jennyarntzen.art

  Graphite, pencil crayon, wax crayon, shellac on paper - 8 1/2" x 11 Perhaps the most important work we will do is share our creative works with each other, and, by so doing, broaden our perspective and deepen our understanding of each other. This drawing is a freehand version from the series of photos I shot of Dandy perched on the roof of the neighbour's car. What I love about this freehand drawing is how a character and personality of Dandy emerges from the distortions of shape, symmetry and size. His gaze has a knowing look, like he is very confident in his knowledge and he is getting ready to share it with me for my benefit. The background is atmospheric, providing space for the unknowable energies that give rise to our experience and our understanding of the world. Our efforts to make creative works will often surprise us. Our results rarely match our expectations. When we practice making creative work we become more accepting and interested in learning from our results...

  Graphite, pencil crayon, wax crayon, shellac on paper - 8 1/2" x 11" It is not easy to be human, it is even harder to be a human being who builds strength and good will in our families and communities. This is Dandy, another neighbour cat. Dandy is a very cool cat. He does not care a thing about what is going on around him. If he is laying in the middle of the road to catch a sunbeam, that is where he will stay until he decides it is time to move. When I first met Dandy I thought maybe he was lost. When I asked around, all the neighbours I talked to told me he is a well known cat and loved by many. In this drawing I worked from the photo to get a sense of Dandy's attitude while he was surveying the passersby from the roof of my neighbour's car. When melted wax or wax crayon is put on paper, it creates a waterproof coating that resists the wash of paint. That resistance allows the layers below the wax to show, to be visible no matter how many layers of paint wash are...

 Graphite, acrylic paint on paper - 9 3/4" x 12 What is most important is that we put time into learning about the world, and being human, and share what we learn with each other. That is how we stay in touch, solve problems, and pull together when things are difficult. Adele and I were out walking past our neighbour's house, Bruno and Veronica. Sitting on the porch and watching us with wary stillness was one of their cats. Using a photo as a reference, I built up the shape of the cat in relation to the porch it was crouched on. I laughed when I stepped back and saw how large the eyes were, the crooked mouth, and the two differently sized paws. It looks like it is ready to reach out and take a swipe at us. When we start a creative project we don't know exactly how it is going to turn out.  With each layer we add depth, meaning, and dynamic energy. As the work progresses, we may feel discouraged, overwhelmed, or disappointed. That is normal. We persevere and add more layers...

  Pen, acrylic paint on mylar - 7 3/4" x 5" This collection of cat cards is my way of showing that there are many, many ways to understand the world around us. There are also many, many ways to share our understanding through our creative works, whether we write a song, make up a dance, write a play, draw or paint a picture, or compose a poem. As I took pictures of the cat, it moved its head and sight line slightly to look at me. Drawing the portrait of the cat, I was also drawing a portrait of my moment in time. This was a moment of tedium and uncertainty, day after day. I never quite knew if I was tending to Mom's last day or the beginning of many more days stretching into an unknown future. The drawing is constructed in many layers, the paint is applied with a painting knife to give a more organic, dynamic edge, shape and line. We are all growing and changing every single day. We are learning how to be part of families, communities, and humanity. At the same time we ar...

  Pen, acrylic paint on mylar - 5 1/2" x 4 1/2" Out on a dog walk we came across a neighbourhood cat sitting and watching the world go by. Some days the creatures in my neighbourhood were my source of connection to a social world beyond looking after Mom. It was only after I started working on this portrait that I realized the cat was wearing a heart shaped tag. In this image the cat is looking past me, something has caught its attention behind me. Each moment carries a sensibility of movement, of time in motion, the paint dries, but the sense of continuous movement remains in the marks, the intensity of the colour, and the shape of the cat against a tumultuous background. Sending love and strength to inspire your creative works in 2025. Our creativity provides an opportunity to learn and grow. We can broaden our perspectives and deepen our understanding of ourselves and each other.  Through these experiences we increase our capacity and develop our capability to form strong,...

  Acrylic ink on coloured cardstock paper - 4" x 6" Project management uses a communication theory to calculate increasing complexity for communication management as project teams add new members. Each new member will entail a potential communication channel with every other member of the team. The formula for calculating communication channels is as follows: Number of potential communication channels = n   x   (n-1)/2 In other words, the number of people involved is multiplied with itself after subtraction of 1 and subsequently divided by 2. Two team members have one communication channel. Three team members have three communication channels. Four team members have six communication channels. The increase in team members causes an exponential increase in communication channels. It is helpful to understand this theory to also understand the complexity of adding new team members, but also the complexity of making changes to plans. The larger the team, the higher the risk f...

  Acrylic ink on cardstock paper - 4" x 6" Many years ago I attended an art exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was a collection of drawings by European masters. I was fascinated by the use of a coloured ground to build both light and dark tones into shapes and meaning. Today I applied a layer of tinted Titanium White ink and a cool mix of oranges and blues to give a layer of rich grey. The paper itself is a brown cardboard colour, providing a coloured ground. The Titanium White was mixed with water in a sequence of intensity. The ink was applied with a glass pen and then 4 different brushes, scaling from fine to a 1/2" flat. I would add 1mm of water to the mix each time I changed the brush size.  As the drawing progresses, my hand loosens up and the lines take on a more dynamic, expressive feel. I honestly don't know exactly what the drawing is trying to tell me as I am making it. I just have to trust that it will make sense to me if I continue to work with it....

  Acrylic ink on cardstock paper - 4" x 6" I'm never quite sure how the day is going to turn out. I can't make a prediction or judgement based on how the morning unfolds. I have gone from fighting for time to myself where I don't have to check in on Mom and socialize every 1/2 hour, to long periods of time where I'm not talking to anyone. Each morning, I start on my own and by 10 am I am out walking the dog thinking about who I might call to check in with. I don't want to presume any particular person wants to talk to me more than once a week, so I flip through my mental Contacts app and see if anyone has been out of touch. Many days I will keep myself to myself and do my voice exercises for singing while Adele leads me on her morning sniff walk. Today I was inspired to take a picture of the livingroom with Adele sitting looking out the window. I sent it off to each of my three kids and they all got back to me. That felt good. It turned out my youngest son...

  Pencil crayon, acrylic ink on paper - 4" x 6" cardstock I never know what is going to happen. I never know how the drawing is going to turn out.  It doesn't take much to disrupt a creative work flow. Work at my art desk requires quiet, organization, and creative energy. The combination of needing to re-organize the household to get Mom's suite ready for rental, hosting our biggest Neighbourhood Folk event of the year on December 1, and dental surgery completed disrupted my art making capacity. It turns out all the infrastructure I put together to support my creative works while I was looking after Mom are just as important now that I am adjusting to my new life now that Mom is gone. Last night I finally got my new art desk operational. I managed to get the first layers of grey inks to make a pear card. I had these pears on the window sill in the basement suite last year while I was looking after Mom. Over the course of several days, I took photos of the pears in tab...