jennyarntzen.art

  Graphite, pencil crayon, pen and ink on paper - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" My friend Debra came over yesterday afternoon and we pulled out the pencil crayons and worked up some quick sketches. We used reference photos from our phones for inspiration. We set a time limit, which happened to coincide with afternoon caregiving routines. Within these simple conditions, we sipped pink lemonade, talked about life and made our drawings.  When I stepped back I had made this crow sitting on a fence rail looking out at me with this quizzical, slightly suspicious, inquiring expression. He is the perfect interlocutor to all my various creative works underway right now. I often ask myself, "Whose bright idea was this, anyway?" Only to answer, "This was your idea. This was your idea of a fun thing to plan to do." I'm loving this sketch and looking forward to taking it through more layers of pencil crayon, ink washes and ink pen.

  Acrylic ink, pencil crayon, wax crayon, pen and ink on paper Every day is a challenge of making my way through the work of caring - all the relationships that radiate out from my singular life, situated in family, pets, research, music, art, garden, community. Making my way as I make sense of my situation on this geographic location on earth, at this time in human evolution, in this moment of an ever expanding universe. Making my way from the quotidian tasks that keep us alive to the mystery of creative works of endless repetition that allow slight variations to show themselves in moments of surprise. Understanding that my singular life is simply a particle of billions of human lives at this moment. Every day is a challenge to find meaning, to understand the significance of what it means to be alive, to be part of humanity, to be one living organism of billions of parts that constitute a sum life on earth. A sum that is greater than its parts. And I am part of it. Everyday is a c...

  Pen and ink, graphite, acrylic ink on paper A lone pear sits on the east kitchen windowsill. The morning sun streams in through the leaves of the Lombardi Poplar tree on the boulevard. The pear looks miniaturized in relation to the scale of the window and sill. The stem bends toward the window and the promise of unknown possibility beyond the pane of glass. There is hope in an open window. Infinite possibilities are to be found outside. The sunlight illuminates the pear and gives it shape, it also lights the interiority of the pear and gives me hope. The pear and windowsill are bathed in light. The reflection of sunlight rebounds to me looking at the picture.

  I walk my dog at least three times a day. We traverse the same streets and sidewalks, looping out and back to the house morning, noon and evening. We walk north, east, south and west. We observe changes along the way: gardens blooming, construction underway, traffic, mechanical noise. We encounter our neighbours: familiar and new dogs and cats, chickens in their coops. We also encounter our wild neighbours: bees, worms, squirrels, crows, rats, mice, eagles, raccoons, skunks, coyotes, pigeons, flickers and songbirds. Marilyn and I sat down for tea and talked about what it means to live a creative life and what constitutes 'evidence of activity'.  My takeaways from the conversation: Talking about fearless art-making, what have we got to lose Creative people need constraints to channel the flow Finding our perch for observation The work speaks to us, speaks through us, we open ourselves to the work We may not understand what we are looking at It is the second, third, fourth gla...

  Graphite, pencil crayon, acrylic ink, acrylic paint on paper Windows and window sills 

  Graphite, pencil crayon on mylar - in progress Everything I do is done in the smallest increments of time, knowing that an interruption is predicted and likely sooner than I would like. It is a luxury to have back to back hours, time for rest, meals, socializing, and back to the drawing board. It is even more of a luxury to have real estate - square footage of studio space dedicated to creative works - 

  I was out walking Adele, as we do three times a day.  I am often distracted by 'life on life's terms' and making sense of the latest teachable moments I encounter in my day to day life. Each day I face the challenge of constructing a sense of feeling a part of rather than feeling apart from. I seek connectedness, belonging, security. As I walked past a small shrub, there was a big crow climbing in the branches, not a few feet from me. I instinctively reached for my camera, hoping to collect an image for drawing later, but the branches were in the way and the crow was obscured by leaves.  I said to the crow, "Good morning, neighbour!" In a friendly, welcoming tone. Neighbour Crow flapped out of the shrub and up onto the corner of the roof of the closest house, peering down at me. "Whose a good bird?" I asked. "Whose a good bird?" Neighbour Crow flew down and perched on a gate, looking at me.  "You are a good bird! What a good bird! Such a...