"Your Dream Space is Only an Artist Away"
Summer 2025 New workshop coming soon
"Learn how to make your own Hand Painted Wallpaper and Floorcloths"

As a multi-style decorative artist I am always trying new techniques and media. I choose to express peace and beauty in most of my work and hope my enthusiasm is transferred to the viewer. I see the world through rose-colored glasses and have a deep love and concern for our planet’s environmental future.

Professionally I divide my time as a fine artist and teacher. I work on site-specific artwork with interior designers and architects. Some of the things I design and build are mobiles, custom room dividers, screens, murals on canvas, floor-cloths, and Lazy Susan's.

Encaustic lessons, workshops, and demos in my studio.
Learn more about the history of this unique, challenging, alchemy guided, luminous, addictive, and wondrous medium of Encaustics. Where unexpected art accidents are beautiful!

Bio and Statement
Chicagoan Jenny Learner has been making art her entire life. Classically trained at the American Academy of Art and self-taught in interior, surface design & photography. For over 40 years this multi-faceted artist has been designing custom room dividers, screens, hand-painted wall coverings, fabrics, murals, site-specific art for Interior Designers and Architects. She exhibits, teaches, curates, juries locally and nationally. A published featured artist in Encaustic Art in the Twenty-First Century by Anne Lee & E. Ashley Rooney, "Dining Among the Stars" by Michael Curry, several Chicago magazines and newspapers. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Encaustic Art Institute in Santa Fe New Mexico and in many private collections worldwide.

After an introduction to encaustic she fell in love with the ancient medium of fusing fire with beeswax and pure pigment. Encaustic became her elixir of life. Imagine painting and sculpting within the wonderful realm of flowers and honey. The medium’s luminosity, transparency, aromatherapy, alchemy, with the unexpected results constantly surprise her.

She gains inspiration for her work from earth’s multiple landscapes and wonders including raw gemstones, outer space, medicine, life, & dreams. Further curious and fascinated with evolution, anthropology and time, as an artist Jenny is grateful to be living in this digital age with resources at her fingertips. The photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and the Hubble telescope’s imagery of the Universe endlessly muse her.

Here are some testimonials from my students.

Encaustic Classes and Workshops
Step into Jenny’s studio to get a personal introduction to this gripping art form. Using torches, irons and heat guns, you’ll fuse beeswax with colored pigments and resin and then apply the molten liquid to a painting surface. She’ll teach you how to use special tools and brushes to manipulate and shape your paint before it cools, creating one-of-a-kind pieces to take home.
Jenny is a multi-faceted artist, classically trained at the American Academy of Art in Chicago Illinois. She paints and teaches from her studio in West Bucktown, Chicago. She also curates, exhibits, juries locally and nationally and has worked on many Public Art Projects in Chicago.

ROBERT SWISLOW
I spent my career practicing Industrial Design, so have always been involved in the business of artistic expression but never had time to express my personal passion for art. Now that I am retired I was ready to get back into the studio arts.  I asked around some of my museum friends and Jenny Learners name came up so I went to visit her at her studio. When I walked into the studio I was like a kid in a candy store. Jenny's studio is filled with so much art, so much art materials of various media that something in my soul said this is the right place for me.  Then Jenny began to speak about her life spent making art and the room filled with this positive energy and passion it was clear Jenny lives for art.  That was all I needed to hear, I was like when can I start?  Jenny's passion kick-started the yearning I had kept inside me and now I look forward to my weekly studio visits for guidance, criticism, advice and oh all those art materials!  I can highly recommend Jenny as a person, as an artist and as a studio space one can freely express themselves without any reservations.
GREGORY SCOTT
Great intro to encaustic. This is a medium I always wanted to know more about and I got to see and try a number of different techniques.
LAURA MERRIGAN
This class was so much fun! Jenny started with a little tutorial but then we had plenty of options for experimentation. Her studio was very roomy and comfortable. I came home with 3 interesting, unique works of art. At first I was concerned about the location of the class but it was completely safe. Parking was readily available in the rear. Very interesting building with several artist studios.
MONA MOHARI
Jenny Learner is one of the most valuable people I have ever met in US. She
is gifted as both creative artist and exceptional teacher. As an artist, she
develops creative student projects and brings in many inspiring original
works of art from her own works and other artists and brings in valuable
examples from her life and career as a working artist and businesswoman in
interior design industry – specifically in wallpaper design - to inspire her
students. Jenny is consistently energetic, positive, respectful and interested
in her students. She engages her students very well. Her lesson plans are
well thought out and she is able to convey the material in a way that reaches
all students, even the ones who know just the basic English words. Jenny is
an authentic, gifted educator that brings wisdom, energy and mostly
enthusiasm to any art program. She is also very dedicated to community
through donations of time and art to several non-profit organizations. She is
so unique because teachers with the passion, drive, and genuine love and
caring like what Jenny possesses are hard to find. I highly recommend her to
all others.
NORM FRAGA
This Encaustics SideTour was pretty awesome, Jenny crammed alot of information into the 2-3 hours we were there. Jenny was very informative about the safety precautions of encaustics! Any questions we had Jenny answered, from how the encaustics were made to recycling scraped wax. What I liked about this was Jenny let us 'play' while teaching, so it was very hands on! I'm definitely signing up for another class on encaustics.
JES SANCHEZ
This is such a fun experience. I have done this Sidetour 3 times and I don’t
think I'm finished yet! I have the pieces that I made displayed in my home.
Jenny is a wonderful teacher. Her passion for her work is contagious.
MARY FELLARS
We had to reschedule and Jenny was most accommodating. Had great time in class and learned more than enough to encourage more experimentation. Jenny is full of information on process, materials and technique. Thanks!
AJOONI SETHI
An amazing and addicting experience. I almost feel like it's better not to explain how the session went step-by-step so that everyone can experience it for fresh for themselves. Jenny truly opened her studio and her knowledge to me and my two friends, and we walked out with 9 pieces of art that we cherish. Jenny demonstrated different encaustic methods, but what we created and how was completely up to us. I've only gone once, but I feel like Jenny really tailors her approach to her learners. She creates an awesome space to explore something new and make art.
DANA BLOEDE
This was a great class and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to do something arty & fun with friends in the city. Makes for a great girls night out! Jenny was an excellent instructor and she provided us with a plethora of knowledge and expertise. The great thing about this class was I did not need any previous encaustic art experience and I came home with 3 awesome pieces of art! Would take it again!
MARY DIETRICK
Jenny promised that we would each complete three pieces of art to take home, and we did! Very warm, helpful atmosphere. She had all the materials we needed ready for our use. She showed us several ways of making something beautiful, and then we got to do it. Very nice way to spend a cold Saturday afternoon.
MARIE MACDONALD
Great time! Bought with friends! Easy to get to great FREE parking. Jenny was awesome. We learned a lot and had a ton of fun! Do this!
MELISSA MARINELLI
This was so fun. I'm not remotely artistic but signed up to try something new with a friend. Jenny was gracious and used the 2.5 hours well--we learned at the beginning and had plenty of time to try out the techniques and make tiles to take home. I think I might even go back for more! I highly recommend this even if you are not an artist, and I think it's a fantastic activity for girlfriends or mothers/daughters.
MARYBETH DOUGHERTY
Jenny Learner is a wonderful artist, and a great teacher, so take one of her classes if you have any interest in art. She teaches encaustic painting, but also other special areas. My two friends and I has such a fun time under her guidance, and we will be back. We hope to entice enough friends to fill a class, but the women we met there were fun to work with in class. The nice glass of merlot was appreciated too!
MELISSA MENDIOLA POLONSKY
I had a great time learning and practicing encaustic painting! Jenny is easy going and makes you feel confident about trying this medium. The class flew by and I will definitely try this at home. Fun experience!
DEBBY SPERTUS
Jenny is a marvelous teacher. She was clear and organized with the information and the demos, and gave a lot of one-on-one attention while we all created our own artworks. Her studio is spacious, and she supplied lot of additional materials for us to experiment with. In our class we had rank amateurs, seasoned professionals, and people somewhere in between. I think everyone got what they needed at the level they needed it. I highly recommend the class to anyone who is even intrigued about encaustics.
PAULINE KOCHANSKI
Jenny is very knowledgable and fun teacher willing to share and enjoy encaustic with her students. The time flew by.
ELAINE
Jenny Learner was a wonderful host and teacher. Our group thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we went home with our own works of art. The equipment and material used were top notch, explanations easy to follow and a very relaxed atmosphere. The building and environment with all of the artist studios was a plus.
BARBARA WOLF
Jenny is a great artist and it was a fun afternoon.
BARBARA SUCHERMAN
I had a great time. Energized and inspired. I definitely will try another workshop and will seek out Jenny again. I am an artist and love to be in other people's studios. The Art center was an unexpected gem!
KATHLEEN LETONA
This class was very informative and fun. Jenny shared her wealth of knowledge inspiring us to begin our own journey using this mysterious ancient medium. She was very generous of her time and talent; teaching us an array of different techniques. Great teacher...I would definitely take this class again!
PATRICIA GUHRS
Jenny learner a very gifted artist loved her class and studio i was very inspired and blessed to be there thank you so much for sharing ....
MARY FERAZZA
Jenny Learner is extremely well versed in encaustics and is a lovely person, too. I would highly recommend this afternoon workshop to anyone who is interested in an exciting and fun artistic experience.
SHARON AGUILERA
My experience with Jenny Learner's Encaustic Painting class was fantastic. Jenny began the class by educating us on all the materials that we were going to be using. She was very friendly and very funny. She made sure that even those who had no prior artistic backgrounds have a great time experimenting and creating with the use of bee's wax. I would not hesitate to take another one of Jenny's classes.
MARK STEIN
This class will have you leaving with treasures and smiles. Jenny provides the perfect introduction to this wonderful art form in a casual but informative way. You leave with just enough knowledge and excitement to make you come back again and again. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and would highly recommend this class for anyone with any interest in this art form--no experience necessary!
ROSS LITTON
I came back with three tiles that I made that Jenny said showed promise and sematry. I got to use the blow torch and witness first hand how to use it like a brush. I also got to "paint" with liquid colored wax and explored the many different techniques like pastel and holographic paper.
LINDA KRYGOSKI
Great fun! Learned lots! Jenny was extremely friendly and talented. No art experience required. Very educational and entertaining.

KIMBERLY SMITH
Seriously so much fun and a really cool project. Jenny is a great instructor, very real and easy to work with. This could get addicting!
BERNADETTE FOLEY
This was a great class! Jenny did a great job explaining the techniques and then helping as we tried them all. I was surprised at how easy it really was and nice everything turned out.
KRISTI SUMMERS
I loved this class! Jenny was right, you don’t have to be an artist to do this! Jenny was super fun/enthusiastic and very helpful. The atmosphere was very relaxed. This class is something I would definitely do again! the studio inside Zhou B was a bit difficult. Other than, everything was GREAT!
DEBBY SPERTUS
Jenny is a marvelous teacher. She was clear and organized with the information and the demos, and gave a lot of one-on-one attention while we all created our own artworks. Her studio is spacious, and she supplied lot of additional materials for us to experiment with. In our class we had rank amateurs, seasoned professionals, and people somewhere in between. I think everyone got what they needed at the level they needed it. I highly recommend the class to anyone who is even intrigued about encaustics.
JANICE DEVINE
A wonderful introduction to encaustic painting. Jenny did a great job of explaining the process and then we got to create some pretty cool pieces as we went through the different techniques she demonstrated. Thanks Jenny!!!