atmosphere, memory, and emotional resonance. Her compositions often allow the two approaches to evolve together, each informing the other in subtle and unexpected ways. Through her work, she invites viewers to slow down, engage with the present moment, and discover their own meaning within the spaces she leaves open.