Jen Dietrich was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in 1966. For over 20 years she has taught painting and drawing at universities in Duluth, MN and Fairbanks, AK.  In 2016 she retired from teaching and has focused on her studio work.

After teaching painting and drawing for over 20 years, I retired as a university professor and started focusing on my studio practice. The subject matter is considered contemporary abstract realism; modern, loose with limited detail and various techniques.  My work is a unique combination of realism and abstraction, employing diverse media such as oil, acrylic, spray paint and wax on wood panels. 

I have lived in three distinctly unique areas of the country—Midwest, Alaska and Colorado. Each region made an impact on my subject matter. In the Midwest, I focused on baseball and barn imagery. In Alaska exclusively landscape imagery and in Colorado I produced horse imagery. Specifically, rescue horses from the Colorado Horse Rescue in Longmont, Co. Now back in Northern MN, I am consumed by the big lake and landscape compositions.