Jay Harper employs an instinctive painting practice that radiates an innate sense of peace, calm, and meditation. Focusing on capturing raw emotion, she varies her techniques based on her mood—alternating between direct visual references and free-form concepts drawn straight from her mind. Working with oil on wood, she frequently wipes away applied paint to reveal hidden, pre-primed colors underneath. This subtractive process allows her to explore when a piece is truly finished, remaining careful never to obscure the original mood.

Jay initially studied fashion in Falmouth before interning at Vivienne Westwood. After a year navigating the fast-paced energy of city life, she relocated to the tranquil coast of Cornwall, where she established her home studio and transitioned fully into painting. She now lives and works in Bristol.

"Painting allows me to enter a deeply meditative state," she notes. "I love to experiment with different subjects, but my ultimate goal is always to capture a pure feeling without ever painting past it."