new visions in progress

Here are some of the results of recent studio time.  (They are not finished.)  Apparently, I'm drawn to more definition than the last series of paintings.  I have been working in a combination of collage, walnut ink and fine pen.  I recently stopped traveling as frequently as I have been for the past two years, and the suggestions of home or villages keep working their way into these images.  Basic geometrical forms are replacing atmospheric layering.  I'm enjoying faster, more aggressive strokes of my pen and dramatically altering the composition of my page in one fell swoop, then solving the problem I created with an area of texture or a carefully placed line.   

Spider and Kite

Hello all,

Spider and Kite opened last week in Philadelphia with a beautiful gathering of some of my favorite people from the city.  I was so inspired to see a microcosm of the wider creative community come together and talkto each other about art and music and gardening and writing and science and photography and dreams!  It became a little common space for everyone to collaborate, share and reflect...all I hoped it would do and more.

photo credit Katie Bentley

The installation itself came to life as people wrote down their stories, used the postcards, drew, left relics of their past and present, collaborated in poetry, rearranged or even remembered the objects nestled in the cubbies and strewn over the top.

 I saw how we all share common motifs in our lives--a turkey feather or antique locket can mean much to many people and become the perfect starting point for an exchange of anecdotes and reflections.

 photo credit Katie Bentley.  Leather journal depicted design and hand-made by Joe Kirby.

I will add photography of the exhibit to this entry as I receive it from several generous photographer friends who have or will visited Spider and Kite.  Bri will see this manifestation of her correspondence from her travels through Thailand, Indonesia, Australia for the first time in two weeks.  Both of us will continue to write to each other via the desk until then (if you see an unopened envelope on top of the desk when you're there, open it!  If you would like to go peruse and participate, it is in the lobby at Moore College of Art: 1916 Race St, Philadelphia.  Open now until mid-March. Enjoy!

Love, Jackie

photo credit Katie Bentley

Two shows two cities

Hello all!  Been a busy beaver in my little room in Asheville, getting ready to install two shows in two different cities, two weeks from each other!  It's a great time of birth and momentum for me, and though the pace is a bit frantic this week I'm grateful to be living so fully within my passion.

I'm looking forward to catching up with many of my dear friends and family, as I will be spending two weeks each in Philadelphia and Maine around the installation and openings of each exhibition.

Spider and Kite (formerly titled Spider and Sparrow, to clear up the confusion with the image) is an installation around the correspondence between Bri and me, which has been evolving over the past year as we take flight in our own directions.  The piece is an open writing desk, housing our letters and drawings we've been mailing back and forth, objects that have become meaningful or symbolic parts of our tales of adventure and discovery.  The desk is not full...we intend it to invite collaboration from our communities and viewers, emphasizing the importance of reflecting on and sharing your unique story.  You may add a piece of your story as you see fit to the installation, or write it to a friend on one of the stamped, blank postcards provided on the writing surface.  We are all dynamic threads in the human myth, spiders weaving a collective web, birds free to fly after our own dreams.

Dream Medicine is two recent bodies of watercolor and ink paintings.  This has been an exploration of dreams, spirituality and the meaning I see just behind an ever thinning veil of the everyday.  Influencing and enriching my day and night dreams and visions are archetypes (animal, mystical, or energetic) from First Nation storytellers (native North Americans), aboriginal cultures from Australia and Oceania, Greek mythology about constellations and sky beings, the astrological tradition, American folk music, and Jung's foray into the shadow and the subconscious.  All of these living threads of human myth enrich and deepen my own connection to the present moment.  They paint into my mind's eye vibrant images and symbols empowering me to understand and express the truth I find in my relationship to a moment, thought, person or pattern. 

Click on the photos for more information, and feel free to email me with any inquiries about either! (jacquelinekmaloney@gmail)