about 041374

---

041374 is the digital space that pulls my creative outlets together. I am an artist, a traveler, and WSET Level 2 certified wino. 

Jen Shaffer is an artist based in Minneapolis, interested in exploring abstract composition using diverse materials — she’s currently obsessed with contemporary magazines + catalogs mixed with vintage art history book pages. Jen studied graphic design at the U of M Twin Cities, where she earned her bachelor degree and an art history minor. Her work has been featured in many publications, most recently in Twin Cities Collective North Star Collage #1, #2, and #3. Jen’s creations have been on view locally at White Bear Center for the Arts, Burly Gallery, Gallery 360, and Minnesota Center for Book Arts. 

Over the years I've created little projects to feed my creative side. They also give me joy and purpose.

Collage

My current creative outlet is collage. I've been dabbling in collage for over 20 years, and it's been my primary medium for the last 5 years. My portfolio is currently my art Instagram account, and you can find originals and prints of my collage work in the Shop Art! section. 

Art & Wine Events

In spring 2025, I began facilitating creative workshops paired with wine at Violet Wine & Spirits, now called Art & Wine Events. Visit my home page or the Events page to see the most current offerings!

Polaroid a Day

In February 2025, I started a new blog: polaroidaday.com. Every day I post a polaroid from my travel archive. I’ve been bringing a polaroid camera or three on my trips for the last 15ish years and I stash the photos in a box upon my return. The act of finding the domain, setting up a blog, and cataloging my collection has been immensely satisfying. In February 2026, I began reposting the archive on Instagram: _polaroid_a_day_

Drinking Wine with Jen

During the pandemic, I arranged a couple of socially distanced wine tastings with friends, and drinkingwinewithjen.com grew from there, sorta. While I’ve done a few private wine tastings, it’s not quite a full-fledged endeavor, but maybe someday it will be! I hate Zuckerberg but still occasionally post about great wine / wine adventures on Instagram. I have been a member of the Violet Wine & Spirits team in NE Minneapolis since it opened in October 2022, and I've been moonlighting at The Little Wine Shoppe in St. Anthony Park since September 2021.

Painted Fish Studio

paintedfishstudio.com was my online identity from 2007ish-2015ish: I blogged and created. I hosted mostly-monthly art parties (pARTys) during this time frame, where I honed my teaching skillz. My primary medium during this phase of my life was bookmaking, and I was also very invested in stocking up on the last of the original polaroid film and taking instant photos. I self published 2 instant film books: one a collaboration with my friend Jen Victoor on a monthly word; the other a collection of my vintage chair photos. My Etsy shop from that time is still live, but I broke the blog. And I still bind books here and there…