ARTIST. STORYTELLER. BEAUTY SEEKER.
I'm Jennifer Mehling, a fine artist, photographer, and lifelong creative living and creating in Marietta, Georgia.
My work is rooted in the things I find myself returning to again and again—flowers, color, home, faith, growth, and the beauty hidden inside ordinary life.
I believe creativity has a way of helping us slow down long enough to notice.
And for me, so much of what I've learned to notice points back to God.
WHERE THE SEED WAS PLANTED
My journey with art didn't begin with a gallery, a collection, or even the thought of becoming an artist.
It began years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter.
I found myself painting things for her nursery, choosing colors and creating simply because I loved it.
Not long after she was born, photography became another important part of my creative life.
Photography taught me how to see.
It taught me to notice light, color, composition, tiny details, and the beauty tucked inside ordinary moments that are so easy to walk past.
I didn't know it then, but I was learning a visual language I would eventually carry back into painting.
THE YEARS IN BETWEEN
Like most stories, mine didn't unfold in a straight line.
There were years of creating and years when creativity became quieter.
There were seasons of motherhood, photography, change, loss, growth, and simply trying to understand who I was becoming.
Eventually, painting found its way back into my life.
But this time, it wasn't simply about making something beautiful.
Painting gave me a place to process what I couldn't always put into words.
It invited me to slow down, pay attention, experiment, make mistakes, and keep going.
And somewhere in that process, art began becoming part of my own story of healing.
WHERE JESUS MET ME
The week I found out my mom had passed away, I attended a healing workshop that used art as part of the process.
That experience became an important marker in my story.
But there is something I want to make very clear when I talk about healing and creativity:
Art isn't my healer.
Jesus is.
Art has simply been one of the beautiful tools He has used in my life.
Painting gave me somewhere to bring the things I didn't always have words for. It helped me recognize what was happening inside of me. It taught me to sit with uncertainty instead of immediately trying to fix it.
And again and again, Jesus met me there.
The canvas wasn't the source of healing.
It became one of the places where I learned to recognize the One who is.
LEARNING TO TRUST THE PROCESS
Painting has taught me something else:
Not everything beautiful begins beautifully.
A painting can go through layers that feel unresolved, messy, or completely wrong.
Sometimes the only way forward is to make another mark.
And then another.
To respond instead of control.
To trust that something can still be happening even when I can't see the finished picture yet.
I've discovered that life with God often asks the same thing of me.
Keep showing up.
Keep listening.
Keep trusting.
Keep becoming.
THE ART I CREATE TODAY
Today, my work is expressive, layered, intuitive, and deeply influenced by the way photography first taught me to see.
I am especially drawn to florals and vessels—subjects that continually remind me of growth, beauty, carrying, becoming, and the extraordinary things that can be found inside ordinary life.
My paintings often include loose brushwork, visible marks, layered color, unexpected lines, drips, scratches, and moments I intentionally choose not to perfect.
I want the hand of the artist to remain visible.
Because I don't believe beauty requires perfection.
I believe some of the most interesting parts of a painting—and of a life—are the layers that reveal how it became what it is.
WHY FLOWERS + VESSELS
I keep coming back to flowers.
Things that grow.
Things that bloom in their own time.
Things that remind us that beauty is often seasonal and becoming cannot be rushed.
And lately, I've found myself equally drawn to vessels.
A vessel doesn't create what it carries.
It simply gives it somewhere to be held.
That idea has stayed with me.
We are vessels too.
We carry stories, gifts, experiences, beauty, grief, hope, and evidence of all the places we've been.
Those ideas have become part of the visual language of my work—and the foundation of The Vessel Collection.
ART FOR A LIFE BEING LIVED
Ultimately, I don't create paintings simply to remain in my studio.
I create them to be lived with.
I imagine them hanging in homes where dinners are shared, children grow, friends gather, prayers are prayed, ordinary Tuesdays happen, and stories continue unfolding.
That's what I love about original art.
Eventually, the story stops belonging only to the artist.
The painting becomes part of someone else's home.
Someone else's memories.
Someone else's story.
It is an incredible honor when something created by my hands gets to become part of yours.
MEET JENNIFER
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
When I'm not painting, you'll usually find me noticing flowers, rearranging something in my home, taking photographs, spending time with my family, moving my body, or finding another reason to bring pink, green, or gold into something.
I'm a wife, a mom, a photographer turned painter, a published author, and someone who is still learning what it looks like to follow where God leads.
I don't have every part of the story figured out.
But I've learned to pay attention to what He's growing.
And then keep following.
Thank you for being here.
Whether you've discovered my work through a painting, a story, or somewhere along the way, I'm grateful you've stepped into this little corner of my world.
There is always something growing in the studio.
I'd love for you to follow along.
Walk With Me in This Garden
Looking for my faith-centered Friday reflections? → Gentle Friday Note