Jennifer Poon Studios

works in progress

2011-01-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

caseins

2011-01-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

I have been experimenting with some new materials lately, one of them is casein paints. They are a milk protein based paint and can be used like watercolors. There are several differences between casein and watercolors, most importantly they have a lot more body and weight and are best used on a hard surface like clayboard . To me they feel like a heavier, smoother version of gouache. I love the way they feel on the smooth clayboard and there is some room to actually build up some pigment, which is one of the things I miss about oil painting. The drawbacks are they are actually even more fragile than watercolors, the colors lift when it comes in contact with something wet and if you have butterfingers like me and frequently drop pieces parts of the paintinsg chip off. They also claim to be non toxic, which I personally don't believe as when I use them I am constantly wheezing and a red rash appears on my arms.

Here are a few of my sketches

These ones are very small, 6" x 6". I haven't worked in that scale in very long time.

five dead eggs

2010-12-03T09:23:00.001-08:00

dolls

2010-10-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

I sent these guys off early this month, I had been carrying them around for a while and miss them. I used different types and weights of cotton muslin and hand felted the wool shapes. The flowers were made out of a mix of animal skins. If you are in NY they are on view on the the second floor of Claire Oliver. The main gallery is featuring a show of Canadian artists and it looks really interesting and I am sorry to have missed it.

Six Degrees of Separation: A New Generation of Canadian Artists
Oct 14th, 2010 to Nov 13th, 2010

Six Degrees of Separation Press Release
Guest Curator Noah Becker
Featuring works by: Graham Gillmore, James Nye, Alex McLeod, Frank Torng, Angela Grossmann, Ben van Netten, Trevor Guthrie, Noah Becker, Attila Richard Lukacs, and Catherine Heard

some finished paintings and drawings

2010-10-27T20:51:00.001-07:00

I dropped these off last month to the gallery when I was in NY. I took some quick pictures before packing them up and as usual my camera skills prove to be dismal. It is hard to tell in these pictures but I was experimenting more with papercutting and layering.

   untitled graphite, ricepaper, silk on paper
   pretty please watercolor, silk ribbon, on paper
   soft grey spot watercolor, on cut paper
   dreamers watercolor on cut paper
   between me and you watercolor on cut paper

2010-07-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

This piece is still in progress.

This one is done, the cutting and sewing has been taking longer than usual as I have been layering the papers more. I like the effect and am obsessed with my xacto knife. I have gone through so many blades it looks a little scary in my studio.

2010-06-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

flowers and dolls

2010-06-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

I have been busy sewing and more sewing. My new obsession with textiles has expanded to felting. It is a very satisfying procedure that involves constantly stabbing chunks of wool with needles. These felted pieces have been added to my growing doll collection. They are still in the beginning stages but are evolving in a pleasing way.

I recently added some of these cut flowers I made out of parchment. The parchment is such an interesting material and so beautiful, some of the pieces have tiny hairs in really delicate patterns.

These are some new paintings I am working on.

2010-05-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

This is the very begining of a new piece.

Almost there

2010-03-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

I just shipped off the last of the paintings last week for my show next month. I am very glad to have them out of my studio and mind.

These last couple of weeks before the shipper comes to pick up the figure and other pieces will be dedicated to finishing the sewing. I have a couple of more organs to complete and am 98% done with the figure.

I started piece and am liking its progress so far, I have torn, cut and resewn this one at least three times .

This one is done, the veins were tiny and a bit fussy to make.

Here is a close up of my figure, its just of the face and I cannot wait to be done with this one, the canvas is very heavy and rough and as much as I enjoyed the doing the linework my hands need a rest from thick needles and bleeding fingertips,

These are pictures of the finished paintings.

finishing up

2010-02-25T19:09:00.001-08:00

I am attempting to finish up the last few paintings for my show, after this week I will finally have time to wrap up the sewing. The wall of organs are filling out nicely and I am hoping to add a few more.

more finished

2010-01-26T15:55:00.001-08:00

Here are some of the pieces I was working on done.

2010-01-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

I got two of my ceramic pieces back from the framers, she did a beautiful job with the stray colored pieces. I only made two but after seeing them framed I wish I had made more. I am making much progress on my full figure sculpture. I made the final amature and am molding the parts little by little. Here is a painting I finished up a couple of weeks ago.

in progress

2009-11-23T20:28:00.000-08:00

new stuff

2009-11-23T20:22:00.001-08:00

These are some paintings I finished for my upcoming show in april. They are just some quick shots from my studio.

2009-09-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the paintings finally finished. I haven't had much time to paint as I have been trying to get a large portion of sewing down but I have some pieces coming along and am very glad to have finished these two.

2009-08-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't had the time to paint to much this month as I have been sewing and sewing and sewing. I have made alot of progress on my sewing installation and can finally see it taking shape. I have included some quick shots of my full figure and the small changes I have made with the paintings I intend on finishing this month.

sewn sculptures

2009-06-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

These are some of the sewn pieces I have been working on for the installation I had in mind, I am also working on a full figure that will go with these pieces. I hand dyed some of the fabric used here, which was time consuming but interesting to try ( very much like watercoloring). The colors are actually really pretty and not at all represented in my usual bad camera work. The textures have been fun for me to work with, the contrasts between the thin silks and rough organdy.

2009-06-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

I have been playing with this for a while.

2009-06-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

These are just updated shots on the paintings in my studio. The colors are much more saturated in life but seem to get so grey after I upload them.

2009-05-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

These are a few paintings I am working on in my studio. I have been doing alot of sewing lately so my paintings have been going slower than I anticipated but I am liking the way things are progressing. Its funny the other day someone came in my studio and commented on the blue painting, she asked me if it was a monster and I didn't quite understand how she came up with that but now looking at the image in the photo I suppose a black and blue figure with half a head could very well be considered a monster. Its just strange that sometimes its hard to see what someone else sees until its taken out of the context of what you imagined.

yellow drawing

2009-05-21T21:56:00.001-07:00

I just finished sewing this drawing yesterday. I really liked the color of the paper, it a very pretty light yellow . It is also a much smoother stock than I usually use but it was interesting to try.

cameos

2009-05-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

I started these ceramic pieces a while ago. They took much longer than I expected as most things for me do( I tend to be a very poor planner and I don't take direction well) but I am liking them so far. I still have one more load in the kiln and I have to arrange them but the finish is near. I have 46 pieces in all but this is just a picture of four of them.