• I painted and painted and painted some more, my skills were increased and I know that I made some of my best work this year.
• my studio is a sanctuary. It is incomplete, but it’s going well and is a constant source of joy.
• I participated in lots of exhibitions. I unleashed my inner geek.
• I saw opportunities and I found shows in unlikely locations.
• two students interviewed me for their assignments on artists and inspirational art
• I did a public interview with Phantomimic
• I was invited to speak on a panel in Sydney and overcame my fear of public speaking to speak about a subject very close to my heart. I am intensely proud of this
• I saw Bill Henson speak twice, I asked him a question in front of thousands of people and cameras
• I filled my life with art and watched how that influenced my toddler to start creating.
• I made contacts with some really lovely people.
• I became more confident in talking to others and marketing face to face
• I made good sales even in this economy. Not as good as some years but still enough to be proud of.
• my affiliate marketing started paying real dividends, rather than just supporting my online costs. it provided a steady stream of income to supplement my art income.
• I watched a wonderful artist recover and survive a terrible beating with the health stick and come back fighting and ready to take his art career to the next level.
• I learned to ask for what I want, and make more of every opportunity
• I was one of 32 artists selected to be a finalist in the Art Revolution Taipei international art competition. Over 2500 artists entered!
• I got a new imac, it’s awesome. it picked up my rendering times no end.
• I started physics based rendering, I’m still really new at it.
• I watched Erica start to walk, and talk more, watched her love of books and drawing grow and watched her develop in so many ways. I’m very lucky to work from home so I can still share in these special moments!
• I overcame my fear of cameras a bit and started posing again. I intend to conquer my fear more and get some new profile pictures soon!
• I completed my 505050 project, despite paper shortages and uploading problems. Not all the works are up yet but I completed them in time. this is a pretty big effort!
• I redid my website, new back end, new design and all new traffic! it looks pretty sweet. I have more to do but I’m very happy with how it is going.
• People told me I was their hero. You can’t get cooler than that!

Seven 8×8 Oils on Canvas
$150

Currently at ArtBoy Gallery

I love the Borg. I think they are one of the best enemies introduced by Star Trek. they are so..human. they appropriate from everywhere to add to their perfection. they take our distinctiveness and add it to their own. they augment and corrupt rather than create, but everything they do serves to create more drones operating on the hive mind. The borg are captives, taken and converted. their memories shared amongst every other borg and their identity lost. their original species is lost. all that remains is the drone.

In Voyager they introduced Seven of Nine and converted her back. it was a long, slow process involving the stripping away of her borg components and extricating her from the hive mind. in doing so, they turned her from one of the most interesting borg, a princess in training to be a queen, a real tough bitch, into a robotic pin-up. there is fan art everywhere for Seven of Nine. she became a fanboi fantasy and one of the sexiest characters to come out of Star Trek. Everyone paints her as she is better known, corsetted with the small, cute, borg accessories. I wanted to show the original Seven of Nine. I painted her at the cusp of becoming human, as she works with Voyager. I wanted to remove the sexiness and show the indecision, the corruption, the raw human underneath.  I think many fan art pictures of her focus on the sexy and in showing her as a human remove her personality. I wished to show her as a borg and show her humanity in that.

Come see this painting and other Sci-Fi themed works this Friday at ArtBoy Gallery! FanBoy vs ArtBoy: Science Fiction Opens Friday night 6-8 and runs through to the 4th of December. I will be at the opening and I’d love to see you there!

Warp I

19×13
Watercolor and Pencil on Cold Pressed paper  

It’s been a challenge creating and uploading these small artworks, but a real pleasure as well. the color and delightful shapes of the human form just continue to thrill me. this one is available on my website, along with all the others at http://www.jennierosenbaum.com and they’re only $50 each!

Profound
19×13 cm Watercolor and Pencil on Cold Pressed paper

Every Day for 50 days I will be posting a watercolor for $50. stay tuned to my 50/50/50 project on my website, on my Facebook page, or on twitter!

Look, even I paint men from time to time! this project is really helping me expand my horizons in terms of models, and in terms of seeing. I’m exploring color, shape, halftomes, lines and more but mostly I’m just explaoring the joy of the human figure. check out all my works to date on my website!

Looking for small, unique gifts? these watercolor nudes will brighten up your holidays! buy them as a present for yourself or for someone special. they are ideal for slipping into a card or framing in a set or on their own. they work beautifully in small spaces. these works are colorful, bright and unique. show your individual flair this holidays and give the gift of original art.

Crouch III

19×13 cm Watercolor and Pencil on Cold Pressed paper

On my website I am publishing a new watercolor every day for 50 days. These watercolors make perfect Christmas presents and are small and bright unique original and affordable artworks! Each one is 13×19 cm and is painted on cold pressed paper. Each is signed by me and ready to frame!

I am really enjoying this challenge as I go forward, it’s a wonderful way to beat back my winter blues and stave off the spring lethargy. I am also challenging myself by painting different types of nudes and stepping outside of my comfort zone in terms of color, lighting, angle and so on. Revisiting different poses several times, I can really focus on the anatomy and the minutae of light and shadow and form. This is a technical excercise in seeing as well as a joy to explore!

Did I mention that each one is only $50? That’s 50 works, 50 days for $50 each! You can see and buy them all on my website, and watch Facebook, or twitter for more I will also, of course, be publishing a couple here.

When I initially wrote about the Bill Henson scandal a number of people told me that I would feel differently once I was a parent. As if that would change who I am. I am proud to say that i am now the mother of a little girl and my views have not changed. I believe, as I did then, that if she were approached by an artist to be a model I would support her. That isn’t to say that I wouldn’t do my due diligence on the artist to ensure they were on the level, and I would be there with her. But the decision is not mine, it would be hers.

One thing that struck me about the model known as N, the adolescent in the image seen on the invitations that caused much of the furor, is that when interviewed she discussed all the considerations she made before modeling. She considered how she felt about her body, how she may feel about school mates seeing her in the nude and how she might feel about it years later.

The most important thing to realize is that what you take away from viewing an artwork is not just what the artist puts in, it’s what you bring to it as well.

Your past affects it as much or even more than the artist’s intentions.

Everyone sees art differently which is why it is difficult to judge, and why it should never be stifled.
artistic merit should not become a goto excuse for pornographers, that harms us artists more than anyone – but it must be allowed. we cannot create under a blanket of censorship and we cannot be the artists we need to be without freedom to create. art has the power to challenge our views, to make us think and and to change the world. I believe that the arts are one of the most powerful forces of humanity and should never be denied.

There is a difference, too, between sexual and sensual. There are as many shades of gray as there are stages of undress. Art can be arousing. It should be arousing. It should inspire passion. Not just sexually, but in all things. Arousal and passion are not just the pervue of sexuality, but of life. And art is life

“My artwork explores the nude figure. I find the human body to be a marvel, not just of engineering and design, but also of poetry and emotion. I am endlessly fascinated by what lies beneath, beneath clothes, beneath the layers of pain and beneath the masks we wear.

Nude Art is our history. It is our expression and our drive. It shows our growth as human beings and our evolution emotionally.

I mostly paint women. Strong, elegant and emotional, I capture different aspects of what it is to be a woman. I have been drawn to a difficult arena as censorship grows and fear over the nude body reaches fever pitch.

That is why I have dedicated myself to debunking myths about nude art. I want to show the world the beauty I see in the human body and share my firm belief that nudity is not threatening, it is not always sexual and it is here to stay.”

I have to say, everyone was delightful. From Virgin Australia and their meet and greet program for special needs passengers, to Tui at the university, Joanne and Amy the other panelists, the wonderful cabby who raced to try to get me to my flight on time, the wonderful woman at virgin who did not charge me for a whole new ticket but only a small fee (the guy in front of me was not so lucky, he was being rude, I think that makes all the difference!) and Liam and Erica for being very patient with me though the whole thing!

I generally have a great fear of public speaking so I kept expecting the fear to set in. but it never did! I was prepared but not over prepared and I knew my subject backward and forward as I’ve been writing about it for years! I felt good about the way I spoke, I didn’t stutter and only let a couple of tiny ums out. the only unfortunate thing (apart from missing my flight..) was that it was a magnificently sunny day and so the crowd was much less than expected. That’s a shame, but I can’t be too sorry as I really did enjoy myself immensely!

I will edit my speech and put it up for reading next week.

These artists have taught us all about solidarity, about production and about being a truly great artist. Here is what I have learned from these greats:

1. Paint, paint and paint some more.
All three artists were extremely prolific. They did not get to the level of success they had without painting constantly and diligently.
2. Paint what you want to paint.
Each one received ridicule and derision at some point for their works, technique or subject matter. They rose above it. Nothing was more important than the art.
3. if you don’t like your situation, change it.
Move, change your allegiance, don’t wait for change to happen- be the catalyst for change.
4. Respect your peers.
Respect other artists, pose for them, inspire them as they inspire you and don’t fear giving back.
5. Know the rules- then break them.
Once you know the rules, you know what you should, and should not do. You know how to bend them and even how to break them. If you don’t know the rules, you risk breaking them in the wrong way. There’s so wrong it’s right and so wrong it’s wrong- the difference is knowing the rules.

These work for all careers, not just for artists. The art world is lesser for these losses.

On 24 March 2011, Attorney-General Robert McClelland referred the National Classification Scheme to the ALRC and asked it to conduct widespread public consultation across the community and industry.

The review will consider issues including:

existing Commonwealth, State and Territory classification laws
the current classification categories contained in the Classification Act, Code and Guidelines
the rapid pace of technological change
the need to improve classification information available to the community
the effect of media on children and
the desirability of a strong content and distribution industry in Australia.

[From National Classification Scheme Review | ALRC]

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