Short Bio

I am an artist with an unrelenting passion for translating life's journey into a colorful reimagined playbook.

Statement

My obsession is capturing moments on canvas. My method combines the “snapped seconds” in time into a new colorful, graphic reality. I am an artist with an unrelenting passion for translating my journey through life into a colorful reimagined playbook. My inspiration begins with an experience or a photo. An image begins to form, a manifestation of sorts swirls around taking shape. Through the use of color, line and form working in a small space using simple materials, a canvas, paint, and brush in a primitive manner I lay down the components. I get relief from the pressures of life, the domesticity of my situation.

Biography

The works of J Inky Lorain Cantrell take the mundane everyday domesticity of her existence and slam it against cultural experiences creating art that is primitive and colorful. As a creative kid her father supported her by taking her to art classes, thus the journey began. As an artist she has created works in the most mundane of circumstances while balancing the life of a domestic goddess. Encouraged by her husband to expand her artistic knowledge along with her experience teaching she explored different artistic genre’s receiving training in commercial art where she absorbed the facets of that culture and societies influence. Using this knowledge she explored how she could translate her experiences on to canvas. Her desire to incorporate teaching art into her repertoire she attended a local university. Through this experience she uncovered how she reacted to societal norms. It was this momentum that cemented bold graphic colors and common shapes all depictions of a new reality.

Resume / CV

Associate Degree in Commercial Art 

Bachelors Degree focused on Fine Art and Art Education- Art Teacher K-12

Masters Degree in Adult Education

Adult Art Craft Instructor Westlake Porter Public Library

Illustrator: Sonny the Hide n' Seek Bunny-Learning Colors

 

Exhibition Record

2025 Women's Art Show, Ashtabula Arts Center, Ashtabula, OH 2025

Save our Planet, Red Bluff Art Gallery, Red Bluff, CA 2025

Splendid Scenes, Hummingbird and Dragonfly Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2025

Inside the Box, Artisan's Corner Gallery, Newbury, OH 2024

Unveiled, Mentor Municipal Center, Mentor, OH 2024

The Forest is Calling I Must Create, The WestWoods Nature Center, Russell, OH 2024                                                                                                                                                            131st Annual Juried Exhibition, Women's Art Club of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 2024

Art That Tells A Story, Las Laguna Atrt Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA 2023

107th Thumbox Show, Ray Gallery, Columbus, OH 2023

Viewpoint 55, Cincinnati Art Club, Cincinnati, OH 2023

Size Matters, Stella's Art Gallery, Willoughby, OH 2023

Women's Show, Ashtabula Arts Center, Ashtabula, OH 2023

11even 2 Gallery, 7 Up, Cleveland, OH January 2023

Eisele Gallery, Viewpoint 54, Cincinnati, OH October 2022

Westlake Westshore Arts Council, Community of Fine Arts Show, Honorable Mention Mixed Media, Westlake, OH September 2022
Valley Art Center, Where Are We Surrealism, Chagrin Falls, OH July 2022

Stella's Art Gallery, Size Matters, Willoughby, OH July 2022

Mansfield Arts Center, 77th Annual May Show, Mansfield, OH May 2022

Stella’s Art Gallery, In Honor of Women, 1st Place Mixed Media, Willoughby, OH, March 2022

Creative Space, Positive Creativity, Avon, OH, 2021

Westlake-Westshore Arts Council, 19th Community of Fine Arts Show, Honorable Mention, Mixed Media, Westlake, OH, July 2019

Westlake-Westshore Arts Council, Community of Fine Arts Show, 2nd place Oil/Acrylic Category, Westlake OH, July 2017

Westlake-Westshore Arts Council, Community of Fine arts Show, 2nd place Oil/Acrylic, August 2016

Brush Strokes, BreakNeck Art Gallery, Lakewood, Ohio 2013

Westlake-Westshore Arts Council, Winners Circle, Juried Invitational Art Show, Westlake, OH, October 2012

Silverthorne Gallery, First Friday Series, Rocky River, OH, April 2007

Peoples Art Show, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 2006

The Pop Shop, Pop-O-Matic, Lakewood, OH June 2006

Local Girl Gallery, Lakewood, OH, 2006

Parma City Hall Exhibition, Parma, OH, 2005

Academy Graphic Communications, Inc., 52 Weeks 52 Works, Brookpark, OH, 2005 

Spring Mist Farms, Art on the Farm, Brunswick OH, June 2005

Vivid Art Gallery, Lighting the Night, Cleveland, OH, April 2004

Vivid Art Gallery, Solo Exhibition Inky’s World, Cleveland, OH, November 2004

Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, Guitar Mania, Cleveland, OH, 2004

Dress for Success, Martini Madness, Cleveland, OH, June 2004

Vivid Gallery, Cube Squared, Cleveland, OH March 2004

Sparx in the City, Cleveland’s on Fire, Cleveland, OH, June 2003

The Art Gallery, Eclecticism, Willoughby, Ohio September 2003

Art in the Park, Kent, Ohio, 2003

Art on Wheels Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio, Teaching Perspectives, August 2003

Berea Fine Arts Club, From Dusk to Dawn, Berea, OH, 2003

Berea Fine Arts Club, Mayfest, Berea, OH, May 2003

The Shoppe in Berea, Featured Artsit, Berea, OH, 2003

Brubrakers, Berea, OH, 2003

After Hours II, Greensboro, NC, 2002

Summer Salon, Greensboro, NC, 2001

Greensboro Artist League, All Members Juried Exhibition, Greensboro, NC, 2001

Art Wrap, Greensboro, NC, 2000

Baldwin Wallace Art Gallery, Senior Art Show, Berea, OH, February 2000

Baldwin Wallace Art Gallery, Berea, Ohio, Student Art Show, 2000

Baycrafter’s Art Gallery, Annual Floral Show, Bay Village, OH, 1993

C.S.U. Art Gallery, People’s Art Show, Cleveland, OH, 1993

Baycrafter’s Art Gallery, Bay Village, Ohio, It’s Raining Cats, Bay Village, OH, 1992