Jenny Berry's Art Blog

Room Design with Heart

I've been spending a lot of time lately (since I've been in Florida for the season) with one of my favorite friends from back in the art fair days. Edie's got the most gorgeous home and absolutely nothing particularly matches, nothing is really coordinated by any discernible method but it all looks amazing. 

Her taste in art is probably what's most eclectic not to mention impressive. Her walls are filled with every color and style imaginable and somehow it's tranquil and soothing. 

 
(sorry, this is a terrible cell phone cam pic) 

I was sitting there tonight just looking around her living room and honestly even the curators at the met wouldn't have thought that these pieces could go together but they do. So I asked her about it. 

 
"I've never really given it much thought really" she laughed. "I just buy what I love and I figure when I get it all up it'll work." It does, brilliantly. And it's nothing incredibly complicated. She'll swear that she's got no special ability but maybe there's some kind of knack for it.

 

I don't know but I think she's on to something. If I'm going to spend a lot of time in a room I need to feel good in it and I'm more likely to find my bliss as they say in a room filled with pieces that move me in some way than I am in a room where every thing's coordinated to match current style trends and my art pieces are chosen to color coordinate with the sofa or impress visitors rather than move me in some way.

  

We talked about it for a while and came to the conclusion that there's nothing wrong with using color schemes as a basic guide to pull a room together but it really can't be the only common thread. A room could really lack soul in the end without some love thrown in there somewhere. 

Okay, and maybe some lizards.

Some New Work

 
I went to NYC a couple of months ago and spent a lot of time just checking out the street art. Other than music it's probably the biggest influence on my work. I haven't been able to paint much this year, since Mark (my husband) was killed. It'll be a year this Christmas.

I feel lately though like I'm coming through it and in the last couple of weeks I've really come out with some work that I'm happy with for the first time in nearly a year. 

These new paintings are very urban and street art inspired. I've always been fascinated with urban graffiti art and it's been a strong influence in my work.

There's something I find compelling about street art, when it's good. Some kind of vital rawness that shuns the provincial, mainstream aesthetic.

Like a dandelion forcing it's way through the concrete mentality of the art world, street art is rebellion. Arguably a necessary component to art itself. 

So now, several decades after Pollock pissed in Guggenheim's fireplace and it's just a contest every year to see which art school enfant can be more terrible. It's all gotten so boring and predictable. And it doesn't have a thing to do with art. Or it shouldn't anyway.

Sometimes I wonder if it's the only audible heartbeat of an art world choking to death on it's own poshlost is the art coming from the so-called criminals like Banksy that would rather remain anonymous and give it away for free than risk being labelled a sell-out hack. It makes you think, don't it? :)

 
:: About this Series :: The SAV-MOR Series really only has one common link which is that after I lay down the initial textures I do an image transfer of the weekly Sav-Mor circular (think of it as recycling if you want) that these people insist on leaving wedged in my door every Tuesday.

 
I guess there's probably some common corporate drone imagery in many of them and also some kind of ironic thread that they share as well.

  Okay, so sav(e) mor(e) of what, exactly? Money? Not so's you'd notice. Trees? Apparently not that either. But in their defense: They do seem to like to use the letter 'e' sparingly... so there's that.

Christmas is Gaining on me

Christmas is following me. I think it's gaining on me. I can't get away from it. It's everywhere I turn.

Today it nearly ran me off the road. It's insane. It's like the holiday season is in hot pursuit. of what? money, probably.

I feel like if I stop it's going to steam roll right over me.

I love these wreaths on car grills. If you hit a pedestrian it'll be the last thing they see. Morbid and strangely aggressive but when you think about it — the perfect metaphor for the modern holiday season.

Who's That? Secret Squirrel...

A customer just reminded me of Secret Squirrel... I'd totally forgotten about this little dude. The squirrel of many faces... I'm dyin' ova hea... this is hilarious. Thanks Kat! made my day...

Watching this makes me realize how groundbreaking the animation for this cartoon really was. If you watch one of the episodes you can really see how much influence it had on modern cartoons from Ren & Stimpy to Courage The Dog. 

Crazy Daddy-O.