New Year, New Work: 12 x 12 x 12 January 2015

I've started my ninth year of creating one mixed media piece on a 12" x 12" x 1" board each month. Hence the series' name, 12 x 12 x 12.

After eight years, I decided it's a wonderful opportunity for me to continue. It gives me time to experiment with an idea or technique or a combination of both. It's my monthly time to play. Some of the pieces over the months and years have been really good, and others not so much. The only rules I have are that I make something in the given month, and I don't throw the work out, even if it's unsuccessful.

12 x 12 x 12 January 2015 was created with scraps of colorful monoprinted and painted fabric that has the shape and texture of a construction fence on it. 

Layered on top of the large rounded squares are acrylic skins of a photo of pond ice, both the actual photo and its inverse, as shown above and below. I have dozens and dozens of ice photos that I took a year ago, and also this past week, while walking on a very frozen Morse's Pond in Wellesley, MA, which is a short walk from my home in Natick, MA.

I have 10 feet by 4 feet of very colorful fabric that I monoprinted and painted, and handstamped last summer, which I am planning on sewing and collaging with many of the mostly inverse ice pictures. Together they will become a number of different series of paintings, in a number of different sizes.  I've had ideas about this in my head for quite a while, and now I'm starting to the work of actually making them. Stay tuned.

On TV and at Crate & Barrel

Almost a year later, I finally have been able to get a good screen grab of my Crate & Barrel print on Property Brothers. It was shown on the "Chris and Mike" episode on HGTV early in 2014. This picture was at the 38:53 mark in the broadcast.

The signed giclee (licensed) print of my painting is 60" x 30" framed. It's been available at Crate & Barrel since August 2013.

The original painting, Seasonal Fences - Spring #3, is mixed media on 22" x 10" x 1" cradled board, created in 2011.

Next up for the print's screen time is The Good Wife. I'm not sure when, but soon I hope. Since I haven't started watching the series yet, I hope someone will let me know when they see it.

2014 Art in Review and What’s Coming Up in 2015

2014 was a good year for art and art related activities.

I tried new techniques as I continued to use monoprints of construction fences as the basis of my work, and I also started working with a lot of color, as you will see.

The  work below is not in shown in any particular order of creation. The series are grouped together, on stiffened fabric first, and then series of work on boards. I invite you to click on the links so you can see the work larger.

Technicolor Fence Patterns #1 - 5

mixed media on stiffened fabric

all approximately 36" x 49" in size

2014

The Technicolor Fence Patterns Series is created using multiple colors to monoprint the textures of construction fences, combined with handpainting, stitching, on stiffened fabric.

Fence Patterned Chuppah #1 - 10

mixed media on stiffened fabric

sizes range from 96" x 93" to 25" x 49"

2014

Fence Pattered Chuppahs is a series of Jewish wedding canopies, or chuppot, that are created with monoprinted, handstamped, handpainted, and stiffened fabric. The simple printmaking techniques bring pattern and color to the traditional chuppah.

They were created while I was an Artist-in-Residence at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA in 2014. Working on site at the Kniznick Gallery, I created a series of Jewish wedding canopies, or chuppot to be displayed on campus and in the gallery during the exhibition. 

My solo show Under Color was on exhibit at the Kniznick Gallery, in the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, from April 14 - May 22, 2014.

Fences, Remnants & Art Friends #1 - 10

mixed media on cradled board

8" x 8" x 1.5"

2014

This series is created with remnants of thread, string, gimp, paper, and netting that are remnants from the art work of art friends who are members of an Art Coaching Group Jeanne has been meeting with for many years. The remnants were collaged together permanently with matt medium, and then applied to stitched and painted monoprinted textures of orange construction fences that were mounted on cradled board. Each of the 10 members of the group created enough 8" x 8" pieces of their work to trade with the other group members.

Tiled Fence Photos #1 - 10

mixed media on cradled board

8" x 8" x 1.5"

2014

This series is created with acrylic "skins" created from photos of orange construction fences out in their various elements. They are collaged on monoprinted textures of construction fences on fabric that is stitched, painted, and mounted on cradled board.

Snow on Snow Fences #1 - 4

mixed media on cradled board

10" x 22" x 1"

2014

This series is created with acrylic "skins" of photos of orange fencing covered in snow, collaged with stitched and monoprinted textures of construction fences on fabric.

12 x 12 x 12 2014 Series

Each month, I created one mixed media piece on 12" x 12" x 1" board. The eight years I've been doing this has been a wonderful opportunity for me to either experiment with an idea or technique I tried in previous work, or to try an idea or technique I might want to try. It's my monthly time to play, and I am planning on doing it again in 2015 for my ninth year.

Tallis and Fence #1 - 14

mixed media on cradled board

8" x 6" x 1"

2014

This series is created with acrylic "skins" created from photos of my grandfather's tallis that is collaged on monoprinted textures of construction fences on fabric that is stitched, painted, and mounted on cradled board.

In addition to the chuppahs (shown at the top of this post) I also created this series while I was an Artist-in-Residence at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA in 2014, and they are also on exhibit at my solo show Under Color at the Kniznick Gallery, in the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University.

Exhibits in 2014:

Solo Show

Under Color, Kniznick Gallery, Women’s Studies Research Center (WSRC), Brandeis University, Waltham, MA USA, April 14 through May 2014

Invitational Shows

Multiplicity, Fountain Street Fine Art, Framingham, MA Larger than the Sum of its Parts, Yamawki Art and Cultural Center, Lasell College, Newton, MA Celebrating Color, Gravers Lane Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Materiality, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY What a Stitch, Gravers Lane Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Flirt, Mother Brook Arts & Community Center, Dedham, MA

Public Art

Outdoor art installation, Jackson Homestead, Newton, MA

Juried Group Show

Community of Artists, Danforth Art, Framingham, MA

Collections

Haddassah-Brandeis Institute, Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA Licensed Image A print of Seasonal Fence - Spring #3 continues to be for sale at Crate & Barrel, and will be through the fall of 2015. I thank them for that, and I also thank the art licensing company I work with. Work sold: Fence Detail #21, one of my favorite pieces, was welcomed into a new home on Christmas Day.  Tiled Fence Photos #1 - 8 sold, some of them before they even went on exhibit, at Fountain Street Fine Art's 8 x 8 show in April 2014.  Orange Construction Fence Series #58, an art quilt I made in 2008, was purchased by a private collector. To coordinate with my print that was purchased at Crate & Barrel, a collector purchased one of my prints on the Saatchi Art website. Seasonal Fences - Summer #2 and Seasonal Fences - Autumn #2 found a new home in a high end residential tower in the Boston area. Both of these pieces were at a Boston art consultant, and they arranged the sale. I am very thankful for their role in that transaction. Thank you to everyone who now has my work in their collection! TV My print at Crate & Barrel was on Property Brothers on HGTV last winter. It was a lot of fun seeing it on TV, and also hearing from friends and family when they saw it too. Magazines / Press World of Threads, Weekly Fibre Artist Interviews,  Jeanne Williamson of Natick, Massachusetts, USA, Interview 111 GRAVITATING TOWARDS GRIDS, artist interview, 614 HBI eZine Yew Journal, an online journal of innovative poetry, hybrid writing and images by women, February 2014

Representation:

I am still being represented by the Gravers Lane Gallery, which I am very pleased about.   

deCordova

The deCordova Museum of Art Corporate Art Loan Program in Lincoln, MA placed my work at Innosight LLC, in Lexington, Massachusetts, through October 2015.

Web Design

It was a good year for my web design business, Thread Media, Inc. I have new clients, and I continue to update the websites of those who I have been working with for many years.

Coming in 2015:

Two Person Show

two-person show with Denise Driscoll, Fountain Street Fine Art, October 8 - November 8, 2015

Invitational Show At The Edge Of The Quilt: New Work from Through Our Hands, Bilston Craft Gallery, Bilston, West Midlands, UK TV My print at Crate & Barrel is scheduled to be on The Good Wife sometime in the near future. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the show. I hope you have a happy, healthy and creative 2015! - Jeanne

New Home

Fence Detail #21, one of my favorite pieces, was welcomed into a new home on Christmas Day. 

Fence Detail #21 is mixed media on 6" x 6" x .75" cradled board. It was created as an experiment before I made my 20-part Seasonal Fences series, which are mixed media paintings on 22" x 10" x 1" cradled board. Seasonal Fences - Spring #3, was later licensed and sold as signed and framed prints at Crate & Barrel.

Thank you to the family member who purchased Fence Detail #21 as a gift, and also again to Crate & Barrel!

Better than the joy of my creating art, is the joy I feel when people bring my art into their home (or office) so they can enjoy it day after day! Thank you for that!

12 x 12 x 12 December 2014

The twelfth and last 12 x 12 x 12 piece I've created this year is a collage made from leftover scraps of fabric from previous mixed media artwork created in 2014. There's a hint of how I transitioned from using mainly gray/black/white to color over the year. I will post all twelve pieces in this series as a group shortly, for easy viewing.

The 12 x 12 x 12 monthly series is my monthly time to play with materials or an idea. The December piece completes my eighth year working on this series. Each piece is mixed media on 12" x 12" x 1" board. You can read past posts about this series here on my blog, or see all of the completed work on my website.

I was unsure whether I wanted to continue this series into 2015, but I've not only decided to do so, I also ordered the twelve boards for use next year, so I'll be ready at the beginning of January 2015. It's been too valuable an activity to stop now, plus creating one piece a month takes much less time than when I created one small piece a week for seven years.

2015 Wall Calendar

New and very colorful 2015 twelve-month wall calendars are available for purchase. 

Each month has a detailed image of one of the many pieces of mixed media art I created in 2014. Legal, and many religious and misc holidays are listed on the calendar.

Photos and more information can be found here on my website.

Interview: GRAVITATING TOWARDS GRIDS

GRAVITATING TOWARDS GRIDS, an interview about me and my time as an Artist-in-Residence at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University last Spring, is in the November 2014 issue of 614, the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute's eZine. The theme is "Fall into Jewish Art".

I enjoyed answering the thought provoking questions. This is my most favorite quote:

Jeanne Williamson doesn’t see fences as a way to keep people in or out, but as a form of protection and an inspiration for art.