NEW blog

Hello friends,

I just wanted to invite you to visit my new blog at jenniferklecker.wordpress.com.

Since my summer adventures in art making, I feel my work is in a period of growth and transition.  I felt it was time to give it a new voice on a new blog.

Thank you for your support and art love.

-J

TICA

TICA, (Teacher Institute in Contemporary Art),  is a residency program for high school art teachers at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  It was an amazing week of soaking in lectures on Modern painting, meeting with Chicago-based artists and curators, spending time in the museum, gaining perspective from faculty and peers, and painting as much as possible. My creative goal was to paint, experiment, stretch myself, revisit old and invent new, and not self-edit the process....JUST PAINT. 

I am so grateful for having been selected to be part of this program and work with such great art educators from around the nation.  Here are the photos of this weeklong experience.

Finished works:)

Branching Out

Branching Out, 16 x 40 in- oil and acrylic on canvas

My initial vision for this painting was much like that of the previous Aspen tree painting.  However, as it evolved, I decided to stop before painting between the branches.  There is something about the blazing background makes the tree appear strong while standing naked and alone.

Aspen Painting

There is something about looking at a tree from below.  There is something nostalgic about this perspective.  It reminds me of quiet moments past.   Its the simple beauty of the plant, and the organic use of line that draw me in.  This painting is inspired by my recent trips to mountains outside of Salt Lake City...mid May, and the Aspen are just budding.

Oil on Canvas, 20 x 20 in

Something different on the easel...

Oil on cradled canvas board.  

Coniferous Color

Completing the twenty small color studies helped me to look at color differently.  My palette will never be the same.  I'm very  excited how will this affect my future paintings.

#20  8x8 in, oil on cradled canvas board

#17  8x8 in, oil on cradled canvas board

#15 6x6 in, oil on cradled canvas board

Color studies continued...

A few of the colorscapes....oil paint on canvas board.

#14 "Slickrock study, on a bike and with a prayer", 8 x 8 in.

#12 "Cotton Candy", 8 x 8 in. 

#11 "Its Quiet Here", 8 x8 in.

#10 "Dead Horse Point", 6 x6 in.

#8 "Variegated Yarn", 6 x 6 in.

Daily INDULGENCE in color

The Challenge:  20 DAYS of COLOR....20 days, 20 small studies.


The Rational:  
There are plenty of gray days in the heart of Wisconsin's winter.  With my last skyscape painting, I added a few new colors in palette, and loved it!  To stretch myself, I've decided to experiment with color.  Each of these small studies is like candy to to me.  I've simplified my landscape compositions to indulge in my obsession with color.  I draw color combinations from various places and things in my immediate surroundings. 

WEEK 1:

Day 7- "QUIET SCREAM" 6x6, oil on cradled canvas board

Day 6- "RING OF FIRE"- 6x6 in, oil on cradled canvasboard

Day 5- "ON THE MAPS ITS A RED DOT", 6x6 in, oil on canvas board

Day 4- "RYAN SAYS GREEN/TAN" 6x6 in, oil on canvas board

Day 2- "SOMETHING is SURFACING", 5 x7, oil on hardboard

Day 2- "SEEING RED." 5 x7 in, oil on hardboard

Day 1- "TURQUOISE and RED", 5 x 7, oil on hardboard

Turquoise- my new "color crush"

Oil on canvas board, 16 x 20 in- Jan. 2012

This painting is pivotal to a recent transition in my work.  Yes, my palette is changing, and I'm excited to share some color studies with you soon!

Thank you!

I had so much fun sharing my work at Gallery Night & Day this past weekend at Gallery 326/Swig in Milwaukee.  The cold temps and the snow only added to a memorable evening of art sharing and surprise guests!

Thank you to Flux Design for greeting people at the door in your "work-man" kilts & knightly armor and to Swig for the wall space and welcome!

It was great to see so many friends and colleagues, as well as meet some new art-loving friends!  I'm also very excited that some of my paintings found new homes.  
If you missed it, check out the below photos!

Narrows  paintings

Surprise guests from MN & CO!  Love you girls!

BWCA paintings 

Sneak Peek!- Gallery 326/Swig

 I thought I would share a few pics from this past Sunday morning, when we installed my work for this weekend's Gallery Night & Day!!! It took us just over an hour to hang the 25 pieces.  I am grateful to Emily & Julie who helped me tote my art to the 3rd Ward, and to the guys from Flux Design, Adam & Troy, who made the install so easy!

I am super excited to have this opportunity to share my art with my Milwaukee peeps!  This body of work is all from 2011...come and check it out.

Friday, January 20th 

5-11 p.m.

Gallery 326/ Swig

217 N. Broadway, 2nd Floor 

Milwaukee, WI

Reasons to attend:

1.  To say you were at my first art show!

I want to see you!  If you can't make it Friday, visit me on Saturday, January 21st between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

2.  The art, snacks, and cash bar....Thank you Flux Design & Swig for this opportunity!

3.  This is part of Milwaukee's Gallery Night and Day, so you won't want to miss the    sculptures on ice...also visit my colleague, Rebecca Hoeppner, at Sparrow Collective (2224 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.) this friday from 6 to 9 p.m. and her "Body Image" photography.

4. You are awesome and already "like" my fb page...seriously though, thank you to all of 

you who have supported me and listened to my adventures on canvas, in the classroom, 

and out in the wilderness!  http://www.facebook.com/jenniferkleckerart

First comes twilight, then dusk

Light at the end of the day is only constant in that is fleeting and ever changing.  When I initially approached this painting I was focused on the subtleties found minutes after the sun disappears below the horizon.  I wanted to capture that period of time where your eye adjusts to the shadows and a new sense of depth is found.


When I am camping, its amazing how much the eye can perceive without the headlamp or light of the campfire.   However, as fascinated as I might be with this lack of light, I realized that this painting wouldn't been seen in the dark.  During the evolution of this painting, I added more highlights to achieve visual interest.  I almost stopped painting with the second image, but I was unsatisfied with the lines in the water.  This painting caused me to study color found after the sun sets.  For the past few weeks, I've been noticing sunset differently, I discovered dark greens and flickers of peach in the Milwaukee sky...as well as the first star of the evening.

This is another paintings inspired from the Boundary Waters Canoe area in Minnesota.  Its about that time of year, when we start making plans for our canoeing adventures for 2012!

DUSK, Oil on canvas, 16 x 40 in

Cairn #3

Oil on canvas,  12 x 24 in

Its been 6 months since I've encountered one of these cairns in the desert...its now January, and I'm already longing for my next big hike in the warmer months ahead.

After looking at the painting for awhile, I realized that the oval shaped rock in the foreground reminds me of an egg.  This is my first completed painting of 2012...so perhaps the egg symbolizes the surprises and good things I'm eagerly anticipating in the year ahead!

I love applying the creamy highlights of paint like frosting to the canvas.  I tried to capture the light and shadows of an early morning outside Moab, UT.  Its very cold in desert at this time of day, but the growing sunlight cuts through the frost and long shadows.

Its feels good to return to my palette after the holidays and time in Italy.  I wish you all the best in 2012!  Buon Anno!