Mount Vernon artist Jennifer McGill and her husband were cruising the tulip fields exactly one year ago today when the inspiration for this year’s official Tulip Festival poster struck.

There are two things you should know about that evening. The first is that while there may have been plenty of tulips (unlike the present situation one year later) there was no festival. The Great Pandemic of 2020 had seen to that. The second thing you should know is that April 7, 2020 was the night of what Jennifer remembers as a “big, romantic super moon.”

“I jumped out of the truck and caught this gorgeous golden moon rising over these beautiful tulip fields. I snapped a picture and that was the inspiration for the painting and its title: Under a Tulip Moon.”

Jennifer submitted her work to the committee of community volunteers who annually select a local artist to create the official Tulip Festival poster (click here to see previous posters). The artist is selected each November and the winning poster is unveiled at a celebration hosted at Skagit Valley Gardens (since rechristened Skagit Acres — with new signage recently installed by your friends at Meyer Sign, he said proudly).

Upon her selection as the 2021 Tulip Festival artist, Jennifer worked with Kevin Hartman of Westar Solutions to transform her painting into the 2021 festival poster, as well as official Tulip Festival apparel and many other products using the poster art.

The story of how Jennifer became a professional artist is as unique as her artistry. Her career began with the unlikely discovery that her biological father, who she never knew, was a professional artist. At seventeen, Jennifer received an art grant from Western Illinois University and focused exclusively on art at The Art Institute of Chicago & The American Academy of Art, studying watercolor with the late Irving Shapiro. She raduated with honors in 1990, and during her final year she received the Union League Civic Arts & Foundation Scholarship for Fine Art.

In another amazing twist of fate, Jennifer later discovered that her father attended the Art Institute of Chicago 27 years earlier! Spooky, right? Throughout her career, Jennifer has received a number of prestigious art and design awards and has won a range of art competitions. Her work is worldwide, with collectors, products and installations, and her resume includes working as a designer and illustrator for Enesco, Bunnies By The Bay and Dillon Works.

Jennifer’s 2021 Tulip Festival poster is available for purchase online through the Tulip Festival website, and can be picked up curbside at the Tulip Festival Office at 311 W. Kincaid Street in Mount Vernon (be sure to stop by Red Barn Art while you’re in the neighborhood). If at all possible, however, get your very own autographed copy at artist signings at RoozenGaarde and Tulip Town, scheduled every Friday through the rest of the April festival. Signing hours at Tulip Town hours are from 10am to noon (15002 Bradshaw Road, Mount Vernon), and at RoozenGaarde from 2pm to 4pm (15867 Beaver Marsh Road, Mount Vernon).

To see more of Jennifer’s work, you’ll definitely want to visit her website (Jennifer Ann McGill Fine Art Studio), which includes original works for sale.