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    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!

    Big News!

    If you didn’t see the big announcement in my monthly email…

    I’m thrilled to ~finally~ be able to announce I’m starting a new public art project with Santa Cruz City Arts for the Coastal Rail Trail! This has been in the works for nearly two years and I can’t wait to finally get started on it. I’ll be installing six large scale Umbel flowers along the trail on the far westside of Santa Cruz.

    February Studio News | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    I’m working with local artists Kirk McNeil who will fabricated the steel structures and Travis Adams who will help me fabricate the ceramic elements. Above is a proposed rendering of the installation, I can’t wait to see these flowers come to life and get planted along the trail. In addition to this good news, I had also applied to win an engineering grant for this project through Berkeley based engineering firm RBHU’s give back grant and I won the grant for pro-bono structural engineering of the installation. So thrilled to work with this creative team.

    The studio is about to get super busy so stay tuned!

    This project is sponsored by:

    A Feast of Flowers | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    Adopt a Jellyfish?

    Medusa in Bell Jar | Shop | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    I spend a lot of time in the studio with my sculptures and when I see these Medusas in bell jars sitting up on the shelves, they seem more like pets than sculptures to me. The way they wiggle in their little terrariums and seem to come to life makes me feel like they need names and to be fed daily. I love the sense of movement and playfulness in such fragile forms.

    Did you know that jellyfish are actually a type of plankton? Anything that drifts in the ocean is considered part of the plankton family and this series was definitely inspired by the wanderings of these marine drifters. You can adopt one of these jellies for your home and bonus – you get to name it!

    Want one? ADOPT HERE

    Awesome Foundation Santa Cruz Chapter

    I’m excited to announce that I am helping launch the Santa Cruz Chapter of the Awesome Foundation and we’ll be picking our first micro-grant winner this April! If you’re not familiar with the Awesome Foundation, it is an ever-growing worldwide community devoted to forwarding the interest of awesome in the universe. The Foundation distributes $1,000 grants, no strings attached, to creators of awesome projects. Each fully autonomous chapter pools their money together from the coffers of ten or so self-organizing trustees and gives the micro-grant up front to the monthly winner.

    The Santa Cruz Chapter is looking to support projects created by individuals that are brave, creative and inspiring. They especially love art-based projects that inspire kindness and compassion within our community. Click the link below to learn more and if you have an ingenious idea that will add more awesome to the Santa Cruz community, apply!

    SANTA CRUZ CHAPTER – APPLY FOR A GRANT