Hot Stuff/Golden Haze by Jenny Meehan
Hot Stuff! Golden Haze… Two names for this. It’s one of my “painting to print” series… Need a bit of warming up at the moment. My hot water bottle is a great friend! Sorry if the phrase “hot stuff” sounded a bit more exciting than it is! Lol!
I have had a cold for such a long time, and I have so much mucus never-endingly streaming from my nose, that I think I may be turning into a snail. If I were a snail I could move very fast indeed, for my amply supply of mucus would have me whizzing around for certain. At present I am unable to whizz around, so writing must do.
I’ve put this artwork on Redbubble.com, so you can buy it safely, quickly, conveniently!
I have one version of it signed by me, and this will be for sale at this years “Kingston Artists’ Open Studios”.
Kingston upon Thames in Surrey has a lovely hub of artists and each year we show our work, dotted around different venues in Kingston Upon Thames.
The Open Studio venues are organised into art trails in and around Kingston, featuring a wide range of 2D and 3D work – painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, glass, photography, digital art, textiles, paper art and mixed media.
2019 Open Studios in Kingston will be taking place on 8/9th and 15/16th June
from 11am to 5pm each day.
http://www.jamartlondon.com/contact/4569980742
I plan to display a selection of recent work, both original paintings and prints, and a couple of examples of mosaics I have been working on as well, (though they won’t be for sale). Working with mosaic is adding some interesting perspectives on my painting, which is much appreciated! The work I have on offer will mostly be available to buy I should think. The price range of my original work is £80 to £600. Most of my original fine art sells for around the £200/£300 mark, making it an affordable buy for any art collector. I also offer a selection of prints for purchase for under £100.
Visual Art and Poetry Linkage!
One of the aspects of my creative work I am enjoying at the moment is the linkage between my visual art work and my poetry and writing. The space between the two… between the visual art work and the words I write, is another space, and while it’s fun playing with space visually and also poetically when writing, there is yet another space created between a visual art work and something that the artist writes about it.
I’m pretty possessive about this space, and I guess I can be, at the point I am with my visual art working. I have contacted people in the past who have used my visual art without permission or payment on their own blogs, and written their own poems about it. I ask that they remove my artwork from their blog. Generally they simply just don’t realise that they need to seek permission. If my visual art practice was not so intimately connected with my own writing, I would maybe be flattered, but as an important part of my own practice, the painting-poetry combination and the integrity of it is something I feel protectively about. It’s part of what I offer to the world, and my painting and digital work is, with increasing frequency, presented for exhibition and display, very purposefully paired with my own writing. Indeed I would go as far to say as the visual work and the writing become one art work.
This happens over time. What tends to happen is I create the visual work… this is one strand. Then, it needs to wait, normally for some time. This is counter cultural, for in our culture waiting is not generally valued very much at all. We are all now now now or never. But I have an ongoing relationship with the paintings and digital imagery I produce, and it continues for several years after I deem the art work visually completed. Because the visual completion is only one part of the process. After this time, I need to dwell with the work for a while. And though I have had a strong sense that the work has achieved something, in terms of emotional expression and I have felt satisfied with it’s state of being, what it means for me is only discovered over time. And so I will revisit it, and reflect, it will remind me of certain things and I will relate to it over time. It is maybe like a kind of proving process? It’s symbolic and metaphorical nature, still always retaining a sense of the unknown, and subconscious resonance (which is very attractive I think, and shouldn’t ever need to be explicit!).
But like all things in life, there is also the application. And I do like my work to be useful, used, out there. (with permission!) It may be mine for a while, but believe me, I am always pleased to see it go elsewhere, and I don’t hold onto it. Part of the process is my thinking and critical evaluation of it. My thoughts, research, interests, and the decisions I make as to how I am going to use it. I’m delighted when it is used in book cover designs, because these are always very carefully thought about and the relationship between the content of the book and the image on the cover is very exciting, especially when I get to read the book! So there is a relationship between word and image there, and it’s a topic I find of great interest and have done for a while. But in relation to establishing a relationship between my own visual artwork and the words I choose to write, it is when I spot a subject of interest that there becomes an invitation to almost recreate the work. For it is a recreation and a new artwork, when married to words I write about it. This is the reason much of my work has two titles. The first title is generally the first one, when the work stood alone, and then in time, with thought, and often writing, the work develops into something else and has an additional title added to it. By writing and re-responding to the visual art work, in my view, I recreate the work.
So once my visual art work; be it digital or painting, or sculpture, whatever; once it has it’s poem/writing attached, It’s become something else… More focused, more specific, more applied. It’s met me in my life, come to be, and then I want it to have a life which has relevance not only for me in that personal way, but has taken on some useful role, which touches shared points of interest, not just emotionally (though this is my main interest, for sure) but which establishes relationships far beyond that which first brought it into being. It needs some action and reaction in the world, some relevance, some other people, things, ideas, missions, purposes to have a new kind of dynamic existence. This doesn’t mean it ever needed any justification…It is sufficient to just be, as indeed any person in the world is sufficient just to be. The value is there, just in existence. But to have application is always good.
I often describe myself as both a fine and applied artist. The main thing is, that at the moment, (most of the time), I create what I do with no set purpose in mind. It’s my working method. It’s the way that I have totally free reign. It allows me to work on several things at once, in a piecemeal fashion, and with no concern for the end outcome at all. This is why I like it. I do enjoy working to specific briefs and for particular purposes; these present their own challenges and that in itself is interesting and enjoyable; but so many of my ideas come from this kind of total free flow possible with a less structured approach. Being less structured doesn’t mean less disciplined. Far from it. The structure has to come from within, and this requires a certain stamina. I love life invested into the realm of creativity, but it certainly is hard work. However, it couldn’t be any other way. And there’s a great peace which comes from doing what you care about in life. It’s well worth the effort, whatever comes or doesn’t come of it. In a sense, my main concern is to maintain my own integrity, and develop, both personally and professionally.
Artistic activity needs to be flexible, and I enjoy the way my own weaves into my other activities and roles in life. I have been thinking recently I need to invest more time into writing, and I am looking into copy writing, proof reading and editing as activities I might develop more experience in. I have two ebooks of my own I would like to work on as well. I had a dreadful habit of trying to do everything at once, but I guess the good thing is that I can catch myself trying to do the impossible and pull myself back!
jenny meehan abstract paintings “Opening the Way”
Opening the Way – Lyrical Abstraction -Painting by Jenny Meehan
I described my painting style as primarily lyrical abstraction to someone recently at an artists’ networking event, as it’s the most appropriate description for my painting, at least, but “lyrical abstraction” is not a term a lot of people are familiar with! I have become quite content with the fact that my painting style might be viewed as a little dated and not current…though of course I do not agree with that perspective one little bit! I think there are many undercurrents in the visual arts, running along merrily, and what surfaces as being “current” at one time or another is a matter of trends and fashions, not a matter of what is really developing as significant. How can one discern the undercurrents which make a large wave? How can you see what happens until it culminates in a bigger movement? What determines the movement…is it due to something which happens above the surface, or underneath it? Who knows? The mystery is good. And here you see, I find myself slipping very comfortably into the category of a lyrical abstractionist (maybe not a word!) painter!
Some helpful pointers and considerations, features maybe, of what would place my painting in this category of lyrical abstraction. Lyrical abstraction is a term, and has it’s uses. (Well, it does if people know what it means!) So hopefully my thoughts shared here will help you in your understanding of what characteristics may be dominant features of paintings defined as being “lyrical abstract” paintings. One will need to detach some aspects and add others, because I do believe that terminology has limitations as well as benefits. Also, what something was in one part of history, is never quite the same as what it is in other parts of history… Our times determine so much, and any artists responses are conditioned by the times they live in. I do, as you maybe know, love looking back into the past, and I think it’s a good practice for any artist to ensure they look at those who have come before them and find out as much as they can, so that the can appreciate the work with the benefit of being able to look backwards… for from the past the future comes…
Anyway, I digress, as is of my habit…
The term “Lyrical Abstraction” is much debated. Which makes it very attractive I think! Larry Aldrich used the term lyrical abstraction in the late sixties to describe some of the artworks he had collected. The feature he felt was important was that they represented a return to personal expression following Minimalism.
An exhibition was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
May 25- July 6. 1971
“Statement of the Exhibition
Early last season, it became apparent that in painting there was a movement away from the
geometric, hard-edge, and minimal, toward more lyrical, sensuous, romantic abstractions
in colors which were softer and more vibrant. Painters were creating, in significant numbers,
works that were visually “beautiful” — up to then, in the art world of the sixties, a dirty word.
Though they were not going back to any previous style, these new young painters related
to men who have been doing painting of a painterly nature for twenty years or more — Mark
Rothko, Robert Motherwell and others. The artist’s touch is always visible in this type of
painting, even when the paintings are done with spray guns, sponges or other objects.
Surfaces are never anonymous as in minimal paintings; they are delicately nuanced and
often suggestive of cloudy voids. These paintings all represent a distinct shift to an ex-
pressive interest. As I researched this lyrical trend, I found many young artists whose paint-
ings appealed to me so much that I was impelled to acquire many of them. The majority
of the paintings in the Lyrical Abstraction exhibition were created in 1969, and all are a
part of my collection now.
Larry Aldrich
April 1970″
Take a look at the artists shown here:
https://archive.org/stream/lyabstracti00whit/lyabstracti00whit_djvu.txt
A slightly more recent example here: http://palmbeachartspaper.com/art-review-lyrical-abstraction-show-demonstrates-resilience-of-american-painting/
A variation of the term was used decades earlier in the late forties by the French art critic Jean José Marchand; Abstraction Lyrique. This was with reference to a European trend in painting a bit like Abstract Expressionism. Free, emotionally inspired and very personal compositions based not on external appearances but evolving rather from the subconscious, instinctive parts of the painters. The evolution and construction of the painting coming from within. I guess we could go even further back, too to Wassily Kandinsky in the first decade of the twentieth century! Rather than working with images from the external world and altering them in order to express abstract ideas, in the way that happened with Suprematist and Constructivist artists using recognizable forms in their art but in ambiguous, symbolic ways, another group of artists approached abstraction in a different way. Not knowing what meaning there might be in what they painted was just fine! Painting freely, with no preconceived notions and the expectation that things unknown could be expressed through their work. Some likened their paintings to musical compositions.(ie Kandinsky) The general emphasis was that of expression emotion in an abstract form. Paintings were imaginative, expressive and personal. Unashamedly subjective, and poetic. Soulful work…not so much leaning towards objective academic interpretations but learning more towards the mysterious, spiritual, and less tangible aspects of life. Painting as a source of seeking maybe…not attempting something which is defined and explained, but rather being all about personal connection with life and the universe.
Rather good! A search for what is essentially personal.
Harold Rosenberg wrote: “Today, each artist must undertake to invent himself…The meaning of art in our time flows from this function of self-creation.”
That was then, but surely this is also relevant for today? Maybe even more so…because the challenge of the self and the sufficiency of simply being, is with us, and maybe even greater with the influence of media, advertising, internet, etc?
Is “being” enough? This may be one of the most important questions we ask ourselves!
We have so much information and knowledge for the intellect to play with at our disposal now! It’s great, fun, interesting. Yes, all of this. But is knowing things with our heads sometimes a deceptive liberty? Does it prevent us from walking freely in mystery, unknowing, and that which we cannot hold onto in our heads, but which our hearts and souls might testify is good and life giving?
I do ask myself these questions.
I think my work could be said to ask them, but does it need an answer? And if it doesn’t ask for an answer, is it a question?
!!!
“Each artist must undertake to invent himself.” Is sticking with me in this digression…
But what with lyrical abstraction today? Movements move and change… tendencies run this way and that…Who knows? No one has the ultimate view. In the early twentieth Century artists like Kandinsky, Giacometti, Fautrier, Klee and Wols embodied lyrical tendencies in abstraction. Later Mathieu, Riopelle, Soulages and Mitchell moved them forward. When I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s many artists continued and expanded the movement. There are many voices singing out lyrically in abstract paintings! There is an essential quest of lyrical abstraction, which is to express something personal, subjective and emotive, and to do this in a highly poetic, free and abstract manner.
I think this section of Ronnie Landfield’s “Autobiographical Statement, 1997-2010” speaks with a resonance which I am happy to echo, (in my own unique way, of course!)
“My inspiration has been my conviction that modern painting is fueled by the combination of tradition and the realities of modern life. Spirituality and feeling are the basic subjects of my work. They are depictions of intuitive expressions using color as language, and the landscape (God’s earth) as a metaphor for the arena of life. The revelation of a primal image that delivers an immediate response in the viewer is my goal. Hopefully my paintings convey a felt perception of life, an awareness of the history of art, and a clear expression of my passion and sense of spirituality. I sense a visual music that externalizes what I feel within me and in the air.”
What a fantastic statement…
The revelation of a primal image that delivers an immediate response in the viewer is my goal.
Well, all writing aside, this is most certainly enough, more than enough, and will ever be enough!
Paint on!
Words are words, and paint is paint!
See more of Ronnie Landfield here: http://ronnielandfield.com/
Some contemporary painters which you might like to view…
the Spanish artist Laurent Jiménez-Balaguer
Margaret Neil
Ellen Priest
‘Un’antenna sensibile’
Rather nice quote, for my notes!
Quote by Christopher Adams: Claudio Del Sole: ‘Un’antenna sensibile’
Christopher Adams
“Del Sole saw no contradiction between his predilection for abstraction and his observation of natural phenomena, finding inspiration in the swirling patterns of galaxies and nebulae. Nor did he recognise any distinctions between art and life, asserting: “The artist is not enclosed in a restricted or exclusive world of his own. He is like an antenna, sensitive to all that which happens around him. Therefore, he is attentive to social changes and the progress of science; that is, to the unfolding story of mankind.”
Yes! Like an antenna! I like this very much! And attentive! So true!
We take in all that surrounds us, ingest it… and then do what we do with it! There is some kind of narrative in every person, expressed through words and images. When I work with abstract forms visually, there is no disconnect from the outer world, even though I don’t work with pictures (ie recognisable objects). I approach the matter and materials in the same way that I approach nature, life and all I see in the natural world, even though I don’t seek to emulate it. I am not attempting to create something more distant or disconnected “more spiritual” or “set apart” from the world in any way. It’s rather an engagement, a translation maybe a good word, an interpretation of my being and living based on emotion and experience.
jenny meehan photography monochrome
I take less photographs now than I did, but sometimes you see something you cannot resist! Looking at the sky reminds me of why I don’t lean towards representational painting myself, though I do enjoy looking at others work. I find the work is always before me, far surpassing any emulation I might make of it. I do enjoy a bit of drawing… It’s always good to do from time to time… Mostly because of the mark making though.
jenny meehan photography monochrome
Broken branches in Oxshott Woods. Oxshott Woods has a special resonance for me because as a child we went for a walk there every Sunday. I like this image of mine because it conveys brokenness but also a real invitation to move forwards into the image. I remember the exposed roots of so many of the trees in Oxshott woods and how entrancing they were…
jenny meehan photography monochrome
Another Oxshott Woods/Oxshott Common image. This was taken on the edge of the big “sand pit” area. It’s fun to think I am walking the very same ground I did when we went for walks there when I was a child. It’s amazing how things change, and quite a relief to be honest. I’ve probably written it elsewhere, but I had a really difficult childhood, in so many ways, and I’m now enjoying life more than ever before; so much happier and so much more alive! It’s good I have come a long way, and though it’s easy to feel I wish things had been easier, in the end, the past makes us what we are, and we cannot live without it, but we can move on.
Things I have been reading recently:
Good read on trauma and how it affects ones sense of time:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4166378/
Lots in there to read and think over, so popping in my journal for now. I’ve skim read parts.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2167702613495199
Rear Access Roads and Alleyways
rear access road chessington drawing 2 jenny meehan
rear access roads chessington drawing jenny meehan
jenny meehan photography monochrome
I’ve popped these in because I have realised recently how important the “Alleyway” was to me as a child. We lived in Teddington, not Chessington, and the alleyway of my childhood was narrow, and quite different to the rear access roads I have drawn here. However, emotionally there is a strong connection I had previously overlooked. My brother and myself would play in the alley…exploring around the backs of peoples gardens…peeking through holes in fences and sometimes creeping into places we were not meant to be! It was all very exciting and interesting. The drawings of the rear access roads in Hook and Chessington were drawn by me in what I like to call my “wilderness” phase. It was before I really got into painting as my main focus, and yet grew highly aware that painting was the right direction for me to go into creatively, in a big way.
Emotionally it was a tough time, and I struggled psychologically also; I felt very lost indeed, in terms of having a sense of self. I find it interesting that, at this time, I found the rear access roads so comforting, and so safe, and all at the very time in my life when fear grew increasingly severe. It provided an area and space to feel I existed in. I think the lack of facades was helpful, also, for I was aware my own had slipped somewhat! It was a raw, bare, place, of exposure and of no longer being able to pretend I was “all right”. Somehow embracing the “shadow side” had to happen.
I was not familiar with the term “shadow side” at that point in my life, however I do remember being fascinated with the dark, square areas I came across, which I think you can see comes across in the drawings. For me, I saw these as being a void…a place which represented how I increasingly felt inside. Inner emptiness. At times (the worst) where I would rather be: in nothingness. A lot of the areas of interest for me in my frequent walks involved an appreciation of decay, decomposition, and neglect, with some attention to unexpected growth, and finding unexpected treasures. Even in the worst of life’s passages, if looking outwards, beauty can be found with some effort, and I did find it, even though I couldn’t see any inside myself at that point. Carl Jung stated “the shadow” to be the unknown dark side of the personality, which was instinctive and irrational. There was also a sense of this in what the dark, blank areas communicated to me. Like some kind of mirror, they reminded me of how instinctive and irrational I was at my core, and I was certainly more aware of that than I had ever been aware of before in my life!
“For Jung, the theory of the‘‘shadow’’ was a metaphorical means of conveying the prominent role played by the unconscious in both psychopathology and the perennial problem of evil. In developing his paradoxical conception of the shadow, Jung sought to provide a more highly differentiated, phenomenologically descriptive version of the unconscious and of the id than previously proffered by Freud. The shadow was originally Jung’s poetic term for the totality of the unconscious, a notion he took from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. But foremost for Jung was the task of further illuminating the shadowy problem of human evil and the prodigious dangers of excessive unconsciousness.”
Quote from Stephen A. Diamond, Ph.D.,
My original artwork has two main strands: Lyrical Abstraction, painterly, fluid, with a lot of focus on light, how it bounces off the surface, textures and finishes, and Geometric Abstraction (created through digital imaging software) in which I focus on flat areas of smooth, solid, and translucent colour; ideally intended to be printed on even, matt or semi-mat surfaces.
While I’m experimenting with the overlap between the two, and make it my practice to regularly try out new mediums, in order to keep my artwork fresh and steadily evolving, identifying the strands in this way is helpful for clarity. I use writing and poetry in my art working and now prefer to use sol-silica paint over acrylics or oils, though I am still known to dabble in many different types of paint, due to their particular material and visual qualities!
Signing up as a follower on my WordPress blog ( https://jennymeehan.wordpress.com) also helps, as does sharing the posts when you receive them. Anything you can do to help me is much appreciated!
My artwork is particularly suitable for themes of: faith, religion, philosophy, Christian, church, all faith traditions, inter-faith, spirituality, the subconscious, psychoanalytic themes, mindfulness, contemplative practices, healing, health, both physical and mental, trauma recovery, metaphysical and psychological focused writings, the devotional life, and many other subjects.
All my images are licensable and this is arranged through the Designer and Artists’ Copyright Socitety (DACS). If you wish to use my artwork, please contact me in the first instance.
Alongside my mainly lyrical abstract paintings, there is another important strand in my work which includes more of a narrative. Well, some kind of narrative. Through my writing, and my participation in ongoing psychotherapy, I draw on my subconscious. It’s this process of self reflection, examination, and other contemplative practices which are rooted in my own faith tradition as a Christian, alongside a good dose of yoga and West African drumming, which have created an exciting way ahead for my work with visual art. I think it’s the relationship between my writing and visual work, particularly through poetry, which helps determine the direction in my art practice.
I’m a member of Kingston Artists’ Open Studios: http://www.kingstonartistsopenstudios.co.uk/product-category/artists-m-to-z/
How to Support Jenny Meehan
If you like my art working and would like to support me you can! Pop
in your browser and follow instructions. There’s no option for me to thank you via the PayPal Me process but do contact me via contact form and let me know if you have gifted me so I can thank you.
You can buy my original paintings… Just contact me via the contact form. Price range is between £250 and £400.
Also available via redbubble, the well known print on demand marketplace, you can buy unsigned prints on many substrates.
Take a look here, any problems locating it feel free to contact me via the contact page on this Art Journal/ Artist Blog
It’s also a good place to get a feel for quite a big strand of my creative artworking. Any problems locating what you want, feel free to contact me via the contact page on this Art Journal/ Artist Blog jennyjimjams.redbubble.com
I have mostly the abstract, flat colour geometrical art in Redbubble as it makes nice prints. I selected work for that platform in order to help my work become more accessible. There’s also a lot of surface pattern designs. I find creating patterns very therapeutic!
The main style of my original painting is Lyrical Abstraction/Abstract Expressionism. I also enjoy working with black and white photography tending towards pictorialism. I frequently use collage and digital collage.
Copyright and Licensing Digital Images Information – Jenny Meehan
Copyright in all images by Jenny Meehan is held by the artist.
Permission must be sought in advance for the reproduction, copying or any other use of any images by Jenny Meehan. Individuals or businesses seeking licenses or permission to use, copy or reproduce any image by Jenny Meehan should, in the first instance, contact Jenny Meehan.
Copyright for all visual art by Jenny Meehan is managed by the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) in the UK. If you wish to licence a work of art by Jenny Meehan, please contact Jenny Meehan in the first instance to clarify your requirements. DACS propose fees in line with the industry standard. I am open to negotiation. So contact me in the first instance. They will administrate accordingly
Licensing an image is quick and easy for both parties and is organised through the Design and Artist Copyright Society. (Note, my images are not shown on the “Art image” selection on the Design and Artist Copyright “Art Image” page. This does NOT mean you cannot apply for a license to use an image of my work from DACS… They simply have a very limited sample selection of work in their “Artimage” page!)
Jenny Meehan - Art Journal 