Teaching Classes at Palos Verdes Art Center

I will be teaching 3 classes this coming fall season (2013) at Palos Verdes Art Center.

Sculpture: Plaster Carving

Carving is one of the oldest methods of making works of sculpture.  As a technique it can be applied to stone, wood, wax, plastic and even ice.  But a great way to learn this skill is through carving plaster.  In this class we will learn how to mix and cast plaster, and translate clay maquettes into plaster carvings using the traditional hammer and chisel method, apply texture. 
 

Student Example of plaster carving

Metalsmithing: Jewelry Basics

Introduction to working with precious metals to make jewelry.  Skills taught include soldering, hammering, sawing, and bezel setting a stone.  The class is designed to keep everything simple, demonstrating how to set up a small worktable at your home, with little investment. Supplies discussed at first class meeting.

Portfolio Preparation Studio

This class is intended for those wishing to build a portfolio for college admission that reflects not only the student's skill but their ideas.  We will start with basic art skills such as drawing and explore content and new techniques that can enhance the work.  Through discussion, we will also expand the students' knowledge of contemporary art and artists, which they can use to draw inspiration from.  There will be a new project each week.

If you are interested in taking a class, or would like more information about the PVAC please visit their website:

http://www.pvartcenter.org/education.htm


or their facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Palos-Verdes-Art-Center/110500642318527

tried to nap on a cloud but fell to the ground

I am curating a show that will be up for two weeks starting Friday July 5th 2013.  
Details below:

LGT! presents:
tried to nap on a cloud but i fell to the ground
at Groundspace Project.
Curated by Jacqueline Bell Johnson
An exhibit featuring:
Katie Grip
Stephanie Meredith
Dan Taulapapa McMullin



The show is running july 5-14 (gallery hours are fridays and Saturdays from 1-6, or by appointment.)
The reception will be held July 13th from 6-9pm with a preview of Plastic Sunshine.

You can find the place at: 1427 E. 4th Street, #4, Los Angeles, CA 90033
It the project space off of the main gallery at Groundspace Project gallery.
To find out more about Groundspace Project check out their website:
http://groundspaceproject.wordpress.com/
For more info on this show, LGT!, and upcoming shows please visit facebook.com/LGTArt

Thanks,

Jackie

Copper Bells

This is a new project I am working on.  These are raised copper breast bells.  The piece talks about beauty and objectification.  They are not presented formally yet, this is just a demonstration of how they sound.  When completed, there will be probably 4 more bells, each with its own stand and proper mallet.

Crit Sessions Vol. 2

The lovely Jennifer Frias came up with an idea now known as Crit Sessions.  Crit Sessions is a project where non-art people (as in those not fluent in art speak) are invited to critique a piece of art for an hour long session.  The purpose of this is allow the artists to receive real world feedback from outside the art world bubble.  It is "an interrogation of the institution" as Jen put it, that is, the institution of Art School specifically and the art world at large. 

The artists chosen are in or recently graduated from a Master's of Fine Art program in the LA metro area.  Volume 1 was conducted at Cal State Fullerton (CSF), and Volume 2 happened at Claremont Graduate University (CGU).  There are plans to expand to Art Center, Cal Arts, UCLA, UC Irvine, LCAD, and others.  There will be 3 artists included from each program.  The artists choose a piece ahead of time, and prepare a one page statement (specifically addressing that piece) to go with it.  During the hour of critique the artist can't say anything (which is typical of a lot of art school critiques) but they have a chance afterward to address any questions or point of discussion that came up.

Crit Sessions came to CGU on June 22, 2013, and the artists included were Dan Taulapapa McMullin, Takeshi Kanemura, and myself.  We got to watch each other's crits as well, which was also informative.  I made a new piece specifically for the crit.  A vagina dentata (my third one).  I found that a lot of what I was going for was received pretty straight on. To me that furthers my belief that a lot of aesthetics and formalism in art is based on an instinctual sensibility.  I'm totally fine with that, and consider it an accomplishment that the people conducting the critique were able to understand my work.  I took pages of notes, and plan to use those to help make some decisions for future pieces.

Though the project wasn't designed in this way, I thought it gave those critiquing a sense of empowerment, and demystified art in a lot of ways.  They as a viewer were validated as part of the process and (with encouragement) their opinions became valid.  When a lot of non-art people discuss art they usually tack on the anti-qualifier: "Well, I don't know much about art, but..."  Though most contemporary art has some reference to art history or other contemporary work, that's not the end all be all.  And I think the participants learned that in their role as critic.

What's happening update

So I graduated last month from Claremont Graduate University (CGU) with my MFA.  Now that school is over I am hurrying to make the most of my school studio before they kick us out to make room for incoming students.  Simultaneously, I am improving my garage, and building a shed in the backyard to create a studio and display space there.

Out in the world of Los Angeles, I have taken on the project LGT! which will be presenting group exhibitions of myself and other fantastic people kamikaze style (aka pop-up gallery).  Two shows are in the works, and once details are finalized, I will post it here too.
Check out LGT on Facebook too:
https://www.facebook.com/LGTArt

I have been applying to residencies, grants, and calls for shows and proposals left and right.  And the suspense is killing me.  I won't be hearing back from anything for at least a few weeks, and sometimes longer. 

I now have a website:
jacquelinebelljohnson.com

...but you can also still see goings on on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JacquelineBellJohnson

I will be involved in Curator Jennifer Frias' project Crit Sessions, along with performance artist Takeshi Kanemura, and painter Dan Taulapapa McMullin at the studios at CGU in late June.  This event through collected documentation and artwork will eventually culminate in a group show with Takeshi and Dan.

Be sure to check back for more!

Incremental curves

This piece is a new one, shown in the DC Gallery at CGU April 28th through May 4th 2013.  I made a sculpture a few months back with the same strapping, creating these incremental teardrops shapes.  While everything was piled on the floor I saw these great patterns and undulations of line.  This is the first of a few pieces that will play with the strapping as line.  I have the work leaning, which causes the strapping lines to sag out of the frame and create this space... almost like the impression of a body.

Ave Regina

This is a piece that was up at Claremont Graduate University for the week of May 5-11, 2013.  The space is referred to as The Nook, or alternatively The Niche.  The title is Ave Regina (Hail Queen).  The piece is made of wood, with steel brackets, bolts, nuts, screws, and house paint.  The long painted 2x3's are hinged by the brackets to the wooden arches making them movable, so they could adjust to the space.  (I built this in the sculpture yard for the most part, and then assembled it in the nook.)  The space is about 20 ft deep, and 12 ft wide.  I took most of the pictures at night so there is this dramatic lighting effect going on.  

I should mention this is a vagina dentata, and the second one I have made, at that.