Priscilla Steele's review

Thank you Priscilla for this review! http://www.campbellsteele.com/blog/
See more of my shikishi boards at http://www.karenkurkajensen.com/shikishi_board_tiles.html

Karen Kurka Jensen / Shikishi boards
Written by Priscilla June 30, 2009, 6:10 pm

Shikishi board #1 / 9.5″ x 10.5″ / $150 (framed) / Karen Kurka Jensen

“Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; … refusing to be disheartened… this is what we call the floating world…”Description of the images created by Japanese (ukiyo-e) wood-cut artists Hokusai Katsushika’s Kanagawa Great Wave.

For me, the miraculous abstraction of Karen Kurka Jensen’s “shikishi boards” is a 21st century parallel to the decorative beauty of the wood-cuts of the Japanese ukiyo-e artists. Washes of metallic pigments collapse the illusion of deep space, and, like Hokusai Katsushika’s iconic, “Kanagawa Great Wave”, create a dramatic interplay of convoluted form, line and color. Their visual impact is cosmic and oceanic in nature. This has been the foundation for my on-going affection for these small sumi-e paintings.

'Grace' happened as grace usually does - she was given

This week I will deliver the original of one of my most favorite pieces, Grace, to its new home, purchased by one of my best friends, Anne & Joe Sara. Grace will have plenty of company, as Anne and Joe own upward of probably 20+ of my paintings. Their home is a virtual museum/gallery of my work, representing every phase and style of my painting as it has evolved. I couldn't be more thrilled that Grace is owned by these wonderful friends.

Grace was born through near-failure, and while the image represents that process, the name, Grace, represents the story of my life, as my past is not made up of always making the right decisions, yet here I am now, filled with a life of blessings.

I was painting with Susan Frame, my mentor, teacher, and friend, along the Minnesota northshore, in Grand Marais. Susan teaches a workshop there every summer, which is a place where I return to every year, to fill my spirit.

After a long, frustrating day of painting, part of this image emerged, but it wasn't looking right, it wasn't enough. Another failure, I thought, ready to toss it away, as I have in the past. I asked Susan for her advice and she gently instructed " maybe just a little touch of color here, a little there" - and then she let me be. I still wasn't sure I could salvage it.

But I took a deep breath, released it slowly, touched my brush to the paper, and...grace flowed - through me, through my brush, on to the paper.

It was enough.
You know, grace is always enough.

teaching

my kids are so fun... and so talented!
I'm teaching beginning sumi-e to middle schoolers during the College for Kids program at Coe College
oh my... the talent...
more than anything i want to expose them to a new way of seeing
that the world around them is alive
they are a part of it as it is a part of them
very zen
but very relevant
even today
if this world is to continue to roll across the universe
we all need to see (feel, breathe, touch, hear) and respect our relationship to our environment
we need responsive, compassionate people
can sumi-e teach this?
i believe it can
so i teach

Sumi-e

Getting ready to teach again has brought me words for my work.

Sumi-e is about touching the world around you
with all your senses,
and in turn, letting the world touch you
then learning to express that touch in the language of brush and ink.

yesterday

trying to get back in the saddle with painting. why so difficult?
it's been more than a few days with marketing, trying to write a grant proposal and getting ready for teaching again.
if I could only apply for the grant using my brushwork instead of wordwork...

okay, back to painting...

Mounting work

today was about drudge work
i had to mount my paintings
have to when you paint ink on rice paper
preserves the work
but its intense
what happens if you rip the fragile paper?
what happens if your colors run?
what if you can't get the wrinkles out...what if you create more?
actually its more exciting than I thought
because i could really lose a painting
its keeps you on the edge
and then the finished product
amazing
with the white paper backing
it just pops
sometimes this is what i live for

i believe in magic.
always have
i'm a believer but i think God included magic in the recipe.
couldn't believe the beauty in the unfolding of a bud, still can't...
or in a handful of ice crystals dripping on a winter's bright morning
or the depths of a child's eyes
its why i paint, why i've always wanted to paint...
what about you?