JEFF KERNS

Born: July 11, 1959

Parents: Eddie W. and Sallie B. Kerns

Siblings: Gladius A. Smith, Heyward W. Kerns and Gregory L. Kerns

 

Mr. Kerns recalls learning to draw long before he began his formal education. Kerns says the greatest art lesson he ever received came from his father while they were sketching with charcoal. Kerns’ father, a college graduate with a major in art, told his son, ‘Just draw what you see.’

 

Kerns’ early subjects were superheroes and cowboys and Indians. During his childhood, everyone in his family spent time drawing and painting. According to Kerns, “I thought that everybody was supposed to know how to draw. I didn’t realize until first grade that not everyone was serious about art.”

 

By age 10, Kerns was honing his artistic skills everyday. With tutorials from his parents, Kerns went from drawing fictional subjects to cars. Soon he advanced to drawing the hottest musical group at the time: the Jackson 5. Kerns’ interest in portraits was sparked by his desire to capture the likenesses of young Michael Jackson.

 

Kerns’ first attempt to draw someone he actually knew came when classmate Kappa Renee Scott confronted him with, “I’ll bet you can’t draw me.” He accepted the challenge by rendering a pencil drawing of her. Ms. Scott proudly showed the drawing to all of her friends. Soon, Kerns had many requests from other girls wanting their portraits done.

 

“That’s when my desire to become a doctor ended,” said Kerns. “My high school art teacher, Diane McGee frequently entered my work in art contests. I didn’t even know I was in the first contest until I received an invitation to pick up my award.” Kerns went on to win numerous national Scholastic Art awards.

 

Still in high school, Kerns began accepting commissions to draw portraits for people around town. While most kids his age had part time jobs bagging groceries, Kerns was earning income by drawing portraits at the Greenville Flea Market.

 

In 1977, Kerns enrolled at the Art Institute of Atlanta. There he studied advertising, illustration, graphic design and photography.  “At art school I learned there are many ways to do art. After being exposed to different artistic styles and opinions, I realized there is no right answer. It’s all a matter of personal taste. This realization caused me to lose interest in art contest,” said Kerns.

 

To fund his art school education, Kerns worked at Dos Amigos, a once popular Mexican restaurant in Atlanta. He started as a dishwasher and quickly worked his way up to kitchen manager. Through Dos Amigos, Kerns met local restaurant owner Tom Nickoloff. Impressed with Kerns’ talent, Nickoloff commissioned Kerns to design the first La Paz Restaurant logo.

 

Shortly after the La Paz job, Kerns began accepting freelance design and illustration assignments from other local companies. After graduating in 1980, Kerns continued to work as a freelance commercial artist.

 

Below is a partial list of companies that have commissioned art from Jeff Kerns.

• The American Association of Black Cardiologist
• The Atlanta Business Chronicle
• Hall Real Estate Group
• Atlanta Lawyers Club
• 100 Black Men of Dekalb County
• Houston’s Restaurants
• Harry Norman Realty
• Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty
• La Paz Restaurants
• Market Place Color
• Murphy’s Restaurant
• Morrison’s Cafeteria
• Napa Auto Parts
• The Paradox
• Ruby Tuesday’s Restaurant

 

In 1992 Jeff refocused his attention to portrait painting. Since, then he’s drawn and painted thousands of portraits for private clients all across the United States and in Latin America. Mr. Kerns work has also been collected by patrons in Europe, Australia and China.

 

References are available upon request.