Young, Gifted and Wild About Birds 2022: Jenny Kroik

Jenny Kroik began to really love birds when she began to paint them. You might know her work from the cover of The New Yorker, or from Town & Country, Time, or numerous other publications, in print and online.

She began painting birds as a way to get to know them better. She used field sketching and studio paintings to familiarize herself with the characteristics of the species she came across in parks near her home in New York City. 

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and raised in Israel, Jenny immigrated to the U.S. in 2002. She studied illustration at the Art Institute of Boston, where she earned a BFA, and then earned an MFA in painting from the University of Oregon. Jenny has been working as a freelance illustrator since 2007, and as a university art instructor since 2006.

She’ll talk about her work and how drawing and painting can help you get in closer touch with the bird world. And she’ll show us how she does it by painting a bird while we watch.