Hi there , I'm writing you at, hopefully the end of another stop in flow and consistent practice. This happens a lot. I'd love to say I can consistently show up in my studio for a minimum of 30 minutes every day, but my head
hasn't been there. If you were following in the early part of the year I was sketching almost every day in my sketchbook. It stopped. New works have stopped. There are really good reasons - family needs, and my health. If you've been following me the past three years, you know I've been on a personal health roller coaster - diagnosed with mold illness, recognition of severe perimenopause symptoms (some of which I've shared), and most recently, after months of sinus pain and pressure - a discovery. My ENT put me on several rounds of antibiotics and when the pain
didn't go away, he ordered a CAT scan. That showed a mass, what would be confirmed recently in an MRI to be a meningioma. A WHAT? Essentially it's a benign tumor - they originate in the brain. Mine is actually in the bone behind my eyes, connected to the brain. Fortunately, I have a friend in Durham who had a meningioma two years ago and referred me to her neurosurgeon, and had a very positive outcome. The GOOD NEWS - it's not life threatening. The WEIRD NEWS - it's in a risky area for removal, is not currently the cause of my facial pain, and has to be forever watched. I'm headed
to a neuro-ophthalmologist for a baseline on my eye, and seeing another ENT about the pain. During
all of this investigation, I joined the faculty of the Durham Arts Council with multiple classes scheduled as well as cultural arts camp much of the summer, an upcoming workshop in NJ, and committed to showing my work in three exhibits. So, the painting and making had to stop. I literally couldn't think at times. What I do know about the creative process is that once flow stops, it's hard to go back. Fear enters, perfectionism, worry about what to make, how to make it, etc. I'm a big advocate of loose threads - I currently have a large painting ready to work back into and a
stretched piece of watercolor paper waiting for me. And, I spent some time this week organizing reference photos and have been to lots of museums and in nature recently, which feeds my creative brain. I know that next week, if family needs ease, I will get back to making, and you can keep me accountable 🧾. SEND ME A MESSAGE, hey Jennie, have you painted yet? ONTO THE WORK. Shows have opened, photos and videos have been taken, and I'm still digesting it all. Opportunities abound in Durham and NJ for art making for you, and art is ready for new homes, and hopefully this is just the precipice of flow. Creatively,
THANK YOU! A very special thank you to owner/artist, Caitlin Cary,
and partner, Skillet Gilmore, for hosting and hanging my FIRST SOLO SHOW IN NC! Many thanks to everyone who stopped by the opening - both new admirers and artist friends - including Sarah Ann Austin and Jean Gray Mohs. Check out their work - love them both
dearly! All three have been tremendously helpful in the growth of TraillWorks since moving to NC. The show runs through July so there's ample time to schedule a visit to Raleigh. Know of anyone who might be interested in seeing it? Practitioners of meditation, lovers of watercolor or oil paintings, vibrant surrealistic portrayals of chairs in landscapes? Invite them to the show! I'm likely going to be stopping in during next month's first Friday, July 7th. Who wants to join me? Send me a note.
Jennie with Sarah Ann Austin, papermaker/teaching artist
Jennie with Jean Gray Mohs, sculptor/painter "Take a Seat: Recent Works by Jennie Traill Schaeffer" runs through end of July
Collection of Note Cards available at The Pocket
A Seat in the Snow, 12.5” x 14”, Mixed Media: (framed in a white moulding), $650
"Positive Seat at the Crossroads," 14.5" x 16.25", Mixed Media, Framed in a solid wood, maple shadow box frame 20.25” x 22.5”, $800
“Hay Fever Seat”, 20” x 20", oil & tea package image transfers, cradled wood panel, unframed edges finished with wax finishing paste, $800
Gingered Crooked Creek, 5" x 7" Mixed Media, mounted on cradled panel, $300
"Upside Down Rightside Up," 12.25" x 12.25", Mixed Media, mounted to a Cradled Wood Panel & Sprayed with Archival UV Varnish $525
"Dandelion Detox Seat," 8" x 10" Mixed Media, Mounted on Cradled Wood Panel & Sprayed with Archival UV Varnish, $450
"Dropping into Horton Grove" 24" x 24" Oil on Stretched Linen, Unframed, $1200 (NEWSLETTER EXCLUSIVE: not currently on exhibit, but available at The Pocket) contact me to purchase
"BOLDY TAKING UP SPACE" OPENED!
THANK YOU! 14 artists all currently living in the southeast are included in this show thanks to Chattanooga artist, Rosie Fitzgerrel. She organized this tour de force, with Temple Glascock hosting us at ClearStory Arts. I wasn't able to attend the opening; Chattanooga is 6 hours from Durham and given what's in my life right now, I couldn't steal away. The photos from the opening are
outstanding and were documented by TN photographer, Brooke Bragger. If you know anyone in the Tennessee area, send them to the closing on Saturday, June 1st from 2 - 5pm. If you're not in the area, but would like to browse or purchase work, it's all available through ClearStory Arts online. LOCATION: ClearStory Arts
1673 South Holtzclaw Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37404 CLOSING: Saturday, June 1st, 2 - 5pm
Open by Appointment
"Discontented Seat," 5" x 7" Oil on Cradled Wood Panel, unframed and ready to hang, $300
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