Jen Jovan Art Musings and Random Thoughts

Return to Wonder

12/31/2018

"Return to Wonder" - acrylic on paper, 18" x 12". Available here and at Artfinder.

To be alive is power,
Existing in itself,
Without a further function,
Omnipotence enough.
--Emily Dickinson

The final painting of 2018 is a return to abstraction. A paint over with a little nod to the ethereal wonderland that is the wilds of Oregon.

There is a desire to reflect at the end of a year...to set goals, analyze successes and failures and to make resolutions. I am a huge supporter of future planning and goal setting! But this time - this time I am going to simply be alive. As Dickinson says, existing in itself, without further function.

And for me this is a massive leap into the unknown. To just exist, to let one year roll into the next without (GASP) a plan? Inconceivable! And yet, I am going to do it.

Wherever you are in the wide world, as the new year opens the door to unending possibility, I wish for you a return to wonder and the unwavering belief in a trail of breadcrumbs that points to the best life possible. And, of course, a liberal dose of malarkey along the way. Happy New Year!

This week's picks in PDX!

Hiking: Tryon Creek Park. This park in south west Portland is a great hike when you can't commit to a full day. Lots of small trails, plenty of incline and interesting bridges and gullies. And it's dang pretty!

Dining: Wayfinder. Great beer, great food. Try the Freedom Hash (vegan) or the Chicken Schnitzel. And they deliver through the Caviar app (when you don't want to get out of your pajamas). Easy peasy.

Fun and Games: Guardian Games. The largest selection of board (and other) games I have ever seen. And a pub. And some super helpful game nerds who will make sure you leave with the best game ever. We really appreciated their IRS sale (The IRS really sucks inventory reduction sale) and so did half of PDX who stood in line with us.

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You're Here to Take Over

12/27/2018

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"You're Here to Take Over" - acrylic on aquabord, 11" x 14". Ready to frame, or can be leaned against a wall upon a shelf. Available here and at Artfinder.

You're not here to take part,
You're here to take over.

Whoa. This sentence landed in a horoscope for Leos several days ago. And it twirled around in my head until I had to paint it. The timing was particularly scrumptious, because I had just been inspired by another artist, who FEARLESSLY painted exactly what she wanted to, despite its unconventionality, and then posted it everywhere.

That kind of bravery is exactly what we're called to do in art. Paint without boundaries, censors or inner critics. Ignore the masses and break new ground - even if others cannot yet appreciate it (or never do). It was a much needed kick in the pants for me, and has me more determined than ever to bushwhack a wildly creative path in the new year.

And so a sword-wielding warrior woman has taken over the studio. I love it when that happens.

This is also a lesson in surrounding yourself with the right people. Creative people need creative people. No timid Tinkerbells or passive Petunias (or Peters) - give us brazen Berthas and courageous Clydes! We rise (or fall) to the bar set set by our peers. A high bar pushes us forward and helps us feel unfettered. I am darned lucky to be surrounded by artists who don't stop pressing forward.

Now where on earth did I put my sword?

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Let's Hear it for the boys

12/22/2018

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"Ron and Pongo" - acrylic on Aquabord, 16" x 20" NFS.

Channeling my inner Fritz Scholder this week with an oddball portrait of the traveling pair who braved a trip across the country through three blizzards, a torrential downpour and the unexpected attention of a couple of state troopers in Nebraska (who were apparently fond of Great Danes).

Super Ron managed to unpack an entire household, assemble furniture, lug 24 bags of mulch (to make the unfinished back yard Pongo-friendly) and bring me icepacks. Pongo provided expert moral support. :)

This is not the first journey of its kind in the Walls family. Around 1846, John Freeman Walls made his way as a fugitive from a plantation in North Carolina all the way to Canada, where he built a log cabin and established a legacy that lives on today at the John Freeman Walls Historical Site. Some later generations of Walls' intermarried with native tribespeople in Canada, and then made their way back into the U.S.A.

Fritz Scholder - Man & Dog #17

So it isn't lost on me, this symbolic journey. It began with our move to North Carolina in 2006, where a Walls put his feet back in the state where it all began. A decade or so later, the Great Westward Walls Family Migration (as it is known in our household) started after a brief detour to Florida.. There is a sense of having made a long trek to somewhere more accepting of all kinds of humans. I imagine John Freeman Walls felt similarly when he arrived in Canada over a century ago.

Fritz Scholder, an American painter who long ignored his own Native American heritage, eventually became known for being that very thing - and for changing the concept of the "Indian artist." And on occasion, he painted a man with a dog, :)

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Repose

12/20/2018

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"Repose" - acrylic and charcoal on illustration board, 12" x 16". Available here and at Artfinder.

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.
--Rainer Maria Rilke

Here in the land of green and groovy, the light is soft and diffused. It is the perfect setting for contemplating the big mysteries of life while taking a well-earned rest.

And rest it is to be reunited with charcoal and paints, letting the muse have her way with me. Today she insists on a restful figure and a three color palette. I am happy to oblige.

There is a great temptation, when relocating, to resolve everything as soon as possible. Unpacking, setting things up, making spaces work, finding "our" grocery store, gas station, bank, coffee shop...but Rilke's words whisper to me.

Be patient. Love the questions, Sit with what is unresolved.

There it is....the dreaded "P-word" again. But somehow, here, it is easier to wait. Easier to pause - delightful, even. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, stops to exchange pleasantries, offer a smile, ask if you need help. I have to stop myself from rushing and bustling through the day, because I think here that would be downright rude! Just like in lovely Listowel in Ireland. I am doing a lot of sighing and smiling here. It is sweet relief.

In the studio, there is a temptation to resolve my direction - who am (artistically) here in Oregon? What will I create? Who is my muse? What does she want? Ahhhhhh. But here, too, I will love the questions themselves and strap myself in for the journey. If I listen closely, there might be magic along the way.

For those of you contemplating a visit to the PNW, I will share my favorite new spots as I find them. These might be cool places to visit if you're ever out here (which I hope you will be!)

Today's lunch spot, and my new favorite AMAZING Mexican restaurant is Tamale Boy in the Dekum Triangle. It's just blocks from my house, and super delicious. Try the cauliflower.

This week's delightful shop discovery is actually a favorite from a prior visit to PDX, and I was thrilled to find it still thriving: Woonwinkle. Who can resist this?

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The green green green of home

12/13/2018

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We're having what you'd call a soft landing here in Portland.

Staggered arrivals, days apart - people, car, belongings, dog. Camping (or "glamping") in our own house with just the bare necessities. Dipping toes into Portland - a little here, a little there. Slowly, softly, no hurry.

It's winter. So that means chilly with wind, misty rain and mostly gray skies. Perfect for tromping through local parks with Pongo, who is struggling a little with all the changes but eager to sniff his new turf.

The overwhelming theme here is green. Green mosses, green grass, green trees, green foliage. Green practices - recycling, reusing, respecting the environment. Green spaces - every other yard certified as a back yard habitat and sporting a front yard vegetable garden. Green.

There is beauty just a block from our new home, Woodlawn Park. It reminds me a bit of the Garden of Europe in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, where I spent many lovely days a year ago. My heart soars having an open green space so close by.

These might seem like simple tree photos to those of you in northern climes...but to the likes of us, just coming from as deeply south as a human can live in the USA, these trees are magical unicorns prancing in our dreams. Trees! Tall, majestic, evergreen and shady. A verdant wonderland all around.

I cannot help but breathe deeply and sigh with relief. We are home.

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THE Entertainment center

12/5/2018

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Once upon a time there was a massive entertainment center.

It was lovely, functional and pretty much kept to itself, quietly holding everything the family loved to enjoy...board games, family photos, televisions, game consoles, books and memorabilia.

The entertainment center stayed the same, stoic and steadfast, while the world around it changed. Its doors never sagged, its lights always twinkled when turned on, and it kept its contents safe and sound.

No one noticed how aged it was. How outdated. How televisions had grown to a size that would no longer fit in its arms. No one noticed how the styles had changed and how HGTV and those rascally Property Brothers had made wall-mounted televisions the new fad. The entertainment center had become irrelevant.

When the family decided to move, they realized the entertainment center would not fit in their new home. So they began a concerted effort to find an adopted family for their beloved entertainment center. They praised it on Craigslist. They listed its virtues to neighbors. They offered its amazingness to Habitat for Humanity. No one wanted the aged behemoth.

The family decided to try to coax the aging hardwood beast to the curb for bulk pick-up day. Nothing would move it from its rooted position, bolted to the walls and weighted with the years.

So, with heavy hearts, the family called a junk man. The junk man arrived and eyed the beast with wariness....waving a price sheet and predicting massive volume and labor and cost. With much wailing and moaning and gnashing of teeth, the family pulled out a credit card. What a surprise when they became riveted to the live action of watching two men wrestle the beast, moaning and groaning and gnashing their own teeth as they fought the kraken and the kraken fought back, gripping the wall and the sides and the floor for hours.

Even in its last moments, the entertainment center provided entertainment, going out with gusto and leaving a trail of sawdust and sweat. The junk man declared it the most fearsome entertainment center of all time and hauled it away in his junk-hauling truck.

The family, in honor of the beast, decided NEVER to invite an entertainment center into their home again, preserving its one-of-a-kind memories for all time.

Though blog posts will continue in December without new paintings, Malarkey Art Headquarters and Pongo Shipping Services are closed for the month as the Great Westward Migration commences. If an original painting here or at Artfinder has grabbed your heart and left you white-knuckled in fear of it flying away, you may still purchase! It will be shipped once unpacked in Oregon.

However, if your needs are holiday driven and time-sensitive, please enjoy art in re-printed form at Red Bubble or Fine Art America.

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Return to Wonder

You're Here to Take Over

Let's Hear it for the boys

Repose

The green green green of home

THE Entertainment center

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