My SMFA students are AWESOME

Ok, so they are not really MY students, as I am not faculty and have not taught any of them specifically. But I have offered them advice, helped them with projects, and watched them as they struggle through the creative process...so I do feel a little mother hen proud when they have significant accomplishments.

First, this Friday evening Feb 5 is the artist reception at Grub Street for [Current Work] by Max Colby, Kokoro Yanagita and Wayne Kleppe. Their work includes relief printing, collograph, mural drawing and handmade paper. Their work will be up through the month of February. Grub Street is located at 160 Boylston on the 4th Floor in Boston.

And opening on Friday Feb 5 is Paper Capers: Adventures in Paper Art at the Wenham Museum. This group exhibition includes work by SMFA post-bacc student Gessica Silverman. This past fall it was exciting to occasionally be a second set of hands as she worked to pull large sheets of kozo. The Wenham Museum is located at 132 Main Street in Wenham, MA. The exhibition program also includes a few family friendly programs with children's book illustrators, readings, and hand's-on projects.

Body & Soul Exhibition at Bunker Hill Community College, Boston MA

My work will be included in this awesome exhibition! Come to the opening on Thursday February 11, from 6 - 7pm.



www.bhcc.mass.edu

Stone Graining video

Had fun shooting this short clip while graining a litho stone:



Lithographic limestones are re-usable; once an image is drawn, processed and printed, the image can be removed and the stone used again for a new image. I use a levigator to grain off the previous image from the top surface of the limestone. The process is a bit painstaking, in that I start with a very course carborundum grit to blast away the image, going through several rounds. Carborundum grit is basically shaved metal. It's like using sandpaper. Then I progressively use finer and finer grits to level off the stone and create a smooth surface. During the process, I have to be consistent ands even, I cannot grain one side more than the other or else then the stone becomes uneven, which then interferes with the printing process later on. So periodically while graining, I also check the level of the stone and check for any scratches. Scratches will interfere with my image. I want the stone to be a smooth as a sheet of Rives BFK, having a slight tooth to the surface so the drawing materials will adhere nicely.

So while it is painstaking, it is also very meditative. Like kneading dough for a baker. Or at least that's how I imaging kneading dough would be like!

Old wood, new groove

"Destroyed" the block from a series of monoprinted woodcuts I started years ago. Still love the idea of the image but the image itself needed to change. Here's the proof so far. Still needs some work, stay tuned...

Let's read a story! more from the DeCordova

Forgot I shot this short vid on my phone!

DeCordova fun with Jlee

Earlier this week my little man and I went to a faculty holiday party at the DeCordova Museum. But the best fun was had in the museum's Process Gallery with an installation by Nadya Volicer, called "Brain Storm." Hundreds of leaves and birds made of hand made recycled paper swirled and whirled around the walls of the room. The floor was made of quilted squares of recycled fabrics. And tree stumps were created of rolled recycled magazines. In the center of it all was a large "tree" made of recycled wood pieces. Even cooler, there were books! Dr. Seuss's "Oh the Places You'll Go," "The Giving Tree," and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."

We took our shoes off before entering and the quilted floor felt neat and springy under our toes. There was one big tree stump and two smaller tree stumps, which Jackson enjoyed climbing atop of, ready to hear a story. He was also magnificently awed by the kaleidoscope of paper leaves, and the texture of the big tree in the center. We'll visit again in the winter, as it would be a great room to relax in after a bit of sledding outside in the sculpture park!

Cool Books!

Last Friday evening got to check out the opening of "Somewhere Far From Habit: The Poet & The Artist's Book" at the Pierre Menard Gallery in Cambridge, MA. The exhibit was a collection of artists' books whereby the artist collaborated with a writer/poet. There were some really creative books, some more sculptural than others. Various styles: pop up, accordion, fold out, long stitch... One book bound in an iron, another "book" on a long stretch of paper and pulled from a large tape measure... my technical nerd favorite was a coptic bound book with a continuous circular spine. Don't know where it started or ended!




But before headed out to the gallery, during the day I helped Ann Pelican at the SMFA to install an exhibition of books made by her students. Really neat little books made of found materials. Always inspired by the open creativeness of students exploring new techniques and ideas.

Gotta make more books...

Cool Videos (for printy nerds like me)

Found these and wanted to share. The first is a bookbinding video, including printing of the etching plates for the book pages and pulling of handmade paper for the covers. Lovely letterpress printing, on the bench sewing, case binding, ... shivers! The second is a 4 minute litho printing, from graining the stone to printing the edition. It's like litho on speed. Say no to drugs, say yes to printmaking!

Chain me to the press!

Printed some woodcuts this past Saturday on a litho press. Works well, not as much deep embossment cause there are no blankets to cushion and press the paper down into the carving of the wood. But it makes a nice impression and I was happy.

I love this Takach...



Here are some preliminary "underprints." I work in layers, monoprinting from a woodcut, varying the colors with each print...



And using stencils to block out some areas to further vary each print...



And some more "underprints." They are kinda like underpaintings: just a beginning layer to work on top of, to offer a background texture which will then be added upon by a middle ground of layers and a final printed layer.



But don't ask me what will happen next. My printing is like Iron Chef: I have an ingredient but I have no idea what will be added to the mix until it's done!

Connecting with The Art Connection

When I moved out of my studio back on January, I had a number of works that I loved but also wanted to find a good home too. I had always been interested in donating work to the Art Connection but kept putting it off until Tova Speter came to my studio and said "So Jenny..." Perfect timing! I handed off the art work to her, delayed the paperwork for months (shame on me) and finally got my work registered with their organization.

The Art Connection is a non-profit organization that connects artists and other non-profits. Artists who have art to donate, organizations who have a need for donated art to liven up their spaces, a perfect match. As artists, we often have so much work that sits around that it is a great opportunity to share our work with those in need. At no cost to the artist or the non-profit.

So far my work has been placed at the Massasoit Community College, The Dimock Center and the Lowell Community Health Center. I am very pleased that my work will be placed in public spaces to be viewed and appreciated by many people from varied communities.

Learn more about the Art Connection at www.theartconnection.org

Checking out Damian Ortega at the ICA with Jlee

So yesterday was Columbus Day (even though he didn't discover sh*t, but don't get me started...) and with no work and no daycare, Jlee and I set out make our own discoveries. First we headed to the ICA to check out the Damian Ortega exhibition Do It Yourself. Immediately Jlee was drawn to it, eyes wide open and pointing "Mommy look! What's that?"



He was instantly drawn to the spinning barrels of "False Movement (Stability and Economic Growth)," 1999. We both enjoyed Ortega's use of common items (chairs, dressers, tortilla chips, rolled pennies...) broken down and reconfigured to create monumental sculptures hinged on tension and balance. Even still objects had movement, as objects were tied together precariously, expectantly, on the edge of their own tipping point.





Then we checked out his mini videos "Nine Types of Terrain," 2007, of bricks laid out like dominoes and set in action. Jlee enjoyed watching all nine films... over and over... So proud that after starting him off early with gallery visits, he now appreciates contemporary conceptual art.

After also going to the duck pond and to the Museum of Science, Jlee and I later followed up our ICA adventure with an activity at home of stacking and creating our own balance sculptures and cause-and-effect actions using blocks, chairs, books, cans, plastic cups, cereal boxes, etc.

Collaborative Drawing

Collaborative drawing between Jackson and mommy Jenny:

Figure Drawing at the Eliot School

Tuesday nights I teach Figure Drawing at the Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, MA. I share the class with another teacher, alternating weeks. It's an open, drop-in class, with a different model scheduled each week. Low-key, no pressure, very congenial atmosphere. The attendees are both professional and casual artists, some who come every week, others who come as the wind blows every once in a while.

This past Tuesday there was a man visiting from France, who spoke only French, but eh, the language of drawing is universal, right? He drew on the floor, all over the floor, laying his large sheets of paper down and sitting/kneeling/squatting with hand fulls of charcoal chunks. His figures were almost ghostly, wirey, sinewy. As if there was no skin, all muscle striations. It was kind of reminiscent of Anselm Kiefer or even Leonard Baskin. In any case, I was not only keen on his drawings but also his act of drawing. Very much like my own act of carving large woodcuts, very aggressively to get the overall large figure then settling in to more refined cuts to bring out slight details.

I love these moments of teaching when students are inspirational, reminding me to push my own boundaries and not fall into a trap of complacency with my art.

Art Adventures: Guitar Hero and Dinosaurs

Jlee accompanied me to Mass MoCA and check out his mad skills at the Kid's Space wall of guitars:




He also really loved the Sol Lewitt murals (impressed everyone with his knowledge of shapes and colors) and the Simon Starling sculptures (hard to stop a kid from touching shiny things...).



He insisted the sculpture was a dinosaur and was quick to tell me where the head, feet and tail were when I asked. So how could I argue?

Jenny Hearts Sol Lewitt

Ashamed to admit that this past weekend was my first venture out to Mass MoCA. Tsk tsk, I know. And yeah, I'd been meaning to go out there but never really felt an urgent need/desire/drive to go...until Sol Lewitt happened. I love LOVE Sol Lewitt's murals. Sometimes when I just happen upon one of his murals by chance, walking into the lobby of an office building or rounding the corner of a gallery in a museum, I get all slack jawed and glazy eyed. Isn't that how you get when you're in love? Or is it just me...?

Color Linoleum Printing at the Fitchburg Art Museum

This past Sunday I woke up early for an hour-long drive out to the Fitchburg Art Museum, where for over a year now I have been teaching one-day printmaking workshops. They have a lovely small press and a nice studio for water-based printing. Mostly suitable for relief printing and monoprinting but I hope to teach some intaglio classes there in the future. This class was on making multiple-color linoleum block prints. Certainly something that can be taught in a 6-hour workshop, but suffice it to say that there were some ambitious folks in the class! Here are some images of the works in progress:

Just Beat It and Fun at the DeCordova

I have decided that Lucia can be sporty woodsy learn-to-swim mama. I shall be arty music explorer adventure mommy.

This past weekend Jlee and I met up with our friends Ophelia and Zeke, a good college friend from Wellesley and her 8-yr old son, and headed to the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park for Summer Free Friday. Free admission! Music! Crafts! Fun! We didn't spend a lot of time indoors because it was such a nice day and perfect for walking around the sculpture park. The boys LOVED exploring the landscape and "exploring" the sculptures. I was very impressed that Zeke knew who John Wilson was. And of course everyone enjoyed the musical xylophone sculpture by Paul Matisse, cause my little man is so musical!



Then on Saturday morning, we got up early early to trek out to Spontaneous Celebrations in Jamaica Plain to drop in on the toddler drumming class taught by Sugarfoot. SO MUCH FUN! Ok here's the thing: Jackson is high energy. He wakes up alert and ready to go. So now our goal is to find activities that focus his energy and helps him learn something fun. Like music! He was so engaged and attentive to Sugarfoot, who was an awesome and fun teacher for the kids. And now I know how to make simple musical instruments for Jackson, out of buckets, sticks with one end padded, empty cans, duct tape and beans. Voila! Percussion!

Arty Party Weekend or How I Learned to Love Contemporary Art

This weekend, I had the great honor of being infused and inspired!

First, on Thursday night I went to a performance by Wumni at Dietch Projects in Long Island City, NY. Dietch Projects was exhibiting a group show titled "Pig" including several large scale installations by Paolo Pivi and large drawings by Paul Chan, among others. It was so very New York to be in this installation space in a warehouse on the docks of Long Island City, rocking out to a cross-over Kenyan band. I almost wish I could move back there!



Then Friday afternoon I got the spectacular opportunity to meet and visit the studio of Kenyan-born Brooklyn artist Wangechi Mutu. Lucky me. I had heard of her work a while ago but only really seriously began to understand her work, process and themes about a year ago when her collages were part of the "Black Womanhood" exhibit at the Davis Museum. So for me to see her studio, and especially to see works in progress (how an idea starts, how an idea progresses, how an idea changes, and finally how the idea is finalized...) was big. So big. Especially since I have no studio right now ... but I digress. The point is, I was overwhelmingly inspired to meet a fellow black woman artist who works in a similar way as I do: collage, large scale, figurative, narrative, and self-reflective themes. Like I said, lucky me.

Finally, on Saturday I went to a private reception at the Art Barn, the collection of Jerome and Helen Stern on Long Island. Woah. Ok so here's the thing. It took me a while to get into contemporary art and really GET IT. Sure, I'd appreciated and connected with the work of Jenny Holzer (subversive use of text), Kiki Smith (subversive use of her body), and Louise Bourgeious (just plain subversive). But some how it all clicked when I saw a show of work by Mariko Mori at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. At first I thought: bizarre chick. But I loved the quirkiness of it, her use of herself as a model/performance artist, the use of photography/video as a medium for documenting her performance/situations... and then there was the alien/other being thing that she's into where she transforms herself into something else (using costumes, make up, etc) and inserts herself into these innocuous places with ordinary people who are oblivious to her.

So when I walk into the Art Barn it's full of contemporary art, of course. It's not really a BARN but a modern steel building mimicking a barn. The Sterns built the barn to house their growing collection with a large high ceiling gallery on the lower floor and two smaller galleries on the upper floor. And lo and behold guess what art work is on the wall of the main gallery? Mariko Mori's 6-panel photograph "Empty Dream."



It's a long and complicated story about how all this transpired and came about. Top secret. One thing led to another. But suffice it to say, I am very appreciative.

More Sketchbook...

My sketchbook mess. What do they say about cluttered minds...?

Extreme Printmaking and Artist Books at SGC Chicago

Last week I went to the SGC Conference, hosted by Columbia College in Chicago. A very good conference! Over 1600 attendees, great demos and fabulous panels.

One panel that stuck out most for me was titled Printmaking with Extreme Technology. Woah. 3-d printers, laser cutters, computer programmed woodcuts, etchings on microchips...I especially was intrigued by Mike Lyon's digital drawing machine. Traditionally, not a "print." But consider the definition of a print. Using a press is not required. Using a matrix is not necessarily required. But here is a process that DOES use a matrix: the computer program and the machine itself as repeatable, being able to reproduce and edition a drawing countless times over. So... isn't that a print? Kinda?




The exhibition Monumental Ideas in Miniature Books was another highlight for me. I am so attracted to artist books and always looking for inspiration. Some were simple, many incorporated unusual and interesting materals. The only downside was that we couldn't touch the books. Many of them begged to be opened, but also many were rather fragile or more sculptural than page-turning.