Jen Charleson

Vocalise
5×7” mixed media with pen and ink

Was craving a little more control over fine lines and details (and I don’t mean age related, lol) so I decided to put the brush away and see what my quill pen might accomplish. I really like it, and look forward to much dexterity practice to see what other expressions I might come up with. There are more than a couple of happy accidents here; my favorite being the accidental “reflection” caused by attempting to set it up for pressing before the gold dot was dry.

The title is a musical reference. This started as an abbreviated visual representation of the ratio of wave frequencies in a major triad.

Learn more about: 48 Days of Creative Devotion

DIY preliminary prototyping
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The Planetary Hybrid series I’ve got in development is meant to be printed on metal. But printing on aluminum is absolutely nothing like paper, so I’ve been learning a lot and testing different methods as I go. Of the many printing techniques I’ve tested, sheer printing directly on the metal with a high gloss coating presents the most challenges, but for the right artwork, it also means the biggest payoff.

Instead of this entire series being printed the same way, a combination of print methods will be fine tuned for each piece based on what the artwork needs. It better suits my “mixed media” sensibilities to have many options to distinguish the works from each other.

For the sheer gloss piece I’ve been working on, I’ve been playing around with incorporating lighting into the finished work. I spent my day attempting to devise a few clean and simple ideas that will look seamless and professional even if the buyer assembles it at home.

Those are all still tightly under wraps, so today I don’t have picture for you.

Learn more about: 48 Days of Creative Devotion

“probably my new favorite thing I ever made ever only sorry it was just an experiment so it’s really really small”
3×6” mixed media

Wood inlay effect: level achieved!

Learn more about: 48 Days of Creative Devotion

Liquid Light
8×10” mixed media with metallics

This is a revamp of a piece from last year that I felt came out too dark. It probably won’t surprise anyone to hear this is not an unusual “problem” for me. ? I liked this one too much to give up though, so I decided to let it sit in the cooker until a new idea came to mind. Today it occurred to me… metallics!

This particular silver ink responded differently to my line technique than I expected, and at first I was annoyed. But then I noticed it looks a little like ripples or waves which reminded me that I very recently told someone that one ingredient I wish I could use in my work was liquid light. So there ya go, Manifest Destiny!

Learn more about: 48 Days of Creative Devotion

tbd
5×7” pastel with ink

So I have been thinking/feeling about the way color plays a role in the energy of my works. I decided to take a ‘design’ I made the other day and put it into a completely different environment. The amber toned pastel texture with black ink is kind of my signature, so I figured- try it!