Jessie Arms Botke

When I think of an artist that exemplifies the ease and beauty of the California style, I think of Jessie Arms Botke. Born in Chicago in 1883, she studied at the Art Institute and with reowned artists Charles Woodbury and John C. Johansen among others. She got her start painting wall friezes in private homes and expanded with the Herter Looms interior design firm to be a muralist, tapestry cartoonist, and wall decorator. She married Dutch-born artist Cornelis Botke in 1915 and gave birth to their son William in 1916. The young family settled in Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1919 and later moved to a ranch in Santa Paula in 1927 where the Botkes continued to create and exhibit their work until Cornelis’ death in 1954 followed by Jessie in 1971.

Jessie’s use of color and her decorative studies of birds and flowers are what she is best known and loved for today. Her most prized works rendered the background of her paintings with gold leaf, emphasizing the charm and beauty of her subjects in the foreground. Along with the joy of getting lost in her technical skill as an artist, there is a peace and tranquility to her work that is a particularly welcome antidote to modern life. Her large murals transport the viewer into a serene woodland where birds and flora combine in a harmonious pageant. Her smaller works, especially those that employ gold leaf in their composition, make jewels out of scenes of birds in flowering or fruiting trees.