jennyarntzen.art

 

  Graphite, pencil crayon on mylar - 12" x 9" Last night I decided to stay in instead of going out to an open mic evening. I am recovering from burn out. I used up my energy on an artist date to the art supply store at midday with my good friends, Christine and Louise. I couldn't wait to try my new drawing materials. I was happy to stay home with the dog for the evening. Ellen Dissanayke describes how pre-contact human tribal societies show a common trait of calling themselves 'people' (human) and neighouring tribes (non tribe members) 'other' (non-human) (Dissanayake, 1995 p. 15). This construction of human identity seems self-evident and passes uncontested. Humans everywhere tend to consider themselves and their immediate kind to be the measure of all things. The pear drawing project continues. There are four pears on the windowsill. Three of them are loosely grouped to the left of the picture frame. The fourth pear is turned to the extreme right, peerin...

  Graphite, pencil crayon, soft pastel, chalk, erasure on mylar - 9" x 12 " I walked to the local grocery store and purchased a collection of pears to serve as my still life models. My creative works are scaled to my available resources for time, space, materials and technique. Ellen Dissanayake, in her book, 'What is Art For?' argued for a biobehavioral view of our human activity of making creative works. This view demonstrates an enactive relationship between behaviours that contribute to species success (imagination, teachability, pro-social leadership) and genetic evolution. For example a tribe of humans that are able to respond to difficulty with imagination, learn new techniques and follow new leadership are going to be more successful at reproduction than a tribe that lacks imagination, is unable to adapt to changing conditions, and follow toxic, anti-social leadership.  I am working from home, looking after my frail, elder Mom. My days and time are tied to her...

  Graphite, pencil crayon, soft pastel, chalk on mylar - 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" Three pears on a window sill.  The news from the United States is terrible today. It is deeply distressing to see men and women kidnapped of the street by masked men in unmarked vehicles. Later we learn these people are being detained by US government in unlawful concentration camps. Still later we learn some of them have been shipped to a giant prison complex in El Salvador. The El Salvador prison is being paid $6 million a year to hold US prisoners. And then we hear that the only way out of this El Salvadorian prison is death. I am alone in my room making a drawing of pears. I am processing the horror of the unfolding collapse of civil society in the United States. I am trying to make sense of what is happening. I am processing what is happening and what it means for me and my family. The news from the United States is terrible today. It is deeply distressing to learn that women are being left to die f...

  Graphite, pencil crayon on tracing paper - 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" It is a quiet late winter afternoon. Something about Adele's glance caught my eye and I was inspired to make a drawing. The image in this post is a scan of a drawing. The process of drawing creates a space for contemplation, between the experience of observing Adele in the chair, capturing a series of photographs of the moment, selecting a photo to use as a reference for drawing, and then working up the drawing through a series of drawing sessions. Adele has been curled up on one of her many favourite chairs, never more than a few steps away from me. Something in her surroundings has roused her and put her on alert. Each drawing session (there were three or four to create this drawing), is a unique experience of consideration, of thinking about and persevering against the force of recurring questions: Is this image worth drawing? Are my artistic efforts worth doing? What does this image say to me? What does this...