Jennifer Winship Mark

Friday, February 22, 2019

What is going on with "The Blog"?

So if you have noticed it had been 3 years since before this last post! What is going on? I noticed I had stopped going to all my favorite blogs and even my own these last three years. All my energy has been focused on projects and more interestingly on my 3 instagram(here and here) accounts and my pinterest board and my 2 web sites and here. Please note I do not spend much time on facebook! They all seem to do a better job of reaching more people than this blog ever could. I must admit I miss the intimacy of this format and the ability to have a more authentic voice. I love the visuals on instagram and pinterest but miss the human connection.
One of the greatest aspects of a blog page is the ability to see what someone has been up to most recently. However, I am noticing a trend at many of my favorite artist and creative sites that their blogs also seem to have been abandoned . It is almost like the "blog" has gone the way of the once so precious CD mix of my favorite music. So this post is an experiment to see if anyone is out there?
Hello....Hello....Hello?

Also an experiment to see if the bots are even paying attention any more. I will let you know how it goes soon.

"Mable always loved reading in her swimming pool"Collage and mix media by Jennifer w Mark 16" x 16"

These two are different, can you find the 10 changes I made in the final piece above?

"Mable always loved reading in her swimming pool" first draft

Guess what inspired me last May? Aliens!

Aliens! I had always wanted to create a giant Paper Mache head for years so we at Open Eye Art thought it would be fun to make two extra large, friendly looking, female alien heads. We were determined to march in the UFO Festival Parade in the awesome and quaint, town of McMinnville Oregon. We first learned about the UFO Parade through our friends at the Atticus Hotel. In fact after the parade we did a photo shoot at the hotel that was hysterical. As you can see in the photos. Knowing we had to join this quirky, small town festival, I quickly got busy experimenting with every paper mache recipes I could find. The most helpful and incredible web site I found for this project was actually this "artsy craftsy" website named the Ultimate Paper Mache that was created by Jonni Good. The Ultimate Paper Mache Joint Compound and Glue paste, and her special Paper Clay were all magical recipes for this project.

Ether and Lucent at the Atticus

Paper Mache heads made by Jennifer Mark and Juliet Moran of Open Eye Art

We are planning on walking in the UFO Festival parade again this year as Ether and Lucent, May 18th at 3:30 .

Little did we know last year that this festival draws UFO believers, and experts from across the country. Experts such as George Knapp, had a fascinating talk about the Skinwalker Ranch and Jeremy Corbell's Documentary snippets were equally eye opening. I still have not had the chance to watch his movie, Hunt for Skinwalker Ranch in its entirety. This year's festival line up looks equally as interesting. The great thing about this gathering is it does not take itself too seriously and it is still pretty intimate and intelligent with a lot of humor sprinkled in everywhere.
If this kind of quirkyness fascinates you, then it is a must do. This festival is a total trip.

If you don't get a chance to head town to the UFO Festival you can still see us dancing down the streets in footage shown at every McMinniman's Theater around Oregon and Washington.

Open Eye Art

Open Eye Art Giant Paper Mache Head

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Life in Portland Oregon

United Methodist Convention installation

30" x 30" Stories for the prayer wall

graphic design by Michelle Mark

Click on link to see the amazing vortex we created

Open Eye Art Wind Dance

Ruby Receptionist's New Digs

at the Fox Tower

in Portland Oregon

Legendary Wow Stories write on boards

Display wall for the Ruby swag


Custom black and white drawing by Jennifer W Mark and Juliet Moran- ready for coloring by the Ruby employees

Thursday, July 16, 2015

What inspires me today.....
Tonight I am speaking at the local Hub Dot Event at our beautiful Johnathan Adler store in the Pearl.
Tonight I am going to give a very brief insight into my life and my artistic challenges of working wonky hours while raising my 4 kids. Writing this little talk got me thinking about a series of paintings I did when I was in raising I was crazy busy but unwilling to stop painting.
I called it my PBJ series because I painted them on on my kitchen counters between breakfast, lunch and dinner. I swear even a few of them ended up with sticky jam on their backsides!