Tag: Inspiration Through Exploration

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And so it begins…

As you read this I will be flying across the country to meet my crates of artwork in Gainesville Florida for their public art placement, so excited that installation time has arrived! I’ll be spending a few days in the area negotiating the last details and visiting with a friend in the area and then it all begins. I will be sure to post lots of photos of the install and the final results as we work through the process.

And so it begins... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

My husband snapped this photo of me perched on top of the ladder struggling to photograph the last and largest piece in its entirety, can’t wait to see it in it’s final location. Fingers crossed that everything arrives ok, and that all the planning and planning and planning actually work in real life! Thanks for your support on this creative journey!

Florida or bust!

Well, hopefully there’s no actual busting of these crates as they make their way to Gainesville Florida!

In these two boxes are all the parts for my site specific installation of the Bone Series for the University of Florida Gainesville’s Career Connections Center stairwell. They will head out next week and I’ll be following behind them at the end of the month. Welcoming all fingers crossed as these guys head out on their cross country road trip!

Florida or bust... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Latest Commissions Installed!

As many of you know, I’ve been working on a big public art project the past few months, but what you may not of been aware of is I was also simultaneously working on two custom commissions for a private residence. And they just went in this week! I’m thrilled to share the results with you and so grateful for the opportunity to have my work in this gorgeous space.

A whole bunch of Umbels dot the shady area of the yard like colorful fallen fruit in varying shade of yellow and ochres with little bits of red accents and the Bone Series wave wiggles down the fence line leaving gorgeous shadows in the late afternoon sunlight.

Latest Commissions Installed! | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Field Trip!

After a run up to San Francisco airport to drop off my parents, we decided to spend the rest of the day in the city. It’s easy to forget how close San Francisco is to Santa Cruz and I know I get complacent about taking time to get there to take advantage of all the city has to offer. Even though I love the busyness of cities, I somehow always end up finding the quite nature spots in between all the buildings and the bustle.

Field Trip! | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

The Presidio is one of my favorite areas and I was so thrilled to finally check out three installations by my favorite artist. Over the years, Andy Goldsworthy has installed a number of pieces in the Presidio using found materials. There is also a crack in the de Young Museums entry floor and a piece named Tree Fall which was closed the day we were there. These pieces are Spire, Earth Wall and Wood Line – be sure to check them out for yourself!

Kicking off the new year slowly…

2018 was a crazy busy year filled with travel and art adventures and I loved every minute of it but I’m intentionally starting off 2019 a little slower. Taking a few days to rest up, get my body on the correct time zone and be thoughtful about what is to come this year. The first things I did on the first day of the year was take a morning mile long swim in a 52 degree ocean- freezing but exhilarating- followed by a hike with family and friends. Not a bad way to start off my promise to spend as much time as possible outdoors! That said, I do have quite a few art adventures in the works already…

Kicking off the new year slowly... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

First exhibit of the new year will be at Pajaro Valley Gallery for Take-Aways, Art-to-Go! in Watsonville where I’ll have small works for sale and I’ve collaborated with sculptor Jamie Abbott to make sculptural necklaces – they are so fun! Be sure to check out this exhibit when it opens January 23rd.

Larger work is getting shipped off in a few weeks to Cebera Gallery in Kansas City which is a pretty exciting line up of ceramic artists to join the ranks of. AND, I’ll also be headed to Florida towards the end of the month for a site visit on a potentially big public art project- fingers crossed for that one! So with all of that planned just for this month, a few days of taking it easy feels like a good choice. Hope you are all easing into the new year as well too!

It Snowed on the Umbels!

It Snowed on the Umbels! | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

I was sent these pictures of my bright red Umbel Installation this morning after a proper snowfall in Mariestad Sweden. I love, love, love seeing them with with little piles of snow contrasting the red glaze. They remind me of the red winter berries on all of the shrubs. Happy Winter!!

The Umbels Are Up!

It’s hard to believe in just a few short months; an application, turned into an acception, a sketch turned into a sculpture and now, I have a permanent public art installation in Mariestad Sweden. I’m so grateful for everyone who had a hand in making this happen. And I really look forward to seeing how this installation will change over the seasons. I’ve been trying to imagine the snow cover first, and then the green leaves coming back to the trees in the background of the sculptures and eventually to 12′ tall hops plants that will be planted and flank the Umbel flowers on either side- lots to look forward too! More pics coming to the installation page soon!

The Umbels Are Up! | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Greetings from Sweden!

After a very long journey, I arrived in the lovely town of Mariestad of the shorefront of Lake Vänern. The hours of sunlight are very limited here this time of year and the drizzly weather makes for fabulously moody skies. I spent the first few days getting over the worst of the jet lag by getting a lay of the land, walking through the nature reserves and watching the locals prepare for the upcoming holiday season. The location for my artwork will be in the Universitetsparken where the University of Gothenburg holds their horticulture program. It seems like the perfect place for my Umbels to reside.

Greetings from Sweden | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

My time in Sweden has not just been spent staring off at scenic vistas, in my few days here so far I’ve unpacked my crate (everything survived- yay!), I have most of the flowers attached to the metal structures, the location of the Umbels has been selected, so the holes for the bases were dug and lighting placement was also chosen. The next few days involve sanding down the connection point of epoxy between the ceramic and the metal so that it’s a smooth transition between the structure and the flowers and  then painting the transition to match. There’s also a few interviews with the local news who are interested in my crazy sputnik looking flowers and then it’s looking like Friday morning will be the official final placement. I really can’t say enough about the kommun (municipality) of Mariestad that has answered every question, solved every hiccup in the process at every turn and been so compliant to the artists choice in how steps are taken. I think I’ve been very spoiled here with this amazing public art committee. Final installation pics are coming soon!

Greetings from Sweden | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Sweden, here I come!

Making Progress... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculptureI was so happy to hear that my crate of artwork arrived safely in Mariestad Sweden!

One hurdle accomplished. Yay!

I leave for Sweden today and will be spending the following 10 days assembling and installing two large Umbel Flowers for the Off Season Art Gardening: Humle Park project. I’m so looking forward to meeting the team I’ve been planning with in person and exploring Sweden for the first time.

Hoping that it all comes together as planned and that the artwork looks great installed! Fingers crossed!

more to come soon….