|
May in Stetson Gallery
Dianne Jenkins, a Swampscott artist,
will show her daily art work in the Stetson Art Gallery in the Marblehead
Unitarian Universalist Church at 28 Mugford Street in Marblehead during the
month of May. A reception that is open to the public will be held on
Sunday, May 2nd, from noon until 2 p.m.
The work, on paper, is part of a
practice that the artist developed to “keep the juices
flowing”. Each and every day since January 1, 2002 to now she
makes one piece of visual work on paper, the same size every day for the
year.
“It’s like brushing your
teeth” Jenkins explains. “I don’t think about
whether to brush my teeth in the morning and I don’t have to decide
if I will make time for art either. It’s a little like running
a slow stream of water in a pipe so that the pipe won’t freeze.
In this case it is never having to decide to start because I never really
stop.”
Many people struggle when faced with a
blank piece of paper or a blank canvas. “What if I ruin
it?” Making something every day reminds me that there will be
another blank page tomorrow. I wonder what I’ll make
then?”
These daily pages are a place to
reflect on the day, store memories, dreams and ideas for future work.
They may be painted with acrylics or watercolors, drawn on with pen and ink
or pencil, stamped with homemade rubber stamps, have wrappings or receipts
glued on or words and images from cast off books. Some days the page
is quick and simple. Other days the page is dense and takes hours of work.
The thread throughout the years is the
artist’s struggle to comprehend the meaning of being alive, here on
this planet today. How can we remember to notice our lives and each
other? We are here now and then we will be gone. These daily
pages are about that.
Dianne Jenkins has been steadily
creating since nursery school in Manchester, New Hampshire in the late
40’s. She also creates large cloth people and refurbished
dollhouses, examples of which will also be on display at the Stetson Art
Gallery. She has been an active volunteer for many years at the
me&thee coffee house which is located in the UU Church of Marblehead.
|
