Three In - Art comes Out - Vancouver, BC

"More of Me Comes Out When I Improvise"

-Edward Hopper

It's been 3 weeks since I planted my feet in Vancouver, which means the artwork created during the Between the Points Project is just about ready to ship out to the individuals involved.  It has been a rewarding experience and process being with these artworks for this long, and reflecting over the journey - the colors, textures, temperatures, interactions, etc.

I suppose, much like any trip, it is normal look back at the images created or the souvenirs procured during that time.  I've realized, however, that this journey and these experiences resonate within me without needing to refer back to a specific image.  Colors I didn't typically gravitate towards in my painting suddenly seem common on my painter's palette.

Images and motifs seem to seep their way into the artworks, almost without my conscious action.  When I look at the artwork after the fact, I feel the memory of that moment, of that place, come charging back to the forefront of my mind.

Nature, and natural elements and colors, have found there way into the artworks in direct and indirect ways.

Moments are still playing themselves over and over in my mind, as if I were there - feeling the feelings, hearing the sounds, seeing the sights,

holding that connection between the body and the earth.

As I finalize the last envelopes before sending the artworks out to those individuals involved, I feel it necessary to say
Thank you.
Thank you to Artist's Mediums of Williston Vermont for donating art supplies to the project.
Thank you to Black Horse Fine Art Supply for donating art supplies to the project.
Thank you to Desillusion Magazine for donating magazines to use as supplies for the project.
Thank you to you for this opportunity and being a part of its creation.

I will announce by the end of the week when the work has been sent out.  I would suspect it will take no more than two weeks to reach each of you.

I hope you enjoy the work.
I hope you keep in touch with the artwork inspired by the journey after the fact at:
www.jessagilbert.com
and
faeebook.com/jessagilbertstudios

or directly

jessacgilbert@gmail.com

It has been my pleasure.

Jessa Gilbert

Process, Memory, and Beautiful British Columbia

The dogs here can communicate in English and French.

Or at least that's what the government here is pushing for - that all dog owners must teach their dogs commands in both English and French.  Luckily, this breaking news story came around the same time Miley Sirus began twerking, so all in all we in Canada may be winning.

Set up has begun, and although there are minor tweaks to the studio to come, I feel I am closing in on a permanent set up.  I overlook my neighbor's beautifully manicured vegetable garden, a Sedarium plant I'm hoping becomes interesting and not just mold, and my Grandmother's (I think) table that I have turned into my painter's table.

It's been such a joy to go through the pieces created on the Between the Points Project.  Although I have landed here in Vancouver, British Columbia, I feel as though I'm still on the road when I go through these works.  It's as if creating these pieces in those places captured and retained the energy of that moment.  While I always thought of paintings and artwork being able to produce emotions for the viewer, these sentiments are much stonger than I had anticipated.

Even within the photographs I developed from my Ricoh 35 mm camera.  Perhaps that's just how memory works - it is jolted awake by images or things or scents.  When I began the Latitude/Longitude photographs I had this in mind - that a memory is actually a fleeting, unclear thing.  As theory states, "our perception of the past is always influenced by the present, which means it is always changing."

By having something, in this case a latitude and logitude location "trigger", in the foreground, the background becomes gauzy and painterly - much like memories.

This process of redefining what you see and how you understand it is essential for creating a body of work, or a process of working, that feels noteworthy - for me at least.  I also enjoy trying to think of past events in a different way.  Perhaps you can imagine an unpleasant moment in a positive or humorous light.

Like these:

Cloudy Mornings.

Although I was hoping for a beautiful sunrise in Virginia, I was greeted with cloud covered rolling hills.  I would pack a few things and go back to look, but the mountains were still fast asleep under their blankets of clouds.

Allergies.

Which plagued me State after State either due to dust of different things in bloom.

Desert Heat.

As my close friends like to point out, my body does not do an exceptional job regulating heat.  However, the colors of the desert feel alive, and though I was at times unable to take a step, the people accustomed to the desert heat didn't let it stop them.

Sometimes to energize the mind and body, for me, it is best to just get to work.  This project, as well as preparing for my next group show, the Lab Arts Show put on by Glitz Entertainment, as well as creating a new portfolio for the Open Door Gallery, who I am represented by here in Vancouver, has helped me to hit the ground running, and be thankful for everything I have, have done, and will do.

That doesn't mean I have chained myself to my painter's table.  It is still important to be outside in the real world - noticing color combinations,

compositions,

symbols,

and beyond.

Two weeks in, and things are settling in nicely as I prepare the artworks from the Between the Points Project to ship out this month.

So much to come.

Jessa Gilbert

www.jessagilbert.com

facebook.com/jessagilbertstudios

One Week In Vancouver, British Columbia

Learning to Simplify and Float

After two weeks in my car driving from New York to Vancouver BC, meandering through the Southern desert, I have begun to settle into my new home, finalize artworks to be sent out in the next few weeks for the over 50 individuals who became involved with this project, and stretch my legs a little.

I'd be lying if I said the first few days were very easy, for it is difficult to move into a new place with no phone, no friends, no bank account... but there are finer things here.

The Ocean.

The Mountains.

A Major City.

The Sunshine.

My Health.

Not to mention a new Studio to settle into.

Looking through my completed pieces from my journey Between the Points, I am noticing a theme of simplification.  Part of this could be due to certain landscapes - the endless golden fields of wheat in Idaho, the flat arid landscape of Northern Texas, or the seemingly endless sky of Oklahoma.

A certain amount of this simplification and editing could also be due in part to moving and being mobile.  One must be very thoughtful about what elements to include since there is limited space in a vehicle, and limited energy in packing boxes upon boxes.  Perhaps this process of simplifying my lifestyle through way of purging belongings found its way into my artwork.

An emphasis on color and light still reigns supreme in the pieces, drawing, watercolor, acrylic, photography, and collage.  I am fascinated by the way in which shadows and tones are dispersed across landscapes and objects depending on their light source.

I have noticed more of a sense of humor and light-heartedness in these small works than I tend to exhibit in my larger acrylic paintings.  Maybe due to their size I feel more free to explore and take chances.  Going through these types of exercises is incredibly valuable for it reinforces the importance of taking chances and risks.

I decided to take the weekend to further reflect on the pieces, and get outside while the weather was nice.  I made my way to Garibaldi Park for some backpacking and camping.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid of bears the entire night.  The upside to this fear, much like when I camped at Canyonlands in Utah, is that I was happy to get up and out of the tent early.

The rain from the night before, along with the clouds cloaking the mountain range made for a beautiful and inspiring morning.

I can say without a doubt that until staying in the mountains and waking up to this incredible landscape, where the trail head was an under 2 hour drive from my front doorstep, I didn't know how to feel.  Being within the mountains, and spending time out of the studio surprisingly, helped me grasp that I moved to one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.  I'm excited to continue to build an Art portfolio, become involved in a new community, and see how this fantastic land seeps into my artwork and creative process.

(So Much) More to Come.

Jessa Gilbert

www.jessagilbert.com

facebook.com/jessagilbertstudios

instagram.com/jessagilbert

One Week - Santa Fe, New Mexico

In Santa Fe, Color reigns supreme.

Santa Fe exceeded all expectations.  I had the understanding that it was an artistic town situated within a beautiful part of New Mexico, along the old Route 66.  Not only does it have the flat desert landscape, but it also has plateaus, mountains, and abundant sunshine.  It was such a treat to wake up to crisp blue skies and warm sunshine after arriving late the night before, although I got to see a beautiful sunset within a thunder and lightning storm.  Plus - the heat was nowhere near the past few 90 plus degree days.  It was the perfect weather for biking the city and exploring the area.

Canyon Street is the main gallery street of Santa Fe.  This means for about 6-8 blocks you have galleries, studios, and artist gallery/studios uninterrupted, one after another.  I later found out that in Santa Fe there are no factories or big businesses, but that the town is completely supported through Art sales and tourism.  It's so inspiring to hear that a town can use Art as a way of sustaining itself and maintain its culture, rather than expecting other industry to produce profit and having Art as a secondary consideration.

I stopped into many of the galleries in town, talked to a few of the artists and gallery attendants, and saw some incredible artwork.  One of the things I enjoyed most about the work was that it really felt authentic.  This may be too much of a broad statement, but when I tour galleries in the city and go to fine art establishments I feel like the work is expected to have a certain level of seriousness, the gallery to a certain level of silence, and the ties are expected to be pulled tightly around the collar, so to speak.  In studying Art History I felt as though in the Fine Art world the work that is seen to be most sophisticated is dampened or void of most color.  In Santa Fe, particularly in Art, color seems to reign supreme.

I visited the Gallery space of David Rothermel and had a very inspiring conversation about this topic in particular.  His works, at this point in his career, involve panels of colors, layered and worked over and over, placed in combinations to evoke different levels of spacial awareness, color relationship, and rhythm.  I asked him how he got to where he is today, and what his process was for creating.  His response was (and I'm summing this up in a very short way because it was a much longer and very fun conversation) that he had gone through the "necessary and expected steps" of becoming an Artist at the time: Go to Art School, Obtain your MFA, move to New York City, work multiple jobs to sustain yourself, and carry on into the early morning hours with extra curricular activities (so to speak), socializing, networking, and what have you.  He talked frankly about the desire and need to distance himself, and as he put it, "get the fuck out of there".  In the early 80s he moved from NYC to Santa Fe and reset himself in his life and artistic pursuit.  With the change of lifestyle and setting came a change in perspective on the artistic practice.  Eventually he got back into the studio and began creating series of landscape paintings, and then these colored and textured panels.

While the conversation had many deeper meanings to me as a young artist, the biggest I will share here is this:  It is inspiring to hear an Artist talk about Art in a way that isn't elitist, but feels genuine, authentic, and real; to talk about Art in a way that is a struggle and ever changing event and process; to talk about the Art world that isn't one dimensional and streamlined.

From there I continued biking around Canyon Street and into the surrounding back alleys and downtown area.  I absolutely fell in love with the color and architecture - brick red clay houses with a pop of color on the window trim, doors, or flowers surrounding.  Every street uncovered a little treasure, which made it hard to actually get off the bike and walk around.  It neared about 4pm and I still felt like I had more to see in Santa Fe, so I decided to stay another night.

Spent a bit of time going over the works I had already produced, and reflected a bit on the journey thus far.  With it being the one week point of the project I wanted to take a step back for a minute to see if I could notice any trends or see a change in my perspective.  I'm not going to go into detail about what new things I've learned or interests that have cropped up, but I will show you a mini-series I have begun to produce.

The artworks below I have created during the drive, literally, to attempt to capture a change in landscape.  These works will be touched up with Ink and Watercolor before being mailed out.  From Top Left to Bottom Right - Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico.

I ventured back into Santa Fe to capture the evening's low light and see how the city looked all lit up after spending a bit of time looking over the project pieces and organizing my thoughts .  I found a nice new ride that I decided needed to be mine, so I swapped my current automobile with him for this ride to tackle the rest of my travels Between the Points:

Just kidding... Unfortunately.

On to the next point Between the Points.  Thank you to Artists' Mediums of Williston Vermont and Black Horse Art Supply of Burlington Vermont for supplying the top quality materials to be producing these new art works, Desillusion Magazine for providing materials for collage works, and all the individuals who have already gotten involved in the project!

Thus far I have used 2 rolls of film, drained at least 3 pens, whittled my colored pencils in half, gone through 2 pads of paper, used up one full sketchbook, and taken over 1,000 photos on my I-Phone.  I have driven over 2,500 miles, been through 11 states, and have seen 0 other Vermont license plates.  I have been asked if I am lost countless times.

Follow Along, Get Involved, Support at betweenthepointsproject.blogspot.com

Or to read more about my artwork visit: www.jessagilbert.com