Echoes and Evidence

So, suddenly my art “career” seems to be exploding!  Right on the heels of the “Illustrated Woman” show comes “Echoes and Evidence.”  The themes of this show are particularly meaningful to me, having lost my mom and too many friends to breast cancer, and working in the human services field with survivors of domestic violence.  The paintings  are a continuation of the “Spirit Dancers” series, with additions to symbolize breast cancer awareness and domestic violence awareness. 

Spirit Dancers #28

You can’t see it on this photo, unfortunately, but there are words superimposed on the figures.  The words include “mother daughter sister friend”, “survivor”, “courage”, “hope”, “joy”, “love” and so on to symbolize breast cancer awareness and domestic violence awareness.  This many colors in this one also suggest the diversity of women affected by both of these issues.  This one is 24 x 30.

Spirit Dancers #26

This one is specifically focused on breast cancer and has squares of fabric with different designs including pink ribbons, along with the words included on the previous piece. This is an 18 inch square.

Spirit Dancers #24

Spirit Dancers #25

Spirit Dancers #24 and # 25 are 12 inch squares, purple being the color symbolizing domestic violence awareness, and pink being the color symbolizing breast cancer awareness.  Each of the figures has a tiny ribbon resting over their heart.

Road Trip to Maine

After my trip to Florida, I spent a few days in Maine – here are some photos from that trip.  I head to the ocean whenever I can for the healing energy and peacefulness.

Patterns in the sand

 

Seaweed

 

Portland Head Lighthouse

 

Roque Bluffs

 

Namaste,

Jackie

Morikami Japanese Gardens

I’m on a short vacation in Florida and visited Morikami yesterday.  I walked through the Gardens and it was a lovely, serene setting.  There were several little stone monuments that I found to be fascinating.  If it hadn’t been over 90 degrees, I could have sat in the gardens for hours, just taking in the beauty.

It was a wonderfully calming and peaceful environment.  Perhaps I’ll try to do paintings of them.

Namaste,

Jackie

Illustrated Women Art Exhibit – Spirit Dancers

I just got this image about the exhibit – this is a postcard that will be sent out.  I didn’t know until yesterday that I was one of only 6 chosen to be in this show – wow!   

 I am very excited about this opportunity.  Amherst is the home of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College, Hampshire College, and near Northampton, the home of Smith College, and South Hadley, home of Mt. Holyoke College. Together, they are called “The Five Colleges” and are considered the elite!  This is really where the arts scene is in Western Massachusetts, and I’m thrilled to have my art being shown in this venue. 

Now of course I’m having all these thoughts about if my art is really “good enough” – the jurors only saw jpgs, not the real paintings….ugh, I hate this self-doubt! 

So, I’ll take a few deep breaths before the opening reception, put on my most confident smile, and have a good time.

Namaste,

Jackie

Spirit Dancers #7, 8, and 9

Spirit Dancers #7

Spirit Dancers #8

Spirit Dancers #9

Here are the last three – Numbers 1, 6 and 9 have been accepted into  the Women’s Caucus for Arts – Pioneer Valley Chapter ”Illustrated Women” exhibit, which begins on August 4, in Amherst, Massachusetts.

I am missing painting class and the time I was able to focus on painting. But I have some time this morning and will be doing some work in my studio.

Thank you to everyone for your comments and kind words!

Namaste,

Jackie

Spirit Dancers # 4, 5, and 6

Spirit Dancers #4

Spirit Dancers #5

Spirit Dancers #6

Here are numbers 4, 5, and 6.  Of these three, I really like #4 the best – the green is so vibrant and alive.

Painting class has ended, and I’m sad.  Having those two 4 1/2 hour blocks of time for painting was such a luxury. Throughout my life, I’ve put the fun, emotionally nourishing activities after the ‘work’ of life, and am learning now to incorporate the things that nourish my soul into my life.  In the summer time it’s so much easier, because my schedule is less crammed with work.  As I continue this journey of my own, I want to keep my own spirit dancing, and build studio time into my life.

Namaste,

Jackie

Spirit Dancers # 1, 2, and 3

Spirit Dancers #1

Spirit Dancers #2

Spirit Dancers #3

 These are closeup views of the Spirit Dancer paintings I posted as a group earlier this week.  I’ll post the other 6 later.  I had to present these to my class for critique yesterday and the teacher asked about the theme or concept, so I answered they were about a woman’s journey, and how sometimes we feel invisible and in the background, yet have an inner strength and resilience, and that there is both an independence and an interdependence among women, that women pay attention to relationships, and that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  Not bad for answering off the top of my head, eh?

I am very excited about how these came out.  I’m still working on the larger version, but so far I’m not happy with it.  We’ll see how it goes.

Namaste,

Jackie

Spirit dancers

Spirit Dancers

My painting class ends on Thursday, and I’m busy trying to complete the final project.  These are 10″ squares, and I’m working on a companion piece that’s a 48″ square.  I’m not sure I’ll get the larger one done in time, but I’m very pleased with these thus far.  I think I’ll be adding some additional highlights with iridescent medium, and I might outline the silhouettes to make them stand out more.  In close up shots, the individual silhouetts show up pretty well, so I may skip the outlines. 

 The underlayer is newsprint and torn up sheet music on canvas, which is painted with an acrylic glaze.  There is also some gauze and texture gel in the underlayer. The silhouetts are cut from paper, and then I added highlights with iridescent water colors ($1 a set at Big Lots!) that are really very rich and beautiful.  I need to add a bit more of the watercolor to some of the silhouettes to make them even more apparent. 

I’ll post the individual paintings when they are all done.  I see a larger series emerging here.

Namaste,

Jackie

Sunflowers

Sunflower 1

Sunflower 2

Sunflower 3

Here are a few more paintings from class – Sunflowers 1 and 2 are on 6″ square canvases, and #3 is on a 12 x 16 sheet of canvas.    This was my attempt at doing something that was at least somewhat representational.   Sunflowers are among my favorite summer flowers.  I also am a fan of Georgia O’Keefe’s floral paintings, although her paintings of flowers are so much more vibrant and alive than mine.

Namaste,

Jackie

more from painting class

Mixed media, paint, paper collage, on 42″ x 42″ support

This isn’t a great photo, since I took it with my camera phone.  There is a lot of texture and depth – layers of newspaper which is glazed over in acrylic paint, splashes of black paint, some texture gel and mesh fabric,  then the silouhettes cut from construction paper and scrapbook paper, and a little more black paint streaked on.

Some of the scrapbook paper cutouts almost blend in to the background – this may be the start of a series that will become my final project.  Stay tuned!

Namaste,

Jackie