Save the Date: AIGMV Show at the Nevins Library

I will be participating in the Artists Institute Group of the Merrimack Valley's 13th Annual Art at the Library Show and Sale next month:

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios

Update - The I Ching Project: New Work... Part 2... 7/9/2014

Part 2 of New Work:

#43 Resolute Reform: The 1st pic is of the initial knot design, the 2nd is of the biomorphic shapes, the 3rd is of the biomorphic shapes being blocked in, and the 4th is a portion of the final painting:

 

 #52 Stillness: The 1st is of the biomorphic shapes and the initial blocking in, the 2nd is of the biomorphic shapes being blocked in, and the 3rd is a portion of the final painting:

 

 #55 Abundance: The 1st is of the biomorphic shapes as well as the hexagram and the Chinese character, the 2nd is of the biomorphic shapes being blocked in, and the 3rd is a portion of the final painting:

 

 

 

 

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios

Update - The I Ching Project: New Work... Part 1... 7/9/2014

It's been an incredibly busy and productive summer and it is looking as if fall is going to be even busier! The I Ching Project is nearing completion. Of the 64 proposed mixed-media paintings, 48 of them have been completed with 5 in progress, 2 to re-work and only 9 left to start.

The biomorphic shapes have evolved over the course of this project, now approaching it's 18th month and I believe it's a little overdue to present some new work:

#1 Creative Action: The 1st pic is of the initial design, the 2nd is of the biomorphich shapes being blocked in along with a portion of the hexagram and the Chinese character, and the 3rd is a portion of the final painting:





 

 

#8 Mutual Help: The 1st pic is of the initial knot design, the 2nd is of the biomorphich shapes, the 3rd is of the biomorphic shapes being blocked in, and the 4th is a portion of the final painting:

 

#23 Disintegration: The 1st pic is of the initial knot design with the hexagram and Chinese character, the 2nd is of the biomorphic shapes being blocked in, and the 3rd is a portion of the final painting:

#35 Seeking Reward: The 1st pic is of the initial knot design, the 2nd is of the biomorphich shapes along with the hexagram and Chinese character, the 3rd is of the biomorphic shapes being blocked in, and the 4th is a portion of the final painting:

 

More to come! This is only a small portion of what I have been working on...

 

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios

 

 

 

UPDATE: Upcoming News and Events... 6.9.2014

I will be participating in the upcoming shows and exhibits:

• The Sage Art Gallery River Ruckus Juried Exhibition "Flow/Motion"
• The exhibit is running now thru September 27th, 2014.
• The Sage Art Gallery is located at 136 Washington Street (Route 110), Haverhill, MA.
• This is my 1st juried show and I am looking forward to it!

• The Woburn Guild of Artists have been invited by the Woburn Historical Society to participate in a exhibit at the Burdett Mansion. The exhibit will run from September 20th, 2014 thru October 18th, 2014.
• The Woburn Historical Society is open: Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and is located on 7 Mishawum Road in Woburn, MA.
• There will be a reception on September 20th in the morning.

 

• The 13th Annual Art Exhibit and Sale Presented by the Arts Institute Group of the Merrimack Valley, this year’s theme is: Red Brick and Stone. The exhibit will be held in the Great Hall on the 3rd floor of the Nevins Memorial Library on Route 28 in Methuen, MA.
• Exhibit opens: Wednesday, October 22nd
• Artist Reception and Awards Night: Thursday, October 23th at 6:30 pm.
• Exhibit closes: Saturday, November 1^st

• The Woburn Guild of Artists will be participating in their annual show at the Congregational Church in Woburn, MA. This will be a one-day show held on November 29th from 3:00 pm –7:00 pm.

Additional details to come!

 
Jenn White
White Rooster Studios

Artist Date: Boston Museum of Fine Arts… 27.5.2014

Our annual Memorial Day visit to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts was a mix of disappointment, frustration and an unexpected surprise.

Most of the disappointment stems from the "American Gestures: Abstract Expressionism" exhibit. The show was described on the BMFA's website as featuring: "Drawings, prints, paintings, and sculpture from the late 1940s to the '70's by Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, David Smith, Mark Tobey, Alfred Leslie, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, and a number of others. Many of these works are relatively recent acquisitions, some shown here for the first time." What they didn't mention is that the majority of the exhibit consists of prints and that it only takes up one small room.

Still, if you are in the area and have some interest, the exhibit can be found in room 335 in the Art of the Americas wing until June 1, 2014.

The frustration is associated with the museum’s continued lack of information regarding where certain special exhibits can be found. Yes, the information is located on their website, but how many visitors remember to write this down before they head out? And once inside the museum, directions and information are scarce, even within the Sharf Visitor Center.

For example, yesterday was the last day for their “Boston Loves Impressionism” exhibit. Knowing the popularity of Impressionism, one would think that this should be relatively easy to find, correct? Nope. The exhibit was tucked away in the Torf Gallery, room 184 - we hunted down a guard to determine the location.

The exhibit was described as the first crowdsourcing exhibit at the BMFA by the Boston Globe staff. The general public was invited to vote for their favorite Impressionist paintings, the top three were:

Vincent Van Gogh’s “Houses at Auvers,” 

Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies"

Edgar Degas’s “Little-Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer"

The BIG surprise was that the BMFA had four paintings by (or attributed to) Caravaggio! The exhibit "Visiting Masterpieces: Caravaggio and Connoisseurship" is a wonderful opportunity to view four paintings that have "never been seen in Boston" (according to the museum's website) and they are exquisite! ANY opportunity to see one of these masterworks up close is a rare treat.

Caravaggio, "Maffeo Barberini"

Caravaggio, "Fra Antonio Martelli, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Malta"

Caravaggio, "Saint Francis in Meditation"

Caravaggio, "Fortune Teller" 

The Caravaggio's can be found in the Lee Gallery, Gallery 154, until June 15, 2014.

The "Picture of the Day" has to go to my all-time BMFA favorite: "The Painter's Honeymoon" by Lord Frederic Leighton:

It appears it may finally have a permanent home in room 252 :)

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios

The Anatomy of an I Ching Painting… 22.5.2014

The question I am asked the most when people view my paintings is: How did you do that? So, in answer to the question, here is a quick step-by-step view of the process:

I generally prepare anywhere from 4-10 pieces of watercolor paper in advance by cutting the 22x30 sheets in half and adding the black border:

Then, I decide what design I will use to anchor the painting. In this case, I am using a Celtic Knot that I have modified:

I decided to add a line across the top of the knot and goofed up (this happens frequently), the line ended up through one of the rings that I had planned to give the illusion of going through, see close-up:

As a result, I modified the line and added another vertical line to “hide” the mistake; I have also blocked in the hexagram:

A quick note about how the hexagrams are chosen: All are selected at random, however, now that the I Ching Project has reached the 60% completion mark, it is important that the status of all of the paintings are updated on the project spreadsheet so I know which hexagrams have NOT been worked on yet. I had to “pick” this hexagram a minimum of three times in order to hit on one that I hadn’t started yet.

Please note another goof (this was not my best day): There is an additional line at the top of the hexagram:

The next step is adding the biomorphic design, these are created by using a set a stencils. Elements of the stencils are used repeatedly to create the design.

 Please note the attempt to incorporate the mistake at the top of the hexagram into the design:

 The completed biomorphic design:   

Beginning to fill in the design:

Another view: I actually like the way that this view looks :)

The design is taking shape:

The completed biomorphic design, this process usually takes a couple of hours:

The Chinese character for this hexagram has been added:

  

The final steps are the ink wash. There are usually 3-4 layers that have been added to complete the effect,  each is gradually darker than the other. The India ink is applied with organic sponges and additional spattering is created using a sponge brush and toothbrushes.

Full view of the final painting: #12 Stagnation:

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios

UPDATE: Upcoming Shows and Events… 9.5.2014

REMINDER: I will be participating upcoming shows:

·         The Greater Haverhill Arts Association’s Annual Art Exhibit at the Buttonwoods Museum on 240 Water Street in Haverhill, MA.

o   NOTICE - Change of Date for the GHAA Annual Exhibit Artist Reception:

The new date is Saturday, May 17^th, from 3:00 pm -5:00 pm.

o   The exhibit will be open from May 10^th to May 25^th.

o   The Buttonwoods Museum is open Tuesday – Sunday from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm.

·         The Arts Institute Group of the Merrimack Valley (AIGMV) will host their annual “Art in the Orchard Show” June 7^th and 8^th. The theme this year is: “Through the Years”. The show will be held at Mann’s Orchard at 27 Pleasant Valley Street, Methuen, MA.

o   The exhibit will be open:

§  Saturday, June 7^th, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm

§  Sunday, June 8^th, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm

·         The Wilmington Council for the Arts 34^th Annual Art Exhibition. The exhibition will be held at the Wilmington Arts Center at 219 Middlesex Avenue (Route 62) in Wilmington, MA.

o   Artist reception will be: Friday, June 20^th from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

o   The exhibit will be open:

§  Saturday, June 21^st from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

§  Sunday, June 22^nd from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

I will also be participating in the following events with the Woburn Guild of Artists:

·         WGA will participate in the 2^nd Annual Salisbury Art Stroll on Saturday, May 17^th, from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. The Art Stroll will begin at the Old Eastern Marsh Trail. It can be accessed from Route 1 South in Salisbury, take a right onto Friedendels Street, right before the bridge going into Newburyport.

o   PLEASE NOTE: Due to the new date/time for the GHAA Artist Reception, I will only be at the Salisbury Art Stroll from 10:00 am – 2:30 pm.

o   This is a rain or shine event.

·         WGA will participate in Arts Fest Beverly on June 14^th. WGA will be set-up outside of St. Mary’s Church at 253 Cabot Street from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Additional information will be added soon.

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios

Artist Date: Arts Night Out Northampton… 16.4.2014

Another highly successful spring Round the Mountain Book Sale (highlighted in the Artist Date: Used Book Stores blog post) last Thursday afforded us with an “excuse” to extend the book-buying spree throughout the weekend and provided us with an opportunity to check out Arts Night Out Northampton on Friday evening.

Northampton hosts Arts Night Out every 2^nd Friday of the month. There are approximately 34 venues that participate, the majority of which are located on Main Street (please see map below) and you can check them out before you set out at http://www.artsnightout.org - this site is updated every month prior to the event.

Entrance to the "Bank Vault"


We found out pretty quickly that the three hours allotted for the event is simply NOT ENOUGH time to see everything, and, in some cases, some of the venues actually closed early (~7:30 pm), so we will definitely have to return again!

View from the 2nd floor

Most of our time was actually spent at the R. Michelson Galleries which is located in a beautiful former bank with lots of little alcoves and even a small gallery within the bank’s vault that contained paintings by Dr. Seuss:


The size of the building and the amount of art that they are able to fit within it is nothing short of incredible. There were multiple “shows” going on, including an artist’s reception for Turi MacCombie’s wildlife watercolors on the 2^nd floor, as well as representation from at least a dozen additional artists.

On the 1^st floor in the back was the Children’s Book Illustrators show that highlighted by additional prints and sculptures by Dr. Seuss, some Eric Carle drawings, and my new favorite: Jon Muth’s Zen pandas - please see below :)

View of Leonard Nimoy's photos on the 2nd floor

But the “show” that stole my imagination for the rest of the evening... or to be more accurate, the rest of the weekend, was a small group of photographs by Leonard Nimoy. Yes, all you Trekkies: Mr. Spock himself. Who knew he has been a photographer for 60 years? I am certainly not going to pretend that I did.

Specifically, it was Nimoy’s photographs from “The Full Body Project” which immediately caught my attention: all of the women in the series are not what society would immediately call “beautiful” and, yet, I found the photos of REAL women: women who are strong and proud and photographed in a respectful manner - the most unforgettable works of art in the galleries.

Please check out Nimoy’s statement at: http://www.rmichelson.com/artist_pages/nimoy/pages/MaxBeaut.htm

And please check out the rest of the incredible artists represented at the R. Michelson Galleries: http://www.rmichelson.com/artist_pages/nimoy/pages/MaxBeaut.htm

Note for all bibliophiles: In addition to the four bookstores that participate in the RMBS, we stumbled across an unusual collaboration in Hadley, MA: the Grey Matter Bookstore and the Troubadour Books.

These two bookstores are under the same roof and it is not always obvious where one starts and where the other ends, but they do have one AWESOME art book collection. In fact, there is an entire ROOM dedicated to the arts. Simply the largest collection I have seen so far. The collection includes a lot of out of print and specialty books, so the prices are slightly higher, but last weekend there was a 35% off sale that helped a lot. If you are in the area, please check them out!

http://greymatterbookstore.com/

47 East Street, Hadley, MA

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios