My name is Lettie Jane Rennekamp, you can call me Lettie or Lettie Jane (she/they).
I’m an artist, muralist, teacher and parent.
Portrait by Anne Parmeter and Zim Zimmerman
My work often centers on the body and what it means to inhabit a body in this world. I use illustrations depicting people, plants and pattern to try to capture more abstract ideas like moving through grief or self acceptance. I am always trying to reflect on my connection to the world around me and drawing helps me manage. I use a variety of materials in my work. I usually work analog with pens, colored pencils or watercolor and scan drawings to bring them to life digitally. I find joy in both the reverence for art materials and disregarding any preciousness about their use. I believe we can use art to heal ourselves and open radical new possibilities for the world around us. I believe in peace, pleasure, care, interdependence, admitting when you are wrong and listening.
I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2005 from The San Francisco Art Institute. I attended Rhode Island School of Design 2000-2001 and have continued my art education at PNCA and Portland Community College taking illustration and ceramics courses. I believe in being a lifelong learner, taking classes makes me a more experienced teacher.
My studio.
I teach art at Ulna Art Studio, a brightly lit space in an old warehouse in the central eastside of Portland. I love helping students honor and hone their artistic voice and seeing teaching as an integral part of my own art practice. Take a class with me!
I use she/her or they/them pronouns, I identify as cis-female, but appreciate a wider spectrum of pronoun usage and gender expression. I am a white, able-bodied and come from a middle class background. I identify as queer and bisexual inside a myriad of heteronormative relationships. Coffee is my favorite beverage, I grew up on a horse farm and I love the ocean. I’m a mom and my kid, Nicky was born in 2014. I’m married and have 3 step children. I’m an Aquarius, a weirdo, a horse-girl. I’m anxious and dyslexic. I’m a witch and I’ve spent more than a decade in therapy. I love nature and friendship and making art.
I live on the ancestral lands of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya and Molalla tribes, otherwise known as Portland, Oregon. There are 9 federally recognized Indigenous Nations of Oregon to whom I extend my respect: The Klamath, The Bruns, Paiute, Coquille, Confederated Traibes of the Grand Ronde, Cow Creek Bank of Umpqua Indians, Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, Confederated Traibes of Siletz, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Email me with inquiries lettiejane@gmail.com
Subscribe to my Substack
Follow me on Instagram @lettiejanemakes