Jen Sterling is an abstract painter based in Annapolis, Maryland, known for bold, highly saturated work that hits you before you can describe why. After thirty years as a branding entrepreneur — founding three creative agencies — she sold her last firm and went all in on fine art. It was terrifying. It was also the best decision she ever made.

Her work has earned an International Grand Prize from International Artist magazine for a piece inspired by the colors of a Tahitian black pearl. Her paintings live in private homes, commercial buildings, galleries across the mid-Atlantic, and on the occasional skateboard. She works large and small and is fiercely passionate about commissions.

Jen also founded Artist Open Studios, a nonprofit that opens Maryland artists' studios to the public and builds community among visual artists statewide. Three decades of business didn't disappear when she picked up a paintbrush — it just found a better purpose.

Her motto: plain walls don't change lives.