New Print and It's on Sale!

Greetings Friends!

I've got a brand new print in the shoppe today! "Color to Live" is an archival 8" x 8" art print that features LeCorbusier's iconic LC2 chairs.

Le Corbusier (who's real name was Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris) was a master of Modern design. He was interested in making clean-lined, efficient yet attractive furniture and architecture.

My most favorite of Le Corbusier's designs is Villa Savoye. Constructed in 1929-30 outside of Paris, he called this home a "machine for living." Although it looks severe, and kind of crazy, there was a reason for every design decision he made. The curve of the lower level interior space was designed around the turning radius of a car. The interior space is filled with windows and it flows almost seamlessly into the outdoor courtyard.

I just adore this lego model of the Villa!

Art History lesson over. Back to my art! To celebrate the arrival of this new print in my shoppe, I'm offering this for only $15 ($5 off regular price!) "Color to Live" will only be available at this discounted price until Monday, November 28th. So hurry on over and buy!  And while you're at it, head on over to my Papernstitch exhibition for another discount! Woo.

Ta-Ta for now! 

Find me on Papernstich!

Good morning friends!

I'm  excited to be part of the new holiday Papernstitch exhibition that opens today.

As proprietor Brittni Melhoff states, "Papernstitch is a curated, online exhibition space that was created to promote talented artists, designers, and makers selling handmade goods. The exhibition space is curated monthly and showcases the best of the best on an international level. Hence our tagline: hand-picked. handmade. Handmade expert, Brittni searches high and low every month for the best quality goods so you don’t have to."

It really is a beautiful shopping site and blog!

My Papernstitch exhibition is connected to my Etsy shoppe, so you can buy anything you see in the exhibition. During the run of the exhibition, I will be offering a sweet discount on anything in my shoppe My exhibition and discount run through December 7th.  Head on over to Papernstitch and check it out now!

Ta-Ta for now! 

 

The Wright Inspiration

It's a little known fact that there is a Frank Lloyd Wright Home in Rockford.  I myself just found out of its existence in the last year. 

Built in 1949 for Mr & Mrs. Kenneth H. Laurent, and it is the only Wright house still occupied by its original owners. This one story Usonian style home was designed to be totally handicapped accessible, as Mr Laurent is wheelchair bound. 

The Laurents have been trying to sell their home for some time now and there is a growing interest in turning this piece of history into a house museum. Doc Slafkosky and Jerry Kortman, my pals at JR Kortman Center for Design have organized a group exhibition of FLW inspired work to bring attention to this treasure in our midst. 15 killer local artists, including moi will be exhibiting work for this show.  I have created 2 pieces.

Both of my pieces feature chairs that Wright designed for the Laurent House. These chairs were part of a lot of furniture auctioned off in June of 2011.  I used my usual paper and Bic pen approach.

“The Wright Inspiration: Art, Design, and the Laurent House” exhibition opens Friday, November 25th with a reception from 5 to 10pm in the Kortman Gallery. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend this. (Boo! Gallery openings at Kortman's are always a blast!) 


The show will run through the end of the year (I'm not sure exactly when it will come down) and can be viewed any time the store is open.  Store hours are Monday to Saturday, 10am – 6pm, and Sundays (in December) 1 – 5pm.

All of the work in the show is for sale. Art makes a great gift! Hope you can come out and support local artists and a local treasure.


Ta-Ta for now!

Jennifer Mullin Johansson

For 35 years, I was Jennifer Mullin. It was me, my family, my art. Before getting married this summer, I thought long and hard about keeping my name. It wasn't that I didn't want to take Matt's name......Jennifer Johansson has a nice ring to it! But, as many marrieds know, a name change is not an easy undertaking. Not only would I have to change my name on my bank accounts, credit cards and drivers license but I would have to rebrand myself as an artist.

People knew Jennifer Mullin as a mixed media artist. My blog, email, and etsy shoppe all carried my Mullin name. I worried that changing my name could hurt my brand recognition. Who is this Jennifer Johansson?

In the end, I knew that becoming a Johansson would mean a lot to Matt, who also recently changed his name. Matt's birth name is Johnson and he was tired of this ubiquitous, almost generic name. (He was one of 3 Matthew Johnsons at his former job!) This spring he decided to change his name back to its original Swedish spelling that his great-grandfather used when he emigrated to the U.S.  So now, I'm a Swede too!

I have slowly been changing things over to my new name.

Etsy just recently enabled a shop name change feature, so you can now find me at:
http://www.jenniferjohansson.etsy.com.

This blog address has also been changed.  Be sure to update your bookmarks with the new address: http://jennifermjohansson.blogspot.com.
(Note the "m" in between Jennifer and Johansson.)

My Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/ArtistJenniferJohansson

I wasn't able to secure a twitter handle in my new name so you can still find me here:
http://twitter.com/jennifermullin

My Flickr photostream address has remained the same:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenmullin/

Did I miss anything? So many different addresses! Someday I will secure my own domain name and simplify.

OK, time to get outside and enjoy this 70 degree November day.  Crazy!

Ta-Ta for now!

New Surroundings

Vintage map from Maral Sassoun's Flickr Photostream

Greetings from Southern Illinois! Just about 2 weeks ago, I quit my job, packed up all of our belongings in Rockford (up north, right on the border between Illinois and Wisconsin) and Matt and I moved 366 miles south to Carbondale. Though we are still in Illinois, it feels like a whole another world down here!

Carbondale is a truly southern town. Things move a little slower, you hear a lot of southern drawls and country music. That renowned sense of "southern hospitality" pervades and barbeque is big. Our local news comes from Paducah, Kentucky and Cape Girardeau, Missouri and the closest big cities are St. Louis, Missouri and Memphis, Tennessee.

Unlike our hometown, the locals here are proud to call Southern Illinois home. They tell Matt and I about their lakes, hiking trails, art, university,  schools, and wineries (YIPPEE!!!) We are excited to be here and explore our new home.

So why did we move to Southern Illinois? Matt's new job with the Illinois Education Association (teacher's union) brought us down south.  I am currently playing the role of "housewife" while I set up our new house and figure out what I am going to do with my life. Though I do miss my babies (students) at school, I don't know if I will go back to teaching. I would love to make art a full time gig. Maybe this is the time and place to do it!

Once we get the condo all done up, I'll share some pics of our new space.

More soon! Ta-ta for now.

The Sketchbook Project Update

Greetings Friends! So much to tell you so little time! Be on the lookout for a stream of new blog posts.

I have been diligently working in my "Along the Line" themed sketchbook for the 2011 "Sketchbook Project. Here are the first 6 pages.

I've been using the "along the line" theme quite literally. The line started on the inside cover has flown through each drawing.  Each drawing picks up where the line ended on the previous page.  As the paper in this sketchbook is a bit on the thin side,  I've decided to do the majority of the drawing on the right side of each spread.

Anyone else doing a Sketchbook Project sketchbook? I'd love to see it!

Next up on the blog: the big move!

Ta-Ta!

The Sketchbook Project 2012

I just finished up my most recent Moleskine sketchbook. This is my last page. 

This Bic pen drawing does a good job visually illustrating my life at the moment. Busy, crazy, overwhelmed are some common words in my vocabulary as of late. (More about this in the weeks to come!) 

Now that I've finished up my Moleskine, I can get started on my The Sketchbook Project sketchbook that I received in the mail this weekend.  

The sketchbook has 32 pages that measure 5.25" x 7.25".  It's a little larger than I'm used to, as my Molskines are just 3.5" x 5.5".  I should soon have more time on my hands, so I'm sure I'll be able to adapt to the larger size.

When signing up for  The Sketchbook Project, you choose from one of 30 or so themes as a jumping off point for your sketches. I chose "Along the line".  Seemed pretty apropos for me and my very linear, often maze like doodles.

I have until Jan 31, 2012 to complete the sketchbook and mail it back to the Art House Coop. As noted on The Sketchbook Project website:

• "It's like a concert tour, but with sketchbooks. Thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the world. After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public to view."

I'm really excited to be a part of this and hope to make it to the Chicago tour stop in May.


I will be chronicling my progress in my sketchbook here on my blog and on my Flickr photostream.  Be sure to harass me if you don't see me posting!


Happy Columbus Day. Ta-Ta for now!