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    big big big news!

    Over the past few months, you may have picked up on little blips about me working on a pitch for a public art project in Gainesville Florida. In November, I was selected as one of two finalists for the second stage of this call for art. I did a site visit in January, meeting with staff, students, and the architects who designed the new space which was based on the theme of biophilia (the human and nature connection). And since then I’ve been quietly getting my paperwork together, organizing my slides, tweaking my budget and drastically improving my photoshop skills to get ready for this meeting. Last Friday was the day to deliver and… I’m so thrilled to announce that I got the contract! 

    The image above is a photoshopped mock-up of the Bone Series wall web installations in the stairwell of the Career Connections Center on the University of Florida Gainesville Campus. I’ll be using all four walls of the stairwell space to create these installations flowing through the space. I’m so excited to get started on this project and I can’t wait to see it up. Although, it will be many more months of building and designing the exact layout of all the pieces before it ships out and goes up, but I’ll be sure to share my work in progress. 

    Thanks to everyone who crossed their fingers and sent me positive vibes! It worked!

    the death of a blog…

    I’ve come to realize that I’ve been creating posts here on ‘the dirt’ less and less lately, even missing whole weeks altogether. This is usually the tell-tale signs that the death of a blog is inevitable. BUT, I’m here to share or rather admit that I feel like I haven’t had all that much to share lately and that it is NOT the death of a blog but rather a respect for your time to only bring you posts when I really have something to share.

    So what have I been doing you ask?

    where art & nature meet exhibit | installations | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    Well, to be honest, the death of my dog Indigo early in the year really drained me of a creative flow and it’s been hard to start new ideas with enthusiasm, but I’m getting there. And so instead of spending tons of time in the studio creating, I’ve been spending time in nature refueling my creativity. I’ve also been working on the not so glamorous side of being an artist; applying for grants, pitching project ideas & prepping for upcoming events – mostly online computer work. Fingers crossed that something creative comes from all this screen time!

    I have also been preparing for this fall when I leave for a three month residency in Taiwan, it will be a long time away from my home base and I’m trying to mentally and physically prepare myself and the studio for that length of absence. In the next few months, I have some private art events happening, and the annual Sculpture IS: exhibit will be here before you know it. In the meantime, you can always pick up work in the online shop – especially check out the new Trinket Necklaces!

    So, this is not the death of a blog… I’ll be in touch. Promise.

    Repost: Studio Visit Video

    I was going through some older posts and came across this video made by Alan Jalkut of Jalkut Productions in my studio in October of 2017. He filmed this as I was getting ready for Open Studios, so the space is pretty darn clean and the work was really set up for visitors. It amazes me how much of the art work shown is gone to new happy homes, currently my walls are nearly bare! I get so used to how work in my studio ebbs and flows that it’s bizarre to look back at how different the studio looked less than two years ago. Hope you enjoy…

    New Press: Los Gatos Patch

    I spent two days sharing my artwork with kids in two Los Gatos Elementary school, it was super fun and filled with questions.

    New Press: Los Gatos Patch | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    Students in the Los Gatos Union School District elementary schools learn about artists and artistic processes visiting local Bay Area guest artists. They present their works at Blossom Hill, Daves Avenue, Lexington, and Louise Van Meter elementary schools thanks to the Art Docents of Los Gatos, which receives much of its funding through the Los Gatos Education Foundation (LGEF.)Check out the article about my presentation…

    transformations…

    My work tends to go through many transformations in it’s lifetime. These past few weeks I’ve been working on reworking all the parts from the Relic Series. They started their origins as individual parts installed on a rock formation in Los Padres National Forest, then a wall mounted installation for a museum exhibit, then they made their way into a high end restaurant in Los Gatos, now they are being transformed again for an outdoor sculpture garden. The more I go through this process, the better I get to know the pieces and their potential, often it triggers new ideas and results in an evolution of the series. Looking forward to finding homes for these pieces soon and seeing what happens next!

    where art & nature meet exhibit | installations | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    Cin-Cin Wine Bar & Restaurant | installations | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    transformations... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture