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    outside scoop: 20

    This week, outside the studio…

    We got two more legs of the Bay Area Ridge Trail checked off the list, as we walked from the northern end of Pacifica to Lake Merced in SF and then to Stern Grove in SF. It was just under 9 miles total which took us about 3 hours of walking and then we took a Lyft back to our car which took about 15 minutes. Very fun to take these urban hikes to places we’ve only driven past, a totally new perspective.
    We’ve been spending a lot of time enjoying hanging out in Santa Cruz as the weather has warmed up and dried up. Playing on the cliffs eating oysters isn’t the worst way to spend the weekend.
    Next week we head out for a four day 40 mile backpacking trip in Utah/Arizona, so we’ve started piling up the gear and getting Bowie ready with his pack- he seems excited for the adventure. I’ll hopefully have some great photos to share with you when we return!

    The Outside Scoop is a weekly blog series that shares a little bit of what’s going on in my life outside of the studio. Please feel free to leave comments, I look forward to chatting with you here!

    Updates on the Rail Trail Project

    Excited to start ordering materials and making prototypes for the Feast of Flowers public art project for the Santa Cruz Rail Trail!

    Travis Adams came to the studio and threw a few large flower head forms so we could play with the shape and size we will need. Later, he trimmed the forms to round out the shapes. Trying to make them sturdy and strong while keeping the weight of them as light as possible is part of the challenge with these guys, but there are definitely some winners here!

    600′ of high temperature wire arrived in the studio this week and I got busy cutting it into manageable 15′ lengths, all of which eventually needs to be cut into 3″ long pieces. Whew… it’s going to be awhile to get through this pile

    But check out this first prototype! All this work is totally going to be worth it!

    This project is sponsored by:

    A Feast of Flowers | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    First Awesome Winner

    Really excited to announce that the brand new Santa Cruz chapter of the Awesome Foundation picked their first micro-grant winner! It was so amazing to see how many great ideas were submitted and I have a feeling we are just getting started. So thrilled to have helped launch this project with an amazing team of supporters.

    Congrats to Emily Meehan for her film project called Concurrent! Click here to learn more about Concurrent.

    Got an Awesome idea that needs a little funding? Pitch it here!

    rail trail project updates

    Local Sculptor Jenni Ward to install Feast of Flowers along Rail Trail | press | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    I made the Santa Cruz City manager’s weekly newsletter this week with my Umbel project for the rail trail! Wahoo!

    I am slowly getting closer and closer to actually starting this project, all the contracts are signed, all the forms are filled out and the invoices have been submitted. I’m now only a few weeks away from having the engineering specs and the initial check in hand. Until then, I’m just working on my detailed materials lists, tweaking the timeline of events and hoping things generally go according to plan- fingers crossed!

    Getting very excited to start building these babies!

    Read the article here…

    Need Art? Yes. Yes you do.

    Water Droplets | Shop | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    Have you ever regretted bringing home a new piece of original art? I didn’t think so.

    Scans show that viewing art triggered a surge of dopamine, the happy chemical, into the brain, which results in feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. It appeared that the reaction was almost immediate, in that when looking at things we consider to be beautiful, activity in the pleasure reward centre of the brain is increased.

    Bridget Watson Payne

    hint, hint: I just updated a bunch of stuff and there’s some really sweet pieces in there just waiting to make you happy!

    SHOP NOW

    Featured Art: Framed Bone Series

    These four pieces have been around the studio for awhile, and were recently featured in my exhibit Bodies of Water, where they hung against this gorgeous blue wall. They are the original versions of the Bone Series where I was focused on the exploration of bone structures and fibrous hole patterns while playing with concepts of fragility, strength and connectivity. These thoughts led to looking at the skeletal structures of radiolarians and the series evolved. Even though these are older pieces, I still love the shadow play and how the steel cables give geometric structure to the organic clay parts.

    The rectangles are 48″ x 24″ x 1″ and the squares are 30″ x 30″ x 1″, they can hang flush to the wall or suspended with cables (as seen here) from any direction. All four pieces are available in the online shop.

    SHOP NOW

    the outside scoop: 19

    This week, outside the studio…

    the outside scoop: 19 | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    spent two weeks on our property in baja and got to work on the plans for my new studio, we’ll be building there soon!
    the outside scoop: 19 | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    baja traffic jam
    the outside scoop: 19 | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    our cozy outdoor living space and our super busy (lol!) local beach
    the outside scoop: 19 | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    moon set and sun rise

    The Outside Scoop is a weekly blog series that shares a little bit of what’s going on in my life outside of the studio. Please feel free to leave comments, I look forward to chatting with you here!

    the outside scoop: 18

    This week, outside the studio…

    the best part about hiking the Bay Area Ridge Trail is meeting up with friends for beers!
    took Bowie to the snow for the first time and his inner husky definitely knew what to do with it! he had fun playing with his cousin Junie while we skied for the first time in 15 years – we’re amazed we remembered how!
    hikes, rainbows and spring flowers, it’s not the worst way to spend winter
    didn’t need to go to the sierras to get some snow this week – so bizarre to see Santa Cruz like this

    The Outside Scoop is a weekly blog series that shares a little bit of what’s going on in my life outside of the studio. Please feel free to leave comments, I look forward to chatting with you here!