just a creative trying to mimic the Creator

"make my messes matter, make this chaos count" - Sleeping at Last

[jennahowery]

For Further Study - Mike Kelley

I had roughly 13 different sites that I used to research make Kelly. These are some of the top three that I used! I absolutely loved him and I’ve learned so much through studying him!

https://www.moma.org/artists/3045

https://americansuburbx.com/2015/02/the-late-mike-kelley-on-freak-culture-feminism-and-the-gender-unequal-art-world.html

https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/a-brief-encounter-with-mike-kelley



[jennahowery]

Color Theory Studio Project

“Pieces of Home”

I made this to be in communication with a Sheila Hicks. For me, I wanted this to look like a sunset I might see in Hawaii. We have gorgeous sunsets in Kona and I wanted to try to re-create that. Our sunsets are not like the ones that we have here because everything that is happening in the sky usually is reflected on the water. The water is usually a deep blue, but will have traces of the pinks, purples, reds, and golds that are in the sunset. Sheila Hicks usually does pretty abstract work with her pieces, so I wanted to try to create some thing that was a little less abstract. The pom-poms are nod to the way she creates and a nod to the Koosh balls are used to play with the child. Feeling these pom-poms took me back to my childhood of growing up in Hawaii. It brought back a lot of great memories!

[jennahowery]

Sculpture Studio Project #2

“A Year Ago”

A year ago I started one of the hardest seasons in my life. A year ago I was about to go through my first break up and heartbreak. A year ago my grandpa got re-diagnosed with cancer. A year ago we had a death in the family. A year ago my mom began to push me to go to therapy. A year ago. A year ago. A year ago. A year ago I used to be the girl that was such a people pleaser, I would go to any length to make sure that I was liked. I would change my opinions, my beliefs, my goals, and my interests just to make sure I fit in. I would do whatever means necessary to make sure that everyone liked me, even if that meant I wasn’t true to myself. I was so worried that people wouldn’t like me and that I would lose friends, but I lost myself. I became someone who was so caught up and seeking the attention of everyone else and trying to be who they wanted me to be, I forgot who I was. Not only was this happening in my relationship, but in my friendships as well. Many months after the break up I kept re-discovering lies that I believed in ways that I was trying so hard to make sure that everyone liked me. I realize I have been chasing after everyone’s approval for so long that I had really lost sight of who I was as an individual. A year ago I was somebody who would get trampled on and use like a doormat. I did not stand up for myself and I let people use me. A year ago I did not care about myself or tried to take care of myself. I would give and give and give and give until I gave out. I would pour myself into every person, task, or job that came my way, to the point where I ran myself dry. A year ago I was sitting on my bed crying my eyes out, not knowing who I was, what my purpose was, or what my worth was. This piece represents where I was a year ago. It represents the fact that that girl that I used to be is gone. She is dead to me. I am no longer the person that seeks the approval of others. I am no longer the person that neglects to take care of herself. I am no longer the person that allows herself to be a doormat for others to walk on. I work to make myself proud and to be able to give the glory to God. I make sure I take care of myself before helping others. I make sure that I am now the person that determines who I let into my life and how they treat me. I don’t know that I have the right to stand up for myself in every situation. This piece represents the metaphorical death of the girl I was a year ago. The tombstone reads RIP Jenna, but on the back it says Jenna was here. The shows that while it may look like I got knocked down, I got right back up again. The rose is a rose that I was given by the man who hurt me so deeply a year ago. I recently had the opportunity to burn the roses with my current boyfriend and it was a very therapeutic thing. This rose has been trampled on and burned and it symbolizes the end of that man’s grip on my life. The base is made out of clay which is a nod to my boyfriend Clayton. This piece symbolizes the growth that has happened in my life over the past year. A year ago I felt like I had nothing more to offer. I fell broken down and at the end of a road. A year ago, I was the girl who felt dead inside, but now I feel more alive than ever.

This piece connects to Mike Kelley because he deals a lot with the idea of depression. In lots of the articles I read, he talked about how our society tends to suppress the idea of depression. It’s something that he wanted to talk about and some thing that I think needs to be talked about. Mike Kelley committed suicide because of his depression and I think it can go back to the fact that it wasn’t talked about enough. This past year has been a hard year for me and in December 2021 I begin to except the fact that I might be depressed. I began to go to counseling earlier this semester and did not realize how bad I had let it get. I had suppressed my emotions because I had been told lies that the optimism that I used to have was childish and dumb. The joy that I used to be known for had gone and I was not in a good place. When I started getting help, I began to realize that there was no shame in the fact that I deal with depression. There’s no shame that I have anxiety. In fact, many if not most people you meet have dealt with it at one point in their life. I want to join Mike Kelley in advocating for people talking more about these issues. These are things that run in both of my families and are things I didn’t know about until earlier this semester. I hope that and sharing my story, other people will be compelled to share theirs as well.

[jennahowery]

Color Research - Motivational signs

I hung the sign on the balcony of the third floor in the apartments! I was going to try to put it in the elevator, but had a fear it would get taken down. I think that this is a good place because it is right by the stairs in the elevator, so it is a relatively high traffic area that will have a lot of people seeing it! I hope it gets to encourage a few people! Let’s pray it stays up with this wind and rain!

[jennahowery]

Sculpture Research - Paper making

I LOVED PAPER MAKING!!!!! I want to play with this A LOT over summer! I think it will be an absolute blast! I am already looking into blenders hahah

[jennahowery]

Color Research - Avocado skins dye

I want to dye more things with avocado skins! I think this was a really fun activity and the color is absolutely gorgeous! Again, I want to try to do this with different fabrics and materials to see what I can do. I think I might try to use yarn and dye it in segments since so it is darker in certain areas and then try to crochet with it!

[jennahowery]

Color Research - Hapazome

HAPAZOME!!! My new favorite thing!!! I am living on 3 acres this summer and am going to try this all the time! I want to see what other colors I can find and if I can find a way to paint or dye with these. I want to try doing this onto fabric or other materials!

[jennahowery]

Color Research - Painting with a magazine strip

I LOVED this!!! I painted a scene of my home with our beautiful sun rises and mountains! I am very proud of this piece and think I may find a nice way to frame or display it! Thank you Joe for the fun practice!

[jennahowery]

Color Research - Colors in nature

I had a lot of fun with this activity! It was strangely a lot easier than I expected! I definitely want to try this in the fall!!!

[jennahowery]

Questions of the Week

Ten of Hearts: The idea of abstraction is something that honestly is a little confusing for me. From my understanding, it relates to abstract art. I think the abstract art is incredibly important because the meaning can be different things to different people. Sometimes, when there is a specific piece of work that has a lot of details and clear meaning, it can be hard to find personal meeting within the piece. Once a piece is given its meaning, there is a little freedom in that decision. When a piece is abstract, the possibilities for the meaning behind the piece are endless. A piece convene many different things to a single individual, yet alone a whole group of people. Something that’s great about abstraction is that it gives the artist the opportunity to create without having to have a specific meaning in mind. The meaning can change as the piece goes along due to its abstractness. As a little kid abstract art was some thing that I really loved but also really confuse me because I had a hard time with having art that was so freeform. It is something that I’m wanting to try to get better at doing in my own personal practice. 

Queen of Diamonds: I think it is critical as an artist to have a physical space to make your art. It’s really hard for me to try to create while living on campus because I don’t have a place that is designated just for my art. Back home, my room is safe haven and I feel that I can create because I am able to start some thing and walk away from me if I need to. It’s hard trying to do that when you live in a dorm room and have a roommate because you don’t have the space in the room to be able to freely be creative. For me, I need lots of space. I need space to start one project, leave it alone for a while, and start another one all in the same room. Helps me to have all of my materials in one place so that I can be inspired by what is around me. My art often reflects what I am feeling and the surroundings that I am in, so for me in the place that I create things as everything. I’m looking forward to being able to have my own space this summer to be able to create and come back to things as the summer goes on. I think in doing this, I will have really intentional art that does not need be rushed due to having restraints on my physical space to create.

[jennahowery]

Questions of the Week

Ace of Diamonds: The location piece can affect its meaning because of the environment it’s placed in. We’ve talked about it a lot in class that presentation is everything. A piece can look and feel entirely different when it is put in a different light or location. When we are given or not given certain context, the artwork changes because it is up to the viewers’ discretion to discover the meaning. When different elements are added or taken away from a piece, it will change the way viewers look at it and hands can change the meaning of an art work.

Five of Spades: For me, I try to daily be thinking about the things that are surrounding me and how I can use it to impact my art. A lot of my art is based off of what’s going on in my life and isn’t means that I used to express what I’m feeling. I like to look at my situation throughout the day and think of how I could use it to be inspired. I am trying to be more meaningful with the time that I have, this includes trying to be intentional about the time that I give myself to be creative. I want to start giving myself designated time throughout the day to sit and create whatever I need to. I think that with summer coming up, it is going to be a good way for me to instill this practice because I’m going to have a lot more time on my hands. I want to start to create habits that allow me to create so that I can make the pieces that I need to create. In setting these habits over the summer, I hope to continue them throughout the next school year is that I can trying to improve my skills as an artist every day.

[jennahowery]

Life Color Post

This weekend I went to a Red Bluff rodeo! It was super fun and I loved every minute of it! I went with my boyfriend and his family and we got to have a lot of fun throughout the weekend. We got to go quadding through mud puddles and got absolutely soaking wet in mud! We had some campfires and played a lot of games! I love this weekend and wish it didn’t go by so fast! 

[jennahowery]

Life Color Post

We had a dance called To the Nines and it was king and queen theme. They were so many different color roses throughout the venue I couldn’t help but stop and quite literally smell the roses. Roses are some of my favorite flowers and I loved looking at all the different colors!

[jennahowery]

Life Color Post

This week I went on a walk with my boyfriend and got to look at some rocks that we found in this little river. There was a bunch of geese and little baby geese! They were so cute and yellow and fuzzy! I got to do an ASL event and I thought the tables were super fun and colorful! These are also just some random pictures of the far as I found throughout the week and some knickknacks on the desk where I tutor!

[jennahowery]

Questions of the Week

Ace of Hearts: I think this question is an interesting one for me, because I just recently have started to accept the idea that I am an artist. For me, art has always been a hobby and some thing I do to take stress away. This may sound weird, but in letting myself get stressed out by life, inspires me to create. I’m not saying that I have to be stressed out in order to create, but merely that I take inspiration from my art from the world around me. When I am stressed and overwhelmed, that is when I am able to create art that reflects the way I’m feeling. My art sometimes comes out of a place of anger and being upset with other people around me. It comes out of a place of me needing to remind myself who I am and who God has made me to be. So for me, in order to remain inspired and motivated to do art, I simply live.

Two of Spades: I absolutely think art can transform our way of thinking. I think often times art can be created to push boundaries and to challenge the way we think about various things. When this happens, it opens viewers up to a whole new world of possibilities and things that they may not have thought of. For me, are inspires me and helps me become more creative myself. I love to look at art because I know that it was created by someone who understands art. When I view art I feel included because I know that the person that created that piece has a love and passion for art and has a rich understanding of the importance of art in our world. I think our world would be bland if we didn’t have art and think that in someways, it inspires all of us even when we don’t think about it. Art is all around us and I think that it is like this because the world needs inspiration and transformation. Even people who claim to not be into art or don’t understand art, I still think that they are impacted, just not in a ways that they recognize. I think that the inspiration and creativity behind each piece inspires the same reaction by those who are viewing it. So yes, art can be transformational. Art can change lives. It changed mine.

[jennahowery]

Life Color Post

Flowers and sunsets! That pretty much sums up my whole life! The other day my boyfriend and I went exploring near Jessup lake and found some gorgeous purple and yellow flowers. I ended up making some bouquets of flowers and I’m currently trying them! I also have pictured a bouquet of alstroemerias that my boyfriend got me and I love them!! The sunsets have been gorgeous lately and I have enjoyed taking many many pictures! I went to Michael’s and here’s a picture of the color order I’m thinking of doing for a blanket I’m going to work on over the summer. I am very excited about this! I also painted this weekend so that was also cool!

[jennahowery]

Questions of the Week

Eight of Diamonds: I think that the tools and materials artist have used overtime have changed drastically. Today we live in a world where digital art is a form of art. This is a new invention that I think artists of the past never would’ve thought our world would’ve come to. I think it’s a really cool thing that people are able to create art in different ways that are current in reverent culture. I think that nowadays we also have both more opportunities to make different colors of paint and also have less of an opportunity because we aren’t in the process of making our own paint. In the world that we live in now, we can get access to all sorts of materials relatively quickly. We have so many different stores and resources that we can use to get materials, we aren’t refined by the things that are in our region. I think this is both amazing and also scary how much I world has developed.

Three of Clubs: I think that commercialism and media has definitely impacted my art. I follow a lot of different people on Instagram and am able to see what they are creating. In observing their creations, I am inspired to try different techniques and materials to create. I think that, why may not always like social media, it does a good job at connecting artists around the world. For me, I think it is a good sort of impact because it is something that pushes me to strive to do more and better stuff with my art. I think it can be a bad thing if I start to compare my art other people and think that I’ll never be as good as other people. But for right now and where I’m at my art, I think that the media is helping me for more than it is hurting me and my art practice.