Abstract Expressionism is well suited to Jewel's high-energy painting sessions where she likes to dive right in. 

"It feels wonderful to drop, splash, and throw mixed media for the under-painting. It influences the visual outcome without dictating it. Then I love to go crazy with brushes and palette knives." Simmons likes to blast post-grunge and funk metal music on her headset in order drown out distracting thoughts and let the painting finds its own way.

Jewel remembers loving to paint since the age of three. During high school she was fortunate to be accepted into a three year Art Program with an excellent instructor.

"We were drilled in tone, value, balance and composition for years before they let us get serious with graphic design. Our instructor told me I had a special relationship with my brush which really resonated with me." 

Simmons worked as a graphic artist for 35 years in publishing and commercial printing and later started a jewelry business. She moved to South Carolina to refurbish a barn into a studio. 

"An old passion kept tugging at my heart. I knew it was time to get back to working with paint. South Carolina feels like home to me. It has all the beauty of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey farmland I was raised in the middle of as a child. Peaceful fields and woods, sandy pine areas, abundant wildlife, and the beach. I love it here."