Jenny McMaster

Upcoming Course at the Ottawa School of Art

This spring I will again be offering my Intro to Encaustics Course at the Ottawa School of Art. The class will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 Tuesday evenings from May 3rd to June 2st. Please visit the school website or the end of this post for a full course description.

We had a great time in the winter semester experimenting with various techniques. See below the work of a couple of my fabulous students!

A straight up landscape by Tara Moore created by building up layers of colour...

A bundle of asparagus rendered by Sam McGarva through a meticulous digging back to depict fine details...

A collage composition by Tara featuring a wedding and child's party dress. Note the exquisite detail such as the wire coat hangers, lace, beads and sewing in metallic thread!

You too can have such fun! Just enroll!

This course will explore the lustrous and visceral medium of encaustics. Students will begin by becoming acquainted with mixing pigment and wax and adjusting transparency and opacity. Class projects will involve the layering of colours, working with brush stroke, creating texture and relief pottery tools and collage. Participants will have the opportunity to incorporate drawing, fabric, sewing and found elements into compositions. The course will conclude with an independent project in which students can employ their favourite techniques.

FYI you also get to experiment with a blow torch.

Image Map Project, November 2009

I'd like to announce the launch of my Image Map Project website. This site features a lesson plan which explores our relationship with urban spaces through photography, journalling and web design. It was inspired in part by Marlene Creates projects The Distance Between Two Points is Measured in Memories as well as her photographs which comment how road signs package the environment. My interest in how image maps allow one to organize links to information in a pictorial fashion was also a big factor. If your an educator feel free to use this lesson plan with your class, if not, have fun wandering around my neighbourhood.

The URL is: http://web.ncf.ca/fs049/titlepage.html. I'm working on getting a more catchy name for the address.

A Year of Experimentation, May 2008

Last September I began a Masters in Art Education at Concordia University. While I've certainly been a busy girl this year with papers to write and undergraduate students to grade, in my studio courses I continued to experiment with my new favourite medium; handmade paper I have also revived to my usage of encaustics . There is something particularly fascinating about the combination of the two textures. Clothing has continued to be an obsession of mine. The airing of the private and personal is expressed in "Underwear on the Line" shown above. Look for the upcoming issue of Arc Poetry magazine which will feature a new work with similar subject with a bit of twist.

An assigned theme in the past winters studio course, Culture/Nature, has also lead to new developments in subject matter; maps. This was perhaps a natural progression due to my interest in city spaces and the phenomenology of space. It has also provided an excellent opportunity to become familiar with my new home Montreal.

Another school project in a course entitled "Narrative History" lead to a very rewarding collaboration with my classmate Renee Jackson. Our task was to interview one another focusing on a chosen question related to art education. We were then to communicate this experience through a collaborative work of art. In no time Renee and I discovered a mutual interest in Surrealism. Using the game "exquisite corpse" we conversed on a series of themes which eventually lead to an installation and performance entitled "The Conversation Umbrellas." This summer I am working on a website which will showcase the arts based research projects of the whole class. Look for a link in the near future.

Back to School, September 2007

This fall I'm off to school for Concordia's Masters in Art Education Program. For me it is the best of all worlds. It is practical, it gives me an opportunity to continue my studio practice and it allows me to augment my previous work experience. I hope to teach in a museum or gallery. And a chance to explore the city of Montreal doesn't hurt either.

In other news the Centre Town Art Tour went very well. About 50 people came through our apartment. The event was covered on CBC Radio "All in a Day", Rogers Cable, CKCU and yours truly got a spot on the A-Channel morning show at 7:30 in the morning.  We also got a mention in the Centretown Buzz.
I sold another portrait of my Great Aunt Doreen entitled Spinster. She's getting to be a popular lady.
And with any luck at all the Cake Ladies will  make appearance in Montreal some time soon...