Here’s the monthly wrap up of everything going on at the studio…
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April Studio News
Author: Jenni Ward
rail trail project updates
I made the Santa Cruz City manager’s weekly newsletter this week with my Umbel project for the rail trail! Wahoo!
I am slowly getting closer and closer to actually starting this project, all the contracts are signed, all the forms are filled out and the invoices have been submitted. I’m now only a few weeks away from having the engineering specs and the initial check in hand. Until then, I’m just working on my detailed materials lists, tweaking the timeline of events and hoping things generally go according to plan- fingers crossed!
Getting very excited to start building these babies!
Need Art? Yes. Yes you do.
Have you ever regretted bringing home a new piece of original art? I didn’t think so.
Scans show that viewing art triggered a surge of dopamine, the happy chemical, into the brain, which results in feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. It appeared that the reaction was almost immediate, in that when looking at things we consider to be beautiful, activity in the pleasure reward centre of the brain is increased.
Bridget Watson Payne
hint, hint: I just updated a bunch of stuff and there’s some really sweet pieces in there just waiting to make you happy!
Featured Art: Framed Bone Series
These four pieces have been around the studio for awhile, and were recently featured in my exhibit Bodies of Water, where they hung against this gorgeous blue wall. They are the original versions of the Bone Series where I was focused on the exploration of bone structures and fibrous hole patterns while playing with concepts of fragility, strength and connectivity. These thoughts led to looking at the skeletal structures of radiolarians and the series evolved. Even though these are older pieces, I still love the shadow play and how the steel cables give geometric structure to the organic clay parts.
The rectangles are 48″ x 24″ x 1″ and the squares are 30″ x 30″ x 1″, they can hang flush to the wall or suspended with cables (as seen here) from any direction. All four pieces are available in the online shop.
the outside scoop: 19
This week, outside the studio…
The Outside Scoop is a weekly blog series that shares a little bit of what’s going on in my life outside of the studio. Please feel free to leave comments, I look forward to chatting with you here!
March Studio News
Here’s the monthly wrap up of everything going on at the studio…
Want to get the monthly email right in your inbox?
Join our safe subscribe monthly mailing list:
the outside scoop: 18
This week, outside the studio…
The Outside Scoop is a weekly blog series that shares a little bit of what’s going on in my life outside of the studio. Please feel free to leave comments, I look forward to chatting with you here!
Big News!
If you didn’t see the big announcement in my monthly email…
I’m thrilled to ~finally~ be able to announce I’m starting a new public art project with Santa Cruz City Arts for the Coastal Rail Trail! This has been in the works for nearly two years and I can’t wait to finally get started on it. I’ll be installing six large scale Umbel flowers along the trail on the far westside of Santa Cruz.
I’m working with local artists Kirk McNeil who will fabricated the steel structures and Travis Adams who will help me fabricate the ceramic elements. Above is a proposed rendering of the installation, I can’t wait to see these flowers come to life and get planted along the trail. In addition to this good news, I had also applied to win an engineering grant for this project through Berkeley based engineering firm RBHU’s give back grant and I won the grant for pro-bono structural engineering of the installation. So thrilled to work with this creative team.
The studio is about to get super busy so stay tuned!
This project is sponsored by:
February Studio News
Here’s the monthly wrap up of everything going on at the studio…
Want to get the monthly email right in your inbox?
Join our safe subscribe monthly mailing list:
Adopt a Jellyfish?
I spend a lot of time in the studio with my sculptures and when I see these Medusas in bell jars sitting up on the shelves, they seem more like pets than sculptures to me. The way they wiggle in their little terrariums and seem to come to life makes me feel like they need names and to be fed daily. I love the sense of movement and playfulness in such fragile forms.
Did you know that jellyfish are actually a type of plankton? Anything that drifts in the ocean is considered part of the plankton family and this series was definitely inspired by the wanderings of these marine drifters. You can adopt one of these jellies for your home and bonus – you get to name it!
Want one? ADOPT HERE