jennyarntzen.art

  I have managed to get some time to myself after family caregiving during the holiday season that left me frayed and exhausted. I was recently reminded of the writings of Ellen Dissanayake, an American author and scholar who focusses on "the anthropological exploration of art and culture". She uses an behavioural approach to understand our continuing, pervasive human activity of art making. She is concerned with the importance of artistic activity as behaviour rather than a pre-occupation with perfectionistic finished works. She talks about how the results of art making, what she calls 'artification', is the treatment we give to ordinary objects, surroundings, etc. that imbues them with extra-ordinary meaning. Last winter I spent time with a flock of chickens and collected reference photographs for future drawings. There was something evocative about the spirit, the movements, and the presence of the chickens that fascinated me. These digital reference photographs yi...

  I sit down to work on a drawing. I have carved a bit of time out of the day after Mom goes to bed. I have no idea how the drawing is going to turn out. I turn off my brain. I turn off thinking about what it is I am doing. I turn off how I think it should go.  I listen for guidance from my eyes, my hands, my fingers holding the graphite, pencil crayon or brush. I observe what happens and sometimes laugh to myself with surprise at the humour of my subconscious making itself known in the marks it leaves on the page. Often I don't have the time, patience or energy to finish a drawing in one sitting. It will get through the first gesture and then wait on the display board for me to get back to it. Many times I have fallen in love with that first effort and I know the drawing isn't finished but I also can't bring myself to put the next layer over those first, simple, vulnerable lines. Finally I get tired of knowing that it needs more work and I take it down for the next layer. ...

  I have started the process of turning my drawings and paintings into original art cards for gifting and re-gifting. It is very different to see my drawings in their new package. One of my problems with this idea is that I fall in love with my drawings and it is very difficult to sell them or even give them away.  However, needs must.  I still have to set up the information sheet and make sure there is an email included in the package for story telling. It could be a Facebook page but I would rather set up a google account and provide a dedicated email, blog and google site for the project. Come to think of it, I could make a google site page for each card that gets sold, and then the stories of that card being given and received would show up on that specific page. What an interesting history that would tell! It is so important that we write down our stories and share them. Otherwise, the young ones will not know what our lives were, how we organized ourselves, how we o...

  The images I use for drawing are all collected with my phone camera. The crows are picked up on our dog walks through the neighbourhood, caught in a moment of being close enough but usually getting ready or actively moving to put more distance between us. The amount of detail I am able to capture depends on the angle of the sun in relation to the position of the crow. Nine times out of ten I don't have enough detail to elaborate feather edges but there is always enough character. Often I don't know what the crow is telling me until I start to work on the drawing and discover what comes through the lines. These drawings are experiments on a canvas coloured ground that I tinted years ago and then never made a picture. I transferred the technique I have been developing on paper to the canvas. I am enjoying the results so far.  This is work in progress. There will be at least two or three more layers to apply and see what happens.

  I'm prototyping the card sizes to set up production to turn original works of art into one-of-a-kind cards that can be gifted and re-gifted into perpetuity. At present I have three different sizes to work with: 1. Drawings (w/ paint) on small cards - 4.25 x 5.5 cards w/ envelopes Christmas Crow 2023 is an example of this type of card. Experimenting with classic Italian renaissance drawing techniques on coloured grounds. These cards are shipped in the 6 x 10 mailer for re-gifting. They have a removable message panel on the inside. 2. Drawings w/ paint on different media cut to fit a 6 x 10 or 8.5 x 11 in mailer envelope This is a picture of Neighbour Cat on card stock. This was a bigger drawing with paint on duralar cropped to fit the 6 x 10 mailer. The card opens up to the message panel, which is removable so the card can be re-gifted. The picture at the top of this post is another view of Neighbour Cat cropped to fit a single card panel that will be shipped in an 8.5 x 11 mailer...

  Crow 2023 12 22 - 4" x 6" graphite, pencil crayon - in progress Instruction Sheet DRAFT Welcome to the neighbourhood of giving and receiving original art cards! This is a neighbourhood of sharing original works of art to commemorate personal milestones, seasonal celebrations, and showing appreciation for the work we do to build strength in our families and communities. This card has been purchased by a benefactor who is helping to build and strengthen our connections and relationships through original art cards. Each card package includes a re-usable mailer, extra inserts and mailing labels and postage to re-send / re-gift the card 5 times. 

 

  Paper, shellac, graphite, acrylic wash

  Duralar, graphite, acrylic wash

  Paper, ink

  Adele, Digital drawing on iPad, Nov 5 2021 Thinking about infrastructure - the dimensions of capacity and capability that make it possible for us to get done what we hope to, or need to, get done. Thinking about infrastructure in terms of physical space, practice routines and social connections. Last night I spent several hours working on setting up my ad hoc studio and then sifting through boxes of photos and documents collected over a lifetime. This morning I am thinking about ways to spin that lifetime of investment, experience, education and consistent practice into my late-life engagement with the economic system : ) PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE My studio time is necessarily interleaved with my Mom caregiving. Most of the time I am getting my artwork done in the little studio I have set up in Mom's suite. I can work on my idea development, drawings and painting while Mom watches tv, sits quietly, or naps. Some of the time I have an afternoon free from Mom care and I go upstairs t...

  Paper, pen and ink, brush, 6" x 8 3/4" My first effort with graphite didn't work out when I tried adding colour using pencil crayons. I realized the paper and the scale affect the kinds of techniques and materials that can work.  This time I made the drawing with a blue pen and then added tone with a brush. It is essentially a monochrome, a study in blues. There is one more layer of wash to add. Fingers crossed. : )

  Paper, graphite 6" x 8 3/4" Perpetual art cards - paying forward the values, beliefs and behaviours that build strength in our communities. The card comes with five sets of stamps, inserts and fresh labels. The envelope is a re-usable mailer. The card sizes will vary - there will be card-shaped art, like this little donkey drawing, and art-shaped cards, larger pieces that can fit in a custom mailer. Each card is an original work of art, that has a life of its own from conception to completion. This drawing is part of a set of donkey drawings inspired by family. In this image the donkey is content, quietly grazing in a peaceful field. Behind her, is the great unknown. But she is not bothered. She is unconcerned about what she doesn't know. She trusts her family to keep her safe. On the back of each card will be contact information. When the card is given, or received, there is an opportunity to share the circumstances of the card changing hands, leaving one home and ente...

  It is 9 pm Saturday and I am getting this work completed that has been waiting for attention for at least a week. Kilner and Lemon (2013) wrote, "What we know currently about mirror neurons". They define mirror neurons as a class of neurons that modulate their activity both when an individual executes a specific motor act and when they observe the same or similar act performed by another individual. The key concept is that there is the close relationship between our experiences of things we do ourselves and things we observe others doing. How both of these activities involve our nervous system. Each day I start with great intentions to organize my thoughts, make myself a To Do list, and complete creative work projects that require creative energy, concentration and time to focus. I am entering my third year of family caregiving. Mom moved in with me on November 1, 2021. She wasn't expected to survive 6 months, but, here we are, December 2, 2023 and she is living her bes...

  Tyvek, acrylic paint, graphite, pencil crayon - 10 1/2" x 16" Added three shades of blue pencil crayon. Mixed up acrylic medium, black, red, raw umber to make the wash.  I got news that Little Donkey was experiencing serious health issues arising from a very rare birth defect.  In the drawing Little Donkey is slowly walking toward us away from the edge of space. It is heartbreaking news and I dare not intrude with questions as his family grapples with what comes next. Little Donkey trusts us to do the right thing, no matter what that is. The void behind him is a cool, vacant blue. The ground he stands on is warm and solid.  I haven't heard anything now for a couple of months.  The light bounces off his small body, lifting him above the surface of the picture plane. Tiny lines indicate his shape, his movement toward us. They reveal his trusting relationship to us, who look from beyond the picture frame. I hold Little Donkey with tender love and hope for the bes...

  Tyvek, acrylic paint, graphite, pencil crayon Added three shades of blue pencil crayon. Mixed up acrylic medium, black, red, raw umber to make the wash.  I got news that little Otis was experiencing serious health issues arising from a very rare birth defect.  The little donkey is slowly walking toward us away from the edge of space. It is heartbreaking news and I dare not intrude with questions as his family grapples with what comes next. The little donkey trusts us to do the right thing, no matter what that is. The void behind him is a cool, vacant blue. The ground he stands on is warm and solid.  I haven't heard anything now for a couple of months.  The light bounces off his small body, lifting him above the surface of the picture plane. Tiny lines indicate his shape, his movement toward us. They reveal his trusting relationship to us, who look from beyond the picture frame. I hold Otis with tender love and hope for the best.