A Masterly Stroke

Artist renews faith and finds career in religious works

By Joe Bollig, Leven staff

If Jason Jenicke’s “Raising of the Cross” reminds you of the Rubens masterpiece of a similar name – it’s supposed to.

But if you don’t quire recall the famous artist’s 1611 “Elevation of the Cross” being set against a backdrop looking remarkably like the Flint Hills, there’s a reason for that as well.

That’s because when the Lawrence artist and St. John the Evangelist parishioner recreates familiar religious scenes in his artwork, he often sets them against a backdrop that is strikingly familiar to archdiocesan Catholics as well.

While the Kansas flavor of Jenicke’s landscapes might be unintentional, the primary subject matter of his artwork is not. Although the 2001 graduate of the University of Kansas originally intended to become an illustrator, he has since become primarily a religious painter who focuses on traditional Catholic subjects like the Madonna and Child, the Last Supper, and the Sermon on the Mount.