Illuminated Art by Jenny King

2009-12-10T13:26:00.002-06:00

her face is lovely

Pianting through painters block

2009-11-30T13:49:00.003-06:00

Update on "Peace Angel"

Let it be known I have been battling my way through this painters block. This month I have been pushing myself to paint. The motivating factor just came last week. I realized my art was going to the Whole Foods Cafe in just 8 days. I wanted to get as much done as i could before hanging her up. I like what I have been doing with her wings. It is something new for me. I think part of my road block in this painting was my fear. The funny think i will paint some thing "wrong" and not be able to take it back. I talk myself out of this as I sit contemplating my next brush stroke. I am pleased with the outcome so far. It will be fun to have an "in process" painting hanging up.

2009-11-30T13:44:00.001-06:00

current status on my just paint canvas.

Love is an orange crescent moon

2009-11-01T21:31:00.005-06:00

Friday and Sunday.
I have had this canvas since I lived in CA in 2003. It had a painting on it I had done, but never really liked. I covered it up, for a fresh start.
It has been waiting for quite some time. But on October 30th, Inspired by the colors of the ocean, the fresh air and gorgeous orange crescent moon set I saw over the pacific ocean. My recent vacation to Laguna Beach and warm southern sun! These are the motions behind the painting. Canvas size 4 x 4 , my motto: just paint!

something beautiful

2009-10-04T07:33:00.004-05:00

I had a wild night of creativity thursday, and started 3 new collages and finished one.
I will get those pictures up soon. I wanted to post this picture of me from 2003, at an art show in Los Angeles. I think this is one on my first meaningful angel paintings. I had a vision of angels hovering over the earth there is a heart with wings of fire and wings of water. With human hands reaching up to the sky in praise.

2009-10-02T02:46:00.003-05:00

The original colored pencil drawing is titled "A walk through dreamland"-
This is my first collage!!
I think I will title it "Dreamland Explodes"

constant companion

2009-10-02T02:33:00.002-05:00

My Constant Companion.
This is my personal Favorite, my moon and stars. If you know me, and my art you know I have a thing for them. If your new to my blog, well now you know. You can often see a crescent moon and star in many of my images. My affection for the moon began as a child, as most things do. I always imagined my mom was the moon and the first 2 stars that appeared were me and my daddy. I vividly remember blowing kisses to the moon.

2009-10-02T02:24:00.002-05:00

2:24 a.m. friday 10/2
awake, warmed by the boiler, rain through my curtains, a Madison wi 54 degrees. Tonight I composed 2 new collages in the closing hours of midnight. My creativity flowing and sparking ideas. Although weak I am energized and have a renewed passion for my art.

2009-10-02T01:48:00.004-05:00

YAY! This is my art studio in my new older house. As I write I listen to the new sounds of the boiler creek and surge through the copper pipes.
I just started doing collages, I'm on my 7th. I learned how to collage from my good friend Rebecca. She does creative and clever collages, and bright, vivid paintings! AND she has an Etsy store!
rholmquist.etsy.com
My pink carpet, where I sit. I indulge in possibilities I work well with clutter and details, it is my comfort.
Her face is what I see. I think she is so beautiful, words almost escape me.

Kendal's Wish

2009-09-18T19:15:00.003-05:00

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I really like this painting, it was so quick to paint. The smaller canvas size is darling and i just love how her face turned out. It is a young angel making a wish on a shooting star. That is where I got the name Kendall's Wish.

2009-09-16T22:45:00.002-05:00

We moved over the summer so I have had to redo my studio. Here is my current create space. I only have the basic necessities; rug, easel, and paints. This painting is what I call my "warm up". After I haven't painted for awhile (all summer) I spend some time getting reacquainted with the brush. This canvas is one I have had around for a long time, and keep adding to.

2009-09-16T22:16:00.003-05:00

Kendall's Wish

Angel #12
work in progress.

The inspiration for this angel is my neighbors daughter Kendall. She is 12 years old and quite recently had a brain Hemorrhage.
She has been in the ICU, since. She and her mother are fans of my angels, this one is of her and for her.

2009-03-29T23:06:00.002-05:00

The Light shines in the darkness,,,, this painting is luminescent and quite lovey in person! I will post more about her process soon!!

A light shines in the darkness, Angel #11

2009-01-29T21:02:00.003-06:00

it all starts here. this is the first painting in my new art studio! it is SO much nicer to be in this space, it really is like a different world.

very quickly i saw a bird form in the wings of this angel. i decided to play with this image and keep its shape. here is a good example of how my painting begins. there is a fair amount of under painting and direction.

Before & After in the studio

2009-01-28T21:48:00.004-06:00

Previous to Dec 28th this is how my art space looked! I had my drawing table set up in the corner, with a small space heater nearby. What you cant get a scale of in this picture was some clutter encroaching on my creative space. Just behind my chair is also where my easel is. No doubt that an unfinished basement in Wisconsin, in December is a cold place. But I made do, I was just happy to even have a corner, but what if a basement corner could become an art room! The idea & help came from a friend, John. This was the best thing to happen for the old year& new year. I am so lucky. This was a neat project for me. It took us 2 days and $ 200, which mostly went to carpeting. For my art room, i had an idea to use tapestriess to make the walls. I was thinking of a hut, in the desert made of beautiful fabrics. I called around to local stores and totally scored when i called URBAN OUTFITTERS on State St. They had large tapestries AND they were on clearance. $9.00!! Marked down from 30! OMG! I was thrilled, i love a good idea and a deal, it was just what i needed. The other really cool thing that happened during the constructing of this art space was this thought: Urban Outfitters was THE destination for me as a teenager. My friend Wendie had heard of or been to Madison and we came up here (from Sycamore, IL) together when I was 15. I was instantly enamoured with Madison, going to State St., and Urban Outfitters! My mom recollects when i got home I told her "when I grow up I want to live in Madison". uh huh. So that would have been 1992. So fast forward to 2008, I live in Madison,(after living in California for 8 years) and I am in Urban Outfitters buying up tapestries ( 15) for my art space, from which I will create my angel art and pursue my business of selling it. Is this what is called a full circle moment?My drawing table in my new art room. Amazing what a difference it makes! Much more conductive for creativity and angel making! Thank you to the "angels" who helped make this happen!!

2009-01-28T20:57:00.003-06:00

The Sacrifice.
Here is the drawing in progress on my art table. i like to have a candle burning, and an "aura-spray" from "Aunt Vi's Garden" handy. The green bloom is for creativity, and was given to me by a dear friend Ashley. It smells wonderful and helps cheer up my space. I will post the finished picture as soon i have one.

Mercy

2009-01-28T20:24:00.004-06:00

Oh Mercy!
There is something mystical about this angel, something in the face. I was pondering mercy while i drew. I love it when i have the radio on (102.5) and i hear a song that has lyrics that my drawing illustrates. For example: i heard a song with lyrics that said "your mercy rains". Perfect!! I was on a little roll with these small colored pencil drawings on illustration board.
2 Samuel 24:14
David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."

2009-01-28T20:09:00.003-06:00

I drew this angel on election night! November 3rd, 2008. It took me just a day to finish. I was so inspired by President (Elect)Obama, and felt like there was a "hope" (drawing 6) for "peace" (drawing 7). I was seeing a peaceful heart.
Leviticus 26:6
" 'I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.

Angel 6 "Hope"

2009-01-26T22:24:00.004-06:00

I love love love this little Hope Angel drawing. I was just sitting in my art studio when I grabbed a pencil and sketched out this angel. It was just after Halloween, and I needed some hope. It was a quick drawing, i'd say something like "it just flowed out of me" which is trite but true! I colored her in there she was, this was shortly after i added the hot pink in my hair. i liked doing this little drawing so much I decided to do another one. This was right around election time, so the air was electric. There was hope in the air of our country and it reflected in me emotionally.

Angel #5 "Breakthrough"

2009-01-26T21:52:00.005-06:00

It took me a little while to start painting #5. It is now October, I was having a dry spell. I wasn't motivated to paint, i was distracted by challenges i was facing in my life; i like to call it emotionally congested. On one brazen night in October i just started painting with out any conception of what i wanted to do. I just painted so freely, and broke through the blocks I was having. It isn't very well defined, but "all theses things come from my heart". In the painting the angels' heart is bursting open and everything comes out from there. So in theory I painted out my emotional congestion. My art tends to be like that, reflective, relevant, and necessary. I think I did this painting in a week. Which is rather quick for me. Guess when i am being free and not seeking perfection i am a quicker painter. AAH, the learning curve. Aah, the breakthrough!!

Angel 4 " Dawn's Hope"

2009-01-23T11:19:00.012-06:00

Angel 4 came in an interesting way. I began this one in September. It was spawned after a reconnection with a child hood friend via facebook. I had 2 friends growing up named Dawn, so that alone means something to me. Also the dawn as in a new day, which brings hope. I hadn't done a green painting yet so i knew the colors i wanted. anyway, the history with dawn and i is such: we were friends in jr high school, and like most school girls we were emotionally immature. the way i remember it was i stole her boyfriend, and therefor we became enemies. i think this is true, and i wish i had been more mature than to do something like that, but i wasn't. i have always felt badly that this incident happened, for more reasons than this blog will entail. i cannot remember how Dawn and i got over this and how it was pivotal. dawn and i worked together for several years and even walked together in graduation. Life goes on and since the world of facebook we have reconnected. I couldn't think of her with out remembering the past, so for her i decided to do a painting. it was titled it "dawn's gift" a two fold meaning. 1) the gift of forgiveness and acceptance of a friend & 2) the new hope the dawn brings.
I did my best to capture dawns features, but the hair turn e d out much darker than hers, but the spirit is there, and that is how she came to be!
UPDATE:: I was re reading another blog I had and found this post. Here is a snap shot of what I was thinking then. I think i will change the names back t o Dawn's Hope. My first idea is usually the better.

from: 10/04/08
This painting has been a long one to finish!
i went about 4 weeks with out getting any work done, i had "painters block"
i guess all creatives are vulnerable to this. remind you i have 2 days a week allotted to paint.
i didn't like where my painting was at one point and not being able to get it past there tripped me up. i have some feelings and there are unseen things at work here too, i can feel them pressing in on me. i got through it and have been painting again, i am getting closer to being done with this painting.
this is angel #4 in my series. i'm thinking of calling her "dawns hope" .

Angel 3...the stumbling block

2009-01-22T19:54:00.000-06:00

Okay so here i am on my quest to finish an angel a month. I had an idea for the third one, it was early summer... i was feeling drawn to incorporate the image of an ankh into my painting. I drew out the angel, the ankh, thought of colors and began. When i begin a painting there is a large amount of under painting, I block in colors, create the shape of the wings, and then get the layers going. I was experimenting with a different brand of paint, basically it was cheap paint, which was giving me a difficult time. Because it was summer, the air was humid. This seemed to be making the paint tacky, hard to blend and just plain yuck. I must have wiped the paint off the canvas 3 different times trying to get the right color, and effect. So i had false starts, the work I'd done erased. I was getting frustrated, but at the same time liked the pink and blue colors of the cheap paint i was using. I was tempted to just stop the angel, to keep her static, simple in her stance. This was not to be her destiny. I was going to keep painting, and try to make something happen here that i had not done before. That was symmetry, a forward facing angel with two wings. Yikes, this was turning into several weeks of work, and work it out I did. I had a period of time during this one, i called a block. I had never done a face like this, I had never pushed through so many moments when i just wanted to stop painting and do something else. Persevere i did, this painting took about 7 weeks, and when i look at her now i am glad i did. My most favorite part of this painting is her mouth, just in itself is so sweet. I just look at her lips and i am happy. I ended up naming this angel "carry the cross". In Egyptian times the ankh was used as a symbol of life. It was depicted in hieroglyphs as a cross with a handle, believed to be carried into the after life. I had these things tumbling in my thoughts when i was in my art studio I heard a song called "carry the cross" on the radio. I haven't heard the song since, but it stuck with me, and the title came together. I think of my own life and how i feel at times i am holding onto life.

one down, two is a gift

2009-01-22T19:23:00.001-06:00

Around the time I was finishing up Angel 1, I was having a conversation with a good friend. now my friend is very smart, has good judgement, and a sense of humor that is hard to compare. When i look at my friend, i see her beauty, i see her gifts and i see a day for her when her self image is not determined by looks. So i decided I was going to do her portrait in my painting, to glorify her features, that is how angel #2 was born. I'd show my friend I thought she was beautiful enough to turn into an angel..or some lofty thoughts as such. SO I took my best shot at capturing her profile, anointing her head with a crown and calling the painting "the gift". It's meaning is we all look in the mirror and wish we could change something about how we look. We fail to see ourselves how God made us, and to him, it is a gift when we can be non judgmental with our selves. To wear our crowns and hold our heads up high. That is the gift, that is what I want for all of us with our self perceived flaws.

in the beginning....there was angel 1

2009-01-22T17:23:00.000-06:00

I am currently focusing on angels. I decided back in April of 08' that I was going to do a series of 12 Angels. AKA: Jennlynn Angels. I had this idea, this vision, this achievable goal, to set in motion. Now when I started Angel #1 I had not painted in oh say 2 years. I was dry, and I was hungering to be creative again. After a vacation to California I came home with enough inspiration to light this fire in me, and thus in May I began painting. The first angel I saw was this angel holding a crown of stars. I began painting and if i think back, i remember being joyful within; but painting was painful. It was like realizing how long it had been since talking to or seeing a really good friend. The reuniting was sweet, and I promised I would let her go.

hello world! i am an artist!!!

2009-01-22T13:44:00.000-06:00

In life there are times when we face challenges. This is one of those times for me. For most of my life I have been involved in art; my art. I drew a lot as a child and teen, and found a love for color through painting. I have used the paint brush as a poet, as an observer, and an outlet for my searching.
I would create something on canvas or paper, and then file it away. Now by file it away, i mean I put in the basement or in a box. Hidden, undisclosed, silent. For whatever reasons (and yes i know what some of them are) I was shy about my art. Shy in general is a better description. I always knew i could draw, paint, express my creativity, and so on. But I never thought I could let other people in on my "secret". That I in fact am an artist, and I have something to share with the world. It really wasn't until I began my series of Angel Paintings that I took seriously something missing in my art. The ability to let it go. I have had baby steps leading up to this realization. Like participating in an art show at my church, or having cards made. But I have always held tightly to my artwork, and now I am facing the giants that keep my art from being exposed. There within is my challenge. Finding the "gems" that will empower me to give value to my art. Thus affirming I have value as an artist. Thus enabling to me to share my art with people. To expose my thoughts and feelings, with the colors of my pallet, to capture the echoes of my spirituality. To unveil what my intention as a visual artist is. And that is to bring hope, and inspiration into a world of people. I want to capture beauty and translate it. This is where I am right now in my unfolding as an artist, and i am going to blog this journey as diligently as i can. I seek the growth i need as an artist, the freedom and unfolding. So help me blog, I will complete this task.