Asian Brush and Ink Painting

I just finished teaching an adult art class in Asian Brush and Ink Painting at the Anderson Center for Art in Anderson, Indiana. The class was very small, only 5 students, but a diverse range of ages and backgrounds made for a interesting mix and we got to know one another pretty quickly. I actually didn't know very much about the techniques used in Asian ink painting and had to wing it. I learned as I taught, which always makes for an interesting experience. Teaching from the hip is a good adrenaline rush.

My favorite thing I learned about using the sumi-e techniques was the ritual nature of the painting process, especially hand grinding the ink block with water on the ink stone to make my own ink and stamping the painting- "putting the eye on the dragon" in the Mustard Seed GArden book of paitning- at the end with my red paste seal.

Saturday morning I lugged all of my equipment out into the mid-August Indiana heat to demo this kind of painting for the public at the International Festival of Arts and Culture as part of the Anderson crew, and was pleasantly rewarded with lots of curious passers-by. (Mira was with her Grandma Render in Greenwood part of teh day, then with her daddy and uncle Matt.) The most frequent question was "How long you been doing this kind of art?" and many suprised reactions were seen as I had to honestly answer "Less than a month!"

Images from Kafe Karma Exhibit, 2007

May Art Exhibit and Other Updates

Welcome to my new blog, everyone! I'm just figuring out how to use this properly, and I hope to keep it updated once a month with what I'm up to art-wise.

April 2008 -
April 21 & 28, Beginning Watercolor Class (adult) at Anderson Center for the Arts, Mondays, 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

May 2008 -
May 1 - 31, New Works in Mixed Media at the Anderson Center for the Arts, in the Community Gallery.

June 2008 -
June 23 - 27, IMA Summer Art Camp.

July 2008-
July 1,8,15,22,29, Tuesdays, Basic Drawing, 10 am- 12 pm, Oasis in Speedway.

July 2,9,16,23,30, Wednesdays, Watercolor Additives, 10:30 - 12:30 Oasis Glendale.

July 24, 31, & Aug. 7, Thursdays, Basic Drawing, 1 pm - 3 pm, Oasis Washington Square.

Sunshine and Art, Together at Last in Indiana

You are so much sunshine to the square inch.- Walt Whitman

Spring is here again and my mind turns to thoughts of new art growing around the city.

There are many fashion related events going on in Indianapolis right now including the "Breaking the Mode" exhibit at the IMA (open till end of June) which is quite remarkable. I'm kind of a slob myself, dressing in whatever is cleanest and least ragged from my dresser drawers, but I have to say I'm moved by the amount of thought and effort which fashion artists put into the creation of these fantastical pieces of clothing.

My favorite piece (by Issye Miyake) was a series of photos of this long woollen roll of red fabric which the designer shows twenty or thirty items drawn then step by step being snipped and sewn from the single roll. A final image shows an invisible mannequin wearing all of the red socks, scarves, shirt, skirt, gloves, etc. An amazing transformation.

Many of the pieces in the overall exhibit seem to distort or alter the human from so much, they make the person wearing them seem like a new kind of creature. Maybe that is the point. Maybe we should all be lucky enough to rethink who and what we are every once in a while, and these 'fashionistas' are simply giving us the invitation. Like costumes for our daily lives, only better.

Artist Statement for Jill Reed Render

As a teacher, I witness artists at every age and skill level creating in paint, ink, pencil, charcoal, pastels, sculpture and other media. My students have shown me how art can become a pure kind communication in which they can express emotions and ideas by pushing around lines, laying in colors, roughing in textures, and attaching another layer.

I'm a person of few words, and art has been a haven for the part of myself I can't express in other ways. It is a salve for tough times, a joy in happy times. Teaching art to others has been a wonderful way to give back to the arts a small amount of the pleasure it has afforded me.