Long Island’s favorite daughter, Jennifer Gennari, has 74.7 k followers on Instagram. The numbers don’t lie. Gennari is a talented painter of lions and tigers and bears, oh my (ok, well not bears—yet.). Her beautifully empathetic portrayals of animals, furry and feathered, has indeed garnered her much popularity, but there is more to this book than what is on the (Instagram) cover. With a background in illustration from her studies at the Ringling College of Art and Design, Gennari combines this knowledge with classical painting skills learned at the Florence Academy of Art and a love of complex mythical symbolism to create iconic portrayals of women and men in powerfully imaginary narratives that inspire and intrigue. Gennari was named 21 under 31 Artists to Watch in 2013 by Southwest Art magazine, has shown at the RJD Gallery at their previous location in Sag Harbor and received a Certificate of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America in 2015. Gennari shares with us her creative rituals, spooky stories and the art heroes that have inspired her. *This was recorded on November 14th, 2017. Support the show (https://paypal.me/artgrindpodcast?locale.x=en_US)