New show alert! Happy to announce 4 pieces were accepted into What’s Up? Magazine’s 15th exhibition, “Into the Garden,” in partnership with the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, Md.
Works juried into the show include: Observed: Fork-tailed Katydid (featured), Observed: Orchard Orbweaver, Beneficial Bugs: Praying Mantis, and Observe: Ants—Accidental Planters
Observed: Fork-tailed Bush Katydid, Pastel on paper, 9”x11.5”. © 2021 Jen Sheckels
I recently joined fellow members of the Muddy Creek Artists Guild in a month-long creative challenge for May. 20 artists / 21 (week) days of art created based on a word prompt list. The goal is to do something quick without putting a lot of “thinking” into the mix.
I’ll struggle to keep up with other work going on, but I figured what they hey ... it’ll be fun. And maybe a few new pieces will come out of it.
Speaking of which … Our test prompt for Day 00 was “Intrepid". Here’s my interpretation:
Shine, Pastel on Wallis paper, 5”x5”. © 2021 Jen Sheckels
I’ll be posting the rest as much as possible over on Instagram ≥
In collaboration with artists Micki Kirk and Roxanne Weidele, I'm presenting several works in the Variations in Pastel exhibition at Ginger Cover retirement community in Parole, Md. The show highlights the broad range of techniques and effects each artist achieves using soft (chalk) and oil pastels.
Though this is not your "typical show," as the general public will be unable to view it due to continued closures and social distancing measure in affect, it was a lovely chance to see our works hung in a new venue. It also afforded an opportunity to talk about our work with new friends.
We were invited to stop by and view the show on March 15. Here are a few highlights from the gallery walk:
View of left wall at entrance, featuring a few of my works.
In December, while sorting through all sorts of feelings and moods, I discovered that I (more often than not) found a moment of solace and/or a sense of camaraderie with the aspects of the day's weather. I'm not 100% sure what spurred me to do it, but starting with January 1st I made point to look to the skies at multiple points during the day, taking mental notes and photos. At the end of the day I created a small, abstract pastel work that combined those notes and my overall mood for the day. Thus was born Weather as Mood: January 2021.
"Weather as Mood: January 2021", pastel on paper. ©2021 Jen Sheckels
For 31 days I recorded these observations and moods in quick pastel impressions. This is well out of my usual wheelhouse, so it was fun to simple play with color and shape. If nothing else, I got my hands dirty with pastels, which is always a good feeling. I may make the attempt again in the future.
Somehow, I never make time to post. That’s life I guess. But after pondering how to jumpstart some creativity over the last few weeks, I've picked up my sketchbook to explore facial expressions. With all the Zoom meetings and classes, I see a lot of different faces on a daily basis. So why not?
I'm using short gesture drawing sessions as warm up. In today’s haul:
And at the end of today's session, picked up a sketch from last week to play around with a possible "next step" in pastels. Not sure this will lead anywhere, but it's been fun to play around with.
Possible next steps for the sketches … pastel portraits? We'll see!
