2011 in review
2011 was a massive mix of highs and lows for me. I don’t want to dwell on the lows, 2012 is about moving forward and building on my successes of the past year. I hope, wherever you are, that you will take a moment to farewell the bad points of 2011 and happily remember the good. I hope no matter what 2011 was like for you, 2012 will be better! I am proud of the accomplishments I made this year, and the people I met. The milestones I saw others reach and the achievements of everyone around me. This is a list of the things I am proudest about from 2011.
- 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
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 – 13x19cm Watercolor on Paper
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
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 watercolors and pencil on paper
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.
Too rude? Speech part 3: nude models and artistic merit.
Part one and part two have already been published. This is the third and final part of my 10 minute speech for Sydney University’s Tuesday Talks program. Frequent readers may recognize some passages here, I couldn’t improve on them!
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
Too rude? Speech part one – my work
As I edited my speech from last week for posting, I realized it was way too long for a single post! This is the first part, about my work. I was introduced beautifully so I only needed to discuss my work itself. Some of these phrases will form part of my new artist statement.
“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.”
To sydney and back again..
Yesterday I had the great joy of presenting on a panel at Manning Bar in the beautiful Sydney university. As part of the verge arts festival and the regular Tuesday talks program the topic was Too Rude? Nudity, art and adolescence. I was honored to be invited and delighted when they offered to fly me out for the event! this was my first time flying since the accident and I was nervous to be out and about without my carer and husband not to mention being away from my little girl! I am also Not a Morning Person so you can imagine my trepidation going forward.
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.
Nude of the week – pipes, steam punk burlesque nude render
Pipes – a steampunk nude Dazlstudio render
I have yet to photograph the finished aviatrix yet so here is the render of the painting I am currently working on. it’s working name is pipes, but I don’t have a title for it yet. Sorry I didn’t post this last week, I had a migraine and couldn’t move. I painted, because I paint every day, but even that was a struggle, it was painting and sleep for pretty much a week. Ah, the glamorous life of an artist!
I’ve been obsessed with inverted poses lately. This one kept ringing in my mind for ages, I have sketch after sketch as I tried to refine it and bring it to the surface. I may be doing more as I work out this latest itch! I get poses stuck in my mind like a song and the only way to fix it is to paint and paint and paint!
Products used
Figure: Victoria 4 *free*
Character: Reby Sky
Morphs: Morphs++ NGM for V4
Chair: Girl Play
Nude of the week – Aviatrix WIP
Aviatrix – Work in Progress
A quick posting with my current work in progress. These days i’m painting in the morning which sets up my day really well. I find I have more energy and I haven’t frittered away my day online. the most important thing is to paint and by putting it first I make sure it’s my priority – before marketing and web work, before email, even before facebook!
Nude of the week -Motive- a nude world of Warcraft painting?
Motive is the finished painting for the upcoming exhibition Fanboy vs Artboy in Artboy gallery in prahran.
I want to take a moment to tell you a little about the story of this piece and why I chose to do something so different.
I play World of Warcraft. I love it. I’ve played the series of games as far back as I can remember. Throughout the original games is woven a love story filed with all the classic intrigues of an opera.
Jaina Proudmoore was with Arthas Menethil, son of the king, everything was happy, she’s a Mage, he was a glorious paladin. But the relationship didn’t work out. And slowly but surely Arthas started to go insane. There were outside forces to be sure, demons, beguilements, a spear and magic helmet – sorry, I meant a magic sword and helmet, and Arthas became the Lich King. Terrifying and loathsome.
Meanwhile, there was a standstill kind of war between the humans and the orcs. The leader of the orcs was Thrall, mighty shaman and respected leader. during diverse adventures he was rescued by Jaina from the grips of humans and dragons and together they built a friendship, and perhaps a little more.. It’s alluded to, but never seems to come to fruition. Now Thrall has gone off and is single handedly holding the world together at the center of the maelstrom.
Now, i’m not saying that Jaina is the reason Arthas went mad, nor am I saying that she ever really did have a relationship with thrall, but, it’s all rather…interesting… If you ask me! And what is Jaina’s motivation anyway?
I wanted to return to classical composition for this piece, I rarely get to work on anything different and I decided it was time to let my inner geek out for a bit of a play. I wanted to see Thrall, bent like atlas, I wanted to see him with the weight of the world in his hands and on his shoulders. I wanted Jaina above it all, spurning Arthas, seeking Thrall, but he’s too consumed with the troubles of the world. She’s consumed with herself and her desire to help, and Arthas, well, Arthas is being consumed by evil.
do you remember the line in Billy Madison, ‘I drew a picture of a blue duck because i’ve never seen a blue duck before and I wanted to see a blue duck’ that’s what this painting is, I wanted to see what would happen if I painted them all in the nude, classically posed. I wanted to stretch myself, challenge myself and have some fun!
If you are in Melbourne come by and see me, Motive and other game inspired art works at ArtBoy Gallery on Friday!
Quick! Don’t forget these important resolutions either!
It has been brought to my attention that I missed some key goals on my list. Not painting, painting is #1 and always will be (more on that next week) but my offline goals. I plead distraction. I wrote my to do lists a couple of times in different ways, and reasoned that I had already written them down somewhere, but I forgot to share them with you! It’s ok, I’m still in time, it’s not february yet!
I have galleries now, but I know that isn’t the end of it. Not by a long way. My best motivator is exhibiting. So I will be committing to finally writing up all the proposals in my head and sending them off. I have so many concepts and I want to see them realized, so now is the perfect time to get my work out there. I want another solo this year. And one next year. At the minimum. I also want to do more group exhibitions with local artists. I have a couple in the works but I’d love to be a part of more if you have any concepts.
Mostly, this year I want to ditch the excuses. Ditch the fear and ditch that nagging bitch in my head that keep telling me that I’m not good enough. We need doubt to keep us on our toes, but I have a surfeit of it currently and that’s something that needs to be fixed. I want to stop making excuses why I can’t go to that opening or meet up, I want to stop pushing myself away from the arts community and start getting more involved!
I will probably publish the abstracts of my proposals here as well, just to keep you all in the loop!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
achieving my goals bit by bit…Online
Wavelength 8×10 Oils on CanvasI want to build up my online presence even more. Build on what I have created and refine my practices. I also want to add some YouTube into the mix. I hate YouTube, but I cannot deny it’s power. I also want to finally make a landing page for my facebook fan page!
This year may finally be the year of the website redesign. It might be time.
I want to work on my online galleries to make my listings as good they can be, I also want to increase my sales.
These goals are all related. my online presence is a large part of my success as an artist. I started using a lot of social media tools before social marketing was even really a thing.. but I’ve stayed away from youtube. mostly because of the comments. and the inanity. I don’t love the idea of my work being on the same site as dogs pissing on keyboards. but, I also know that it is, truly, the last untouched arena for me, that it has massive sharing appeal and a huge following. sometimes you just have to Suck it up princess! (this seems to be becoming my theme this year). videos show more about art than photos can, sharing the works with people is the key and being precious about it won’t sell paintings! I have the software, the knowledge, I just don’t have any excuses.
my facebook page is going really strong, it could use some videos, some more images (must paint must paint) and a nice branded landing page. something to entice. that’s next weeks project.
as far as redesigning my webpage goes, I’ve been using iweb with some haxies to create my page, and it’s good, it’s certainly easy and it doesn’t distract me with fun code to play with, but I need to step it up a bit. I’m thinking of going to wordpress and a professional theme for artists with my own customisations. wordpress is so much more than a blog, it’s a fantastic Content Management System and I think it will really help with my SEO efforts. the problem with being a geek, however, is the constant itch to tweak, code and improve everything, and often I get so caught up in that I forget about painting! and that is the one thing I have to do this year over everything else. I’m looking at some artist website services as well, to prevent me from scratching the tweak itch.
I’m looking around still for an online gallery to replace Boundless Gallery, I’m using Discovered Artists and Artfire currently but I’d like to work further to finish uploading all my works for sale and make the descriptions and photographs as compelling as possible. I also want to finish my ‘view in a room’ images. they will help with my videos as well!
So.. Here is what a Gantt of this process would look like. no it is pretty anal to create a Gantt of something like this, a todo list works just as well, but I started something so here is my online strategy for the year in Gantt form. Online Goals
achieving my goals for 2011 bit by bit – the studio
The “before” picture
the key in project management is to start with a mission statement then break down your goals into bite sized tasks. you allocate time for them, assess the risks and concerns involved, address them, set a due date and a timeline, milestones to help you track achievements and then – you do it! (well, your team does it, but as artists, lets face it – we are our team)
so, I mentioned that I had a number of goals for this year, getting back on track after taking a bit of maternity leave (I didn’t take much time off, but I always feel behind)
so I’m going to break down my plan for each of my goals in turn in a project management new years series. this is so that I can
a) get it all down in an accountable way, and
b) show a little on how classic project management techniques can be used for artists.
Goal #1 on my list: My New Studio
Mission Statement: I want to get my new studio up and running, have it functional as well as beautiful and spend time in it! It’s a garage workshop so it will take a lot of work but the beauty is that when it’s done it will be all mine.
In Project Management, often the risk assessment is used to determine critical risks to the timeline or to achieving the mission statement and requirements from the shareholders. I don’t have a hard deadline, but the sooner it is done the happier I will be. the right setting is crucial to the right feeling while painting. this risk assessment is more about risks to the goal itself and getting it done in a timely way. a number of these risks are reoccurring for a lot of my goals.
The funny thing about risk assessment is that you have to try to think of everything. no matter how small – because sometimes it’s the little things that will trip you up the most. if you spend time brainstorming anything and everything that can happen and plan for the worst – it’s amazing how well it all works out.
Risk: I have a baby! while her nap times are more predictable, and I can do work then, she’s still a handful!
mitigation: Liam can take care of her while I’m painting and getting things ready, she can come with us to buy stuff and when dad and Liam are doing the manual labor I can take care of her. we will pass her around.
risk: I have an unpredictable chronic pain disability: this changes day by day and determines how much I can or cannot do.
mitigation: pushing it is good for me! also, see #1 if I can play handball with some of the tasks we can get it all done.
Risk: crumbling mortar on the unsealed brick
Mitigation: I’ve tried painting on it already and it soaked it up. I need to talk to a specialist about sealing the brick properly so that I can get a really nice glossy finish. this is a budgetary risk as well as a sanity one.
Risk: Light Levels
Mitigation: get a new fluro tube for the empty array. consider reflectors. use a glossy paint on the bricks to bounce the light, get more halogens. Cost – $50-100
Risk: It’s a garage workshop
Mitigation: not when I’m through! it has a window, it has great light fittings and power. lots of space. it’s a great space- it just needs work! and a wall.
Risk: Spiders (don’t laugh! if one drops on me I won’t be able to work in there for weeks!)
Mitigation: Bomb the place and keep bombing. seal up any holes – (will need to anyway)
Risk: going crazy through lack of painting
Mitigation: well you better get moving then woman!
yes, my risk assessments get silly after a while. silly is good. 9 times out of 10 it will be the silly that trips you up. I have more but I won’t bore you with all of them.
Deadline: I’m going to give it a month. The wall is dependant on others so I can’t necessarily control that, but I need to have my parts done and it workable in a month.
Now, artists are visual people so I know this makes sense – why just say it in task form when you can say it in…Chart form!! This is the timeline, task list and chart for my studio.
I will probably go into the joys of Gantt Charts at another stage…
Of course there also needs to be a celebration at the end of a successful project. something to celebrate and prepare for the next big thing. so, when I am done with my studio, and it looks smashing I will have a huge open studio event!
My goals for 2011
I have been thinking about my goals for this year.
Emerging - A3 Watercolors and Pencil on Paper by Jennie Rosenbaum
They are broken down into personal, marketing, online, offline, exhibiting, creating art, learning and other revenue streams. At least so far…
Last year was a wonderful year for me, I finally achieved one of my long term goals and gained gallery representation. I’ve been building my abilities and my connections and I think things will go very well this year if I can maintain momentum.
This year, in a nutshell, I wish to achieve these things (in no particular order):
I want to get my new studio up and running, have it functional as well as beautiful and spend time in it! It’s a garage workshop so it will take a lot of work but the beauty is that when it’s done it will be all mine.
I want to write a business plan and actually stick to it this time.
I want to build up my blogging, and my affiliate earnings, I want to add on some extra revenue streams as a fun funds funnel (yes that is what I’m calling it!).
I want to build up my online presence even more. Build on what I have created and refine my practices. I also want to add some YouTube into the mix. I hate YouTube, but I cannot deny it’s power. I also want to finally make a landing page for my facebook fan page!
I want to paint. I want to be disciplined and work effectively to create the paintings that are inside me. I don’t have a shortage of inspiration, I have a shortage of oomph. And that is something I want to correct!
This year may finally be the year of the website redesign. It might be time.
I want to work on my online galleries to make my listings as good they can be, I also want to increase my sales.
I want to continue to learn, to grow and to add to my knowledge of 3D, of anatomy and of painting techniques.
I want to give more back to the arts community! I want to continue the fight for the rights of nude art and to help out other artists.
How will I do all these things? stay tuned…
Edit: 2011! how could I get that wrong?
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays to you all! thankyou for your support
Whatever your pleasure this holiday season I hope you will enjoy it to your fullest! I know I will! it’s been insanity for us- between moving, celebrating and shopping it’s all crazy. but as I lie here, our tree next to me in our lovely new house, wrapping paper and presents everywhere, christmas music playing and a beautiful baby girl, I just know I have everything I want in the world. I’m rushed, exhausted and brimming with happiness!
I hope your Hoidays are wonderful, joyous times, that you look back over the year and think about all the times you laughed out loud for no reason. Celebrate and be merry!
New Representation @Artboy Gallery!
Greville St was always one of my favorite shopping streets. I love Chapel St, but Greville St and it’s Sunday market was a wonderful place full of unusual clothes, wonderful jewellery and artisan treats of all types. My dad and I would visit at least once a month and spend hours browsing stores and the market.
So when I heard that there was a really cool new gallery on Greville St I had to check it out! I poured over their website, facebook and google. and I really liked what I saw, interesting pieces all with a strong aesthetic in common. I read their submission details and, armed with my new ‘suck it and see’ attitude I sent my details in.
Before I knew it I was meeting with Marc and signing a consignment agreement! Go check it out, it’s a fascinating space with some wonderful artists. the artworks are largely urban and fresh – I found myself tempted by so many pieces. this is a hallamark of an interesting gallery to me, if I don’t want to buy the works they have why would I want to exhibit there?
03 9939 8993
99 Greville St
Prahran 3181 Victoria
Australia
revisionist historian
Ennui
I get ideas all the time.
ideas for paintings, blog posts, tweets, thankyou letters, exhibitions, concepts, installations, companies, the future.. my backbrain is always churning, always creating, always coming up with new ideas.
the problem is my forebrain. my forebrain gets involved and starts editing all these ideas. it puts the t in can. and the more I think about them the more I think people don’t want to read this, see this, think about that.. what if they don’t like it, what if they don’t like me, what if, what if whatif?
and I talk myself out of all these great ideas that I should be all fired up about. sometimes it’s just a small thing but sometimes it’s a lifechanger.
and sometimes, like right now, I have so many ideas that I can’t actually process them. I want to write blog posts – I really do! but I have so many ideas, so many things going on that I just can’t seem to get going. I start, then get waylaid by other things. and the revisionist historian kicks in and edits the writing before it even starts. I’m standing in front of a metaphorical, full to bursting, wardrobe thinking ‘but I have nothing to wear!’
I’m currently working on some new paintings, a commission, planning my first art fair exhibit, and the Daz platinum club members sale is on. I also have to finish our taxes, plan our next house move, plan my new studio, take care of Erica and try not to collapse. that’s the gist of things at the moment.
There is no Such Thing as a State of Readiness
One thing I learned recently is that all the planning and preparation in the world is completely useless unless you actually take the plunge and get going.
Release - 12x12 Oils on Canvas
it’s so important to just do it. nothing is ever going to be perfect enough, nothing is ever going to be ready – everything is a process. putting things off until they are ready or perfect or just how you want them is anathema to getting anything actually achieved. and that is fine if you actually want to coast through and not achieve anything, but usually perfectionist types have very clear goals. I know I do.
If I had waited until I was “ready” to have a baby it would have never happened. and I find that now I have one, I am ready. nothing can prepare you, so there is a limit to how much planning you can do. I was a project manager so you can imagine how that strikes me! (must..plan..everything..) but I realized that all the planning in the world couldn’t prepare me. I just had to take the plunge. and I was right! I prepared for the things I could control (very little) and am in constant amazement by all the wonderful things I could never prepare for.
today I contacted some galleries. as I sent off the emails, I worried. my artist statement and bio aren’t perfect! I don’t have enough lines on my CV, I’m not ready, what if they turn me down, what if I get shunned by the entire arts community because of my problems with capitalization?
but I sent them off anyway. and already received one callback. so there perfectionism. sometimes you just have to jump in, hold your breath and hope. there is no such thing as ready. you won’t get anywhere dipping a toe in – you won’t know the temperature of the water until you actually get in.
Nude of the Week – Expecting
Watercolor and Pencil on Paper
I painted this a couple of months ago, just after I saw those two little lines for the first time. I’ve been waiting, like most people these days, until I hit the second and less risky trimester to tell people online. This is the last, good thing I have painted since I became blocked. I think that the extra work involved in creating a baby has drained my creative reserves. I found it hard to stand at my easel as waves of dizziness and nausea washed over me. this has not been an easy process so far, but I am hoping that my work will pick up now that I am beginning to feel better.
Bio Drive
So I’ve been thinking that my biography is a bit boring, a bit old and a lot dated – in short, I am over it. so I’ve been working today on writing up a new formal biography and a less formal “about” for my websites and stuff. I’d love your input, I’m really terrible at writing about myself (which is why my personal blog is crammed full of stuff about art censorship really). these are still works in progress obviously
The Formal Bio- These have a format and need to be a narrative of your CV in a few paragraphs, you need to talk about your accomplishments, education and introduce your artwork. it’s 3rd person and a bit of a yawn fest to write. and probably to read.
The human body has held constant fascination for Jennie Rosenbaum, partially due to her studies in art history and anatomy, and partially due to her own relationship with her body, both in image and after a car accident that left her with a chronic pain disability.
Jennie has exhibited her artworks worldwide. Her art has been shown at Miami Art Basel, at numerous Melbourne galleries, in New York and Boston. Jennie has donated works to support bushfire victims and VisualAIDs. Jennie’s artwork has gained rapid popularity online winning awards at barebrush.com a site dedicated to nude art.
Jennie works to maintain the image of the nude in art and writes a blog about censorship in art. She also leads nude advocacy groups and a group online for people with disabilities.
Jennie Rosenbaum excelled in art and art history at school and studied archaeology, painting, drawing and photography at the University of Monash, Curtin and RMIT. She has also worked closely with artist Donald Cameron in his studio and had the opportunity to be part of a specialized life class at the National Gallery of Victoria. Jennie is an American working from her home in Melbourne, Australia.
The informal Bio, about page type thing. this is when I started to run out of steam..
It shouldn’t take being hit by a car to discover your passion in life, but that is precisely what happened with me. In order to quench the pain of my new disability I returned to my first love, painting. Always technically proficient, my works lacked a certain something. But now my new focus allowed me to expand my interest into a new career with a new sense of abandon imbuing my artworks and a new emotional quality that has propelled my vision ahead.
I started studying again, taking classes online from universities like Curtin and RMIT to fill out my prior art education at Monash university. I painted and evolved my signature styles, almost by accident every time. I have worked to get my artwork out online, offline, and into the hands of collectors worldwide. I have exhibited internationally and locally, received awards for my artwork and excellent reviews.
My studio is in my home where I can paint at any time of the day or night. I live with my husband and two cats and rely on my iPod for those late night painting sessions. I also maintain a blog where I write about censorship issues and nude art and maintain nude advocacy groups. It is one of my missions to help change attitudes about the nude in art.
strangely I found it quite a depressing experience, I’m supposed to list my achievements and really I thought by now I would have more. perhaps it’s just me and my changing goalposts, my unrealistic expectations of my career and where I want it to be, but I want more dammit!
How comic books shaped my life – In the Beginning…
I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at my influences. make no mistake, I am an art history nerd, but I am also an out and out geek. so, while my inspiration was partially due to great traditional artists I must also give credit where credit is due. Comic books.
During a time in my life when I was feeling particularly powerless, confused about my sexuality, buffeted on all sides by the …roughness of boys pretending to be men, and caught up in the attempts to be all things to all people, comics were a ray of light and a symbol of hope. strong women who could take down their aggressors, fight off their fears. strong women with curves I didn’t have yet, and found so compelling in so many ways, strong women who were unashamedly themselves and didn’t have to fit a mold.
I did not read superhero comics. mainstream superhero comic women of that time period were idealized insipid creatures designed to need a mans help. I didn’t want that. some costumed creature who had to hide behind a mask and create an alter-ego to fit everyone else’s expectations, an image of insecurity. yes I know wonderwoman threw off those shackles eventually and became a hero girls could look up to, but at the time women were undergoing a rather pathetic era in comics, designed to be weak copies of their male counterparts. in many cases they were worse for body image than barbie!
nor was I into the underground feminist comics of the time. I was interested in the female form, and beginning to be aware that my interest was not entirely ..usual. At that time I tried to hide it by pretending to be boy crazy – something which backfired horribly I might add. so I enjoyed comics with these magnificent curvaceous women. swelling breasts and hip-crests, rounded thighs and buttocks. I fell in love with Betty and Veronica and with Dawn. I started haunting news agents and second hand book stores that stocked comics and started building a collection. I sought out the women in control of themselves, the ones who were confident with who they are. It wasn’t until much, much later that I realized what an impact all these comics had on me.
New Look!
One of the things I love about being an artist is the ability to look and dress however I want. back in corporateland I was in a boys club and a very young manager. to offest this I lived in Anthea Crawford suits and had very conservative hair. it was blonde, long and usually tied back in a powerbun or something. the most creative I got was a spiky variety of a power updo. I had the same stylist most of the time then and now, only now he and I go through the most creative magazines and get inspired by fun and silly and outrageous. my hair has been blonde and hot pink, blonde pink purple and black (in order from top to bottom), blonde purple turquoise and black (I mixed my own colors that time! they all had fun watching me – I tend to stick my tongue out) but this time we really wanted something different. my hair is now burgundy, red, pink, copper and black. it is the darkest it’s ever been and very cool. Liam says I am more confident with red hair, and maybe that’s the case! I finally managed to conquer my fear of the camera long enough to take a couple of new profile pics, bio photos and the like.
It’s winter and baby it’s cold outside! but things are heating up around here, I’ve been painting my butt off! will show my new work soon but for now I am just enjoying the pure joy of creating.
PS shameless plug, if you live in the SE suburbs of Melbourne Navona Salon really is excellent. plus they bought my award winning painting Freedom and have it on display there.
The Daily Original
I have been offered representation by another online gallery, this time with a twist. the daily original is an online gallery that sells one artwork per day. They also offer giclee services for the artwork on display to offer a range of options. they are a reasonably new site with a really nice simple design that really shows the work in it’s best light. I like the magnifier script particularly. They specialize in affordable artworks.
my first artwork will be for sale on Thursday the 14th of may – this Thursday!
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