Oils
I discovered oil painting in high school. I think I was 15. At that time, it seemed like the ultimate medium for painting, having been used for centuries to create masterpieces by the world's masters. What I loved about it in use was that it could be worked and reworked over and over again. The colors seemed brighter than acrylic, the possibilities seemed endless. My natural method to mix colors directly on the canvas in chunky, textured strokes seemed to work best in oils.
Then I opened a literal can of "worms" a year ago, in Summer 2024, with a tube of paint from a set that had been my grandfathers. The smell of the paint alone took me back to this special time of learning and exploration through art.
Confidence low, skill with a brush rusty, and only the desire to put ideas in my head on canvas, I trusted in these paints to revive something in me that had been missing for decades - a connection to visual expression. I've been inspired by biblical words, like Psalm 23 (as I walk through the valley in the shadow of death...), my family, which inspires my every breath and action, and even masters like Michelangelo (who said: 'I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free').
My most recent work, Water Angel, is easily the fastest and most natural painting I ever completed in my life. It was started and finished in August 5, 2025, my brother's heavenly birthday. I had envisioned an angel playing in water and painted until I could see her playing with it on the canvas.
Then I opened a literal can of "worms" a year ago, in Summer 2024, with a tube of paint from a set that had been my grandfathers. The smell of the paint alone took me back to this special time of learning and exploration through art.
Confidence low, skill with a brush rusty, and only the desire to put ideas in my head on canvas, I trusted in these paints to revive something in me that had been missing for decades - a connection to visual expression. I've been inspired by biblical words, like Psalm 23 (as I walk through the valley in the shadow of death...), my family, which inspires my every breath and action, and even masters like Michelangelo (who said: 'I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free').
My most recent work, Water Angel, is easily the fastest and most natural painting I ever completed in my life. It was started and finished in August 5, 2025, my brother's heavenly birthday. I had envisioned an angel playing in water and painted until I could see her playing with it on the canvas.
J. Morreale. Water Angel (August 5, 2025). Oil on canvas, 36"x24".
Jackie Morreale with Water Angel painting, dog sketch, and illustrated debut children's book, August 2025.
|
Jackie Morreale with Greek Goddess portrait painting, painted August 2024.
|
Jackie Morreale with Psalm 23 painting, painted with grandfather's oils, inspired by the words of Psalm 23, August 2024.
|
Jackie Morreale 2001 oil on canvas painting, Singer Island Coral Reef.
|
Acrylic
I am grateful for acrylic paints, and the free art classes offered at the Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach, Florida, as they allowed me to explore textures and techniques that had been forgotten... from concept to completely dried piece in two hours or less. With them, I remembered how to use the brush to create stone, trees, petals on a flower. To use the back of it to create very precise highlights and circles, a sparkle in the eye. To use water on a finger to blend shades in ways that a brush cannot. To mix paints with fabric for a striking mixed media effect.
Jackie Morreale. Heavenly Mountains (August 5, 2025). Acrylic on canvas, 20" x 16". Dedicated to Ken Pribil Jr.
|
Jackie Morreale. Wise Woman (May 10, 2025). Acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20". Dedicated to all mothers, for Mother's Day.
|
Jackie Morreale. Riesachsee Waterfall (June 27, 2025). Acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14". Dedicated to Austria.
|
Jackie Morreale with her final painting, Riesachsee Waterfall, at the Mandel Public Library art studio in West Palm Beach, FL.
|
Watercolor
I love watercolor and gouache paint. You don't need much of it to make high impact color, and allow the water on a brush to do the rest. The initial visuals for book ideas have always been there for me through watercolor painting. To be continued!
Jackie Morreale. Hirsch (January 2023). Watercolor on paper.
|
Jackie Morreale. Footprints (June 2022). Watercolor on paper.
|
Jackie Morreale. Town of Colora (April 2021). Watercolor on paper.
|
Jackie Morreale. Curls (January 20, 2021). Watercolor on paper.
|
Silk Painting
Painting became passion in college with silk painting. It was the most practical learning I received during my design education, and I used it to make art wearable, and clothing and accessories meaningful. I loved the hands on process of doing silk painting, which requires stretching fabric with thread or thumbtacks, and how you can manipulate dye on silk like watercolors on paper, with simple additives like water, salt, wax, and more.
Jackie Morreale, Abstract Purple silk painted scarf. Used salt to create starburst effects. April 2019.
|
Abstract Purple silk painted scarf shown on model
|
Jackie Morreale, Abstract Green silk painted scarf. Used salt to create starburst effects. March 2019.
|
Abstract Green and Tropical Leaf silk painted scarves shown in process, stretched out using thread and stretcher strips
|
Turn Art into Storytelling!
|
|
Turning art into storytelling as the illustrator of my debut children's book, Princess Tessa Meets Luc the Duke, has been a dream come true. Some ink and markers on paper can make a huge impact on bringing ideas and the written word to life. I encourage anyone who has an idea stuck in their head to get it out on paper, and see where it goes from there!
|
Wisdom for Wannabes
10299 Southern Blvd. Unit 212771 Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411 USA |
© Wisdom for Wannabes LLC 2026. All Rights Reserved.