jenn jones - spring break thought/art dump

at first i realized i didn't want my focus to be just on light. then, i realized i don't want it to be just on darkness. now, i realize i want my focus to be on the balance / the ebb & flow between the two.

i cut my own linen for a prototype of a flag. i have the outline of the moon in between an olive branch which resembles peace to come, and a fig which represents perseverance. (i'll only include such symbolism if i'm able to communicate it clearly, this is just studio wall stuff).

as you can see, i realize i know next to nothing about fabric. so i found an etsy that makes custom cotton banners and am planning some designs. the three below are a new moon, the outline/absence of the moon with the olive branch to symbolize hope/peace, and then the moon's light slowly returning. this is closer to explaining the concept of the natural ebb and flow of the world and how it can relate to our lives as well. i also threw out the name 'ebb and glow' as a title but can't tell if its stupid or not.

^ banner from the etsy!

^ these were my preliminary designs for flags, but i'm not sure how i feel about the text.

i've also been thinking a lot about how light isn't just something you see, it's also something that you feel. whether its physical warmth, or mental.

i made a design of the sun's rays, minus the sun. the colors give off a warm glow, and after messing around with the contrast, i liked when the two colors were barely indistinguishable. at first it looks like one rectangle of color, then up close you can see the pattern. its kind of psychedelic which isn't something i intended but don't really mind? i'd like to develop this further, and do a large two layer screen print of the sun's rays, and possibly add some text.

^ this is my planning for the rays. i like the idea behind this sentence but cannot for the life of me figure out how to say it. i'll work on that.

i also have this:

i tend to draw a lot of little things. so, a small suite of drawings in my show, and also small prints for sale, or even stickers, are all things in the back of my mind. this detached hand is something i like to draw. the overall meaning of this is that 'its okay!'. even if you feel like you're dying! the light will come back soon.

Modularity

After meeting with different people around campus about my Seminar work it has been brought to my attention that I must now rush to p[produce something worth placing in a gallery setting.

I have chosen to focus on Modularity and yes that is the title as well.

This is the flat line version and a photo of it assembled from bristol, of a prototype modular wall, or mesh structure (depending on construction) that I am planning to display along with the Modular Wall project that 1 am working on with two other students.



Here is an image of the project in prototype form made from cardboard.

I have one more idea about a work to include the is currently in progress. It is an installation that is create from cardboard boxes with different surface treatments. This would be created large enough for 1-3 persons to fit inside of the work.

I am prototyping this project with 3" bristol cubes and tinfoil for reflectivity. Here is an Image of the boxes in progress.



I plan to make promotional material such as posters, infographics, and descriptions to accompany these works as well as occupy wall space behind these works during the show.

Andrew Tricoche_Plans

Busy, busy, busy. I've been working towards the final presentation of the show, taking in all obstacles in my way. The first obstacle is the most rewarding, spring break. Currently, I work in the HR department of MassDOT, which will take the back seat while during that week of focus. I plan to use the days I don't work to create as many "finished" pieces as possible. I put quotation marks around finished because after discussing what "finished" might look like, I realized that the work I make requires the style of my hand-drawn work. Why? Because it feels more alive in comparison to my "finished" digital work.

Within the last week, I began collecting material to work with and began laying out the plan for the show. This helps focus the work within a selected theme, which seems to work well with the 5 different emotions. While I think I can make a lifetime of work to prove my thinking, I believe it is necessary to filter my thinking to present my ideas and create a show.



Here, you can see my general idea of my show layout. THis will probably change based on the critique I hope to get tomorrow. I understand it's "alterish", though I don't know how to include the mural and my works that support my thesis without going beyond the idea of 10 feet. The idea is to include :

5x "scrolls"

5x Vinyl Case Design

5x CD Players to have an audio comparison

3x "Happy Birthday" works to reflect the changes in soundwaves vs visual representation

5x "Ink Blotch" which relates to the individual emotions

1x Process Book

1x Voice Print Book

(1x Mural, I guess)

I've been held back within the last week with family issues, though I've found time to layout ideas and think in between. I've also collected material for the show, finding large hardboard at Home Depot, perfect for the 5 "scrolls which will be the most time consuming. With the upcoming spring break, I can spend most of my time creating for the show. I wish I could have had more, though I always feel that way.

Along with all of this, I need to rethink my portfolio website and design a business card. I've had issues with the business card design, because I've noticed a lot of people coming up with some wacky name for themselves, as if they run a gallery space or utilize their screen name. I think both are tacky as fuck. I am who I am, and want to represent myself in that way instead of pretending to be some kind of creative agency. I'll have to apply my own formula to myself, I guess. How do I represent myself?

More like remedies? not "drugs"

Here are two more I have created. In total I will have 7 different products. Slowly I am revising them to make sure everything is perfectly aligned and sized to fit the bottle and be readable. I want to make boxes for the bottled products (hopefully to lessen the amount of info on the label since the bottles are smaller).









After I make everything for the products, I hope to make posters to go along with each one. I also made a layout of how I envision my work to be displayed in the show.

jenn jones - studio update, thought dump

i realized a lot of my seminar work has been revolving around symbolism. i think this is because i, like many, have never been good at putting complex thoughts into words. so putting the spirit of complex thoughts into real life objects is easier, and makes the thought real. so i started to make a list of symbols that express my concepts, and hung up said symbols. i'm not done with the list yet though.

having a visual list and collage of what has been rummaging around my head will definitely help with my process.

i'm furthering my interest into using light as a medium. i'd love to make something resembling stained glass. churches, for hundreds of years, have had stained glass windows to tell stories about scripture, in addition to letting in a comforting light that resembles the presence of God. so i wondered to myself, what story am i trying to tell? and painted four panels of moon phases, which symbolize the story of the natural ebb and flow of life, how it gives and takes, comes and goes. i have been thinking about how the light and dark phases of the moon mimic the light and dark moments of our lives. the rise and fall is natural, and the darkness brings us into a period of reflection. i found the verse 2 corinthians 12:9 which says, "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." i am relating this weakness to the emptiness of a new moon, thinking about how at that point when we are feeling so low, we are actually closer to God than ever.





i imagined the phases of the moon leading up to the front of a church, with the new moon closest to the alter, and took some time to paint the phases on paper with acrylic paint, just to see it. i plan to continue working out a stained glass design and potentially paint or screen print on top of plexi, or embroider a thin fabric, so that when hung by a window the light shines through.



i've also been thinking about putting symbols onto flags. i made a small prototype with ink and paper of a new moon on a flag, with a sliver of the moon showing. i'd love to make a few designs for flags/penants/banners to see what they look like.

i also painted this for fun because i realize when thinking about the darkness in your life you really have to be careful. a lot of my ideas involve becoming okay with your bad sides and bad times, because they are natural. but in doing so you have to be careful. so i made this box, because the simple message of handling a box with care can be said the same about our hearts and minds, which are pretty important boxes.



(also, that blank piece of paper has been hanging on my wall for months and i needed to defeat it.)

i feel a lot more mindful about my thesis and expect to find a lot more answers to my ideas as i progress and spend more time in my studio. i will settle on just one or two pieces about a new moon/moon phases because i don't want my thesis to revolve around the moon/overdo it. i just really like the metaphors i'm discovering that deal with the moon, and want to pinpoint and perfect it. in addition to the symbolism behind the moon i also have olive branches, fig trees, and a candle (so far). not all of these deal directly with light, which is something else i'm thinking about. basically, i'm just thinking about EVERYTHING. but, that's just what you need to do to narrow down your thoughts.

Amy's growing drug cabinet

So this sketchy website that I ordered my bottles from arrived. Bottles are actually really nice so I decided to print out some of the labels and tape them on to see how they would be. Now that I have the physical object, I can make these packages and labels to size. Some are accurate to size and some need a bit of a tweak.

Jenn Jones - heart words

lately, for some reason, i've been feeling pressured to be generating work like a well oiled machine. and i'm not a machine at all. i like to put my heart in my work. this pressure i'm putting on myself is overstimulating my heart, and making it hurt. and when my heart hurts, my work sucks. so i've been trying to listen to my heart. and just get some ideas out without any expectations.

when i feel tired yet continue to go on, i wonder what's pushing me. and what's organizing the turn of events around me. and i know its all the hands of God. when i'm drained i wonder where i get any positive voice from. and i know its the voice of God. no matter how badly i feel, i know that i'm a living thing made in the image of something very great. its in my veins and i reflect its light. a lot like how the moon reflects the sun. it feels natural.

i feel vulnerable centering my art around these feelings, especially for thesis, but a part of me knows we all feel strongly. and one of us is going to have to be vulnerable every now and then. and i really want to say these things.

my feelings about relying on God when i feel defeated coexist with the doctrine of 'sola fide', which is latin for 'by faith alone'. this doctrine stands for justification by faith alone, meaning we are not forgiven by our works, but by our faith in Jesus. here's a quote by theologist G.C. Berkouwer about it; “The confession of divine justification touches man’s life at its heart, at the point of its relationship to God. It defines the preaching of the Church, the existence and progress of the life of faith, the root of human security, and man’s perspective for the future.”<link>. i found the phrase 'sola fide' in an old journal of mine, written while listening to a sermon that was really filling my heart. i feel like there's harmony in the room whenever someone talks fondly of God.

i'm thinking about show titles. sola reminds me of 'sol', the latin word for sun. i thought it would be cool to replace the word with that, or the latin word for moon 'luna'. (i'm so annoying about latin. can you tell i took it in high school?)



sometimes i feel like the work i want to do is bigger than myself. and it makes me want to stop. but why would the work want me to do that? i'm going to persevere. and make something. and take what i have. and maybe i'll have another mental breakdown in the middle of class (lol sorry). but i have something i want to say. and i'll get it out somehow, with some help.

i want the rest of my work to emerge from this honesty. i feel so strongly at this point there's no turning back. it's really time for me to turn these thoughts into final products. i'm almost done this screen print:



and i know i want that in my show. so there's one piece almost down!

i also want to screen print a sports banner with MOONLIGHT written on it. maybe i can do that tonight. though i've been working on that ^ candle print so much this week, i pulled a muscle in my neck. so i need to be careful while screen printing. haha.