Tag: Events & Exhibits

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install week is coming!

The installation of Sticks + Stones | Palos y Piedras is coming up soon and a few works have started to find their way into the studio and sculpture garden. I’ve been cleaning up new sections of the sculpture trail and starting to rearrange the studio to make room for the work of 9 talented artists. I love that we will have sculpture in a variety of materials from plaster, to ceramic to bronze as well as paintings, installations and printmaking – it should be a very cool show. Details about the show here!

Here’s a few teaser bits of what is to come…

About the show:

What is the desert? Just sticks and stones? Local artists showcase what inspires them about living in the desert through sculptures, paintings, installations and more. Join us and walk the desert along our sculpture trail to find where art & nature meet.

Participating Artists:

Christa Assad, Steve Jacobi, Abel Martinez, Uli Martinez, Rudy Mendoza, Paolo Melandri, Natalia Szalc, Jenni Ward + Kevin Wickham

wander/wonder dance event

If you happen to be spending your summer vacation on Whidbey Island or live in the area, be sure to check out this event at the Price Sculpture Forest! I love the combination of the visual and performing arts mingling together in the forest!

My piece on display in the forest, Lichen Series: Spore Patterns is by the biological structures of mushroom gills and the patterns the spores leave behind. The over 300 ceramic forms are based on a type of shelf fungus that has a leathery surface and wedge shaped form that anchors itself to the side of decaying trees. This piece is a 12 foot diameter circle about 18″ high off the ground. Hope you get to see it in person!

lichen series | spore patterns | public art | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

beauty of ephemera

Went back up to Taller de Terreno to check my big piece which has been exposed to the elements on the roof for just over a week now. The acacia wood tendrils have dried from green to brown and I got some pics of some beautiful cracking in the clay starting to happen.

Being in the full sun, the piece is drying quickly causing the clay to contract unevenly, leading to the cracks, which of course was the whole point of this ephemeral piece. I love how beautiful these crack lines are and wonder where the tension point is for the piece to no longer be stable.

beauty of ephemera | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
beauty of ephemera | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Come see the changes in this piece for yourself at the closing event Saturday April 6th from 4 – 7pm at

Taller de Terreno | Las Playitas | Todos Santos | BCS

first art show in Mexico is in the books!

Big thank you to all who came out to see this exhibit and gave kind words about my work, it was wonderful meeting so many new people. If you missed it, it was a beautiful afternoon overlooking the desierto y el mar and eventually watching the sun set. Here’s a few pics to inspire you to come out on Saturday April 6th for the closing of this exhibit…

I managed to get four cinderblocks and 20 buckets of rocks up onto the roof to create a level pedestal for my piece. Then we hauled all 100lbs of my sculpture, out of my studio, drove it up the road and carried it up onto the roof and somehow, it all worked out beautifully. My goal was to get the piece to silhouette against the sky and I think that was pretty successful. The acacia branches I inserted into the end of the work, moved and bounced in the wind. And with the blazing sun, we even got some small cracking starting to happen as the raw clay dried rapidly. It will be interesting to see its state by the time of the closing of the show.

A few of the other talented artists’ work in this exhibition…

rudy mendoza
christa assad
charles lindsay | seating by kevin wickham

this weekend!

Excited to setup my ephemeral site specific piece on the roof of this gorgeous structure in the middle of the desert! Join us for an afternoon of art and mezcal sipping followed by panoramic views of sun set on the ocean.

Saturday March 16th from 4 – 7

Taller de Terreno | Las Playitas | Todos Santos

Learn more here…

Going big…

When given the opportunity to create a piece for the event ABC Art Baja 24 with the Cascabel Mountain Collective, I knew that I couldn’t create a fired work. There just wasn’t the time or resources but I embraced the idea of making an ephemeral piece for the the green roof of the main house designed by Taller de Terreno Arquitectura. The house is the vision of Kevin Wickham and is a cast in place concrete structure of angles and grandeur all the while it is quietly hidden in the desert landscape. The sculpture is responding to the house’s shapes and angles while also responding to the desert landscape in which is resides.

I created a small model in clay of my sculptural form and then scaled it up in cardboard. Using the cardboard model as a template, I created large scale panels in clay that dried enough to hold their form and be attached together. Getting the clay dry enough to hold its shape and still wet enough to be modified while taking the desert climate into the equation makes for a tricky balancing act. While building this piece, I realized that it is probably the largest single item I’ve made. And the reason I’ve never attempted to make something this big is that it simply wouldn’t have fit in my kiln, so it’s kind of a why bother. But on the flip side, it’s liberating to make a piece that will be ephemeral and kiln size isn’t an issue and just to challenge my skills to see if I can actually do it. And I did.

model
cardboard mockup + model
in progress
Going big... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
in progress
final form

We still need to transport it from my studio, up the hill, and onto the roof. And I need to attach the rods that will move in the wind. And we will see how it degrades with wind and moisture, so there is still a lot of uncertainty but that is also what I love most about this process.

Taller de Terreno y Cascabel Mountain Collective

ABC Art Baja Exhibition at Taller de Terreno with Cascabel Mountain Collective

March 16th 2024 | 4 – 7

Taller de Terreno | Las Playitas, Todos Santos BCS

Excited to be included in this show, which will be my very first exhibit in Mexico. I’ll be contributing a site-specific, ephemeral work in raw clay that responds to the architecture of the structure it sits on, as well as the environmental elements of the desert that it dwells in.

About the exhibit: Cascabel Mountain and Taller de Terreno invite you to a unique art exhibition in the desert’s serene environment, merging intellect with art through sculptural explorations inspired by Zen philosophy and land art. This event explores the transformative power of space on the mind, presenting sculptures as catalysts for new perspectives and ways of thinking. It emphasizes the intentional shaping of consciousness through the art of architecture, inviting you to experience and contribute to a collective revolution in mental and spatial architecture.

LAST CHANCE!

THE STUDIO OPENS TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE VERY LAST TIME THIS WEEKEND- DON’T MISS IT!

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY OPEN STUDIOS 2023

OCTOBER 21 & 22 | 10am – 5pm | ARTIST #297

2523 C MISSION ST SANTA CRUZ

AND if you’re on my mailing list be sure to bring your bonus coupon from your October email!

THIS IS IT! Open Studios 2023

Getting the studio ready! | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

THE STUDIO OPENS TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE LAST TIME THIS WEEKEND- DON’T MISS IT!

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY OPEN STUDIOS 2023

OCTOBER 14, 15, 21 & 22 | 10am – 5pm | ARTIST #297

EARTH ART STUDIO | 2523 C MISSION ST | SANTA CRUZ

Please join me for my 18th and LAST year of participating in the Santa Cruz Open Studios Art Tour! The studio is going to be packed with art; new and old, big and small, so come find a treasure for your home or garden. Looking forward to seeing y’all soon!

AND if you’re on my mailing list be sure to bring your bonus coupon from your October email!