Artist's Statement



I'm not really sure just how I do what I do as I create. As I write or sculpt or paint, play an instrument or sing, I disappear, becoming whatever it is that is being creatively born. It is only in a sort of shimmering aftermath that I realize I have been absent, and like a whale emerging from the depths suddenly 'I am' once more.
I am sitting in a room. There is a window beside me, softened at its edges by curtains, and a breeze pulls through. There is a floor beneath my feet. Where have I been?

Then I look and see that the paper beneath my hands is no longer blank, or the room resonates with the music that has flown forth from the guitar I am holding. Words have crowded onto the page of my notebook like a gathering of gleeful old friends. Something I cannot fully explain, whose origins are a complete mystery, exists, where before it did not.


While I do not know how I do what I do, I deeply know why. Much of the world is in pain, and those of us in it feel, in various ways, the dissonance, as the pain reverberates through. Something is wrong with the way we regard the Earth. Something is broken as we treat each other so poorly, as we stagnate in hate, and as we are absorbed by fear. Something needs to change, as we are so bad to ourselves, as we succumb to doubt, isolation and anger.

As I disappear, I think I must be seeking a solution to some of these challenges, issues, and difficulties. What I bring back with me, in words or images or music, responds to the friction, loneliness, misunderstanding and hurt in the world. It questions the way things are, and suggests kindness, symbiosis, awareness and playfulness. It acknowledges what we may lose if we cannot change from our present course, but never fully deviates from the joy and brightness that is still possible.


- Jorie Jenkins



Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Kalile B'Urendi and the Wart Tail



Kalile B'Urendi comes from a Deep Time ancestral line in the realms of Mirico, never having been to Iridian realms. There are actually a considerable number of humans in Mirico who have never been to Man's realm, and those who have no familiarity with Iridia usually prefer to remain unaware. However, the polluted air, soil and water of Iridia have had increasing impact on the distant realms of nature. Kalile's foremost concern as an Ambassador of his people in Mirico is to protect their pristine homelands, but he also works to represent human beings in a positive light, and hosts the Earth Summit as speaker for his kin.

His cape is a living organism, based on an air plant known as pepplemoss. The cape needs the same care as a common houseplant, but benefits from the warmth and moisture of the wearer as well. It is a heavy garment, but provides both camouflage and added protection from chilly nights. Capes like this are common in tropical and temperate climates, but will die off in sub-zero temperatures.

The Wart Tail lizard is among many Earth Ambassadors to engage with Kalile as they express their local and regional concerns. The Miriconian Council has worked together to establish peace and diplomacy, but tensions have been on the rise as humans in Iridia remain wasteful, thoughtless and greedy.


This painting has been a long-time favorite for visitors to my art displays - it comes from an earlier watercolor phase of my work.
Kalile is a prominent character in the narratives as I write them in the present, and his appearance, demeanor and voice have always been quite clear to me as I 'write' him. He seems a very real person indeed as he speaks and interacts in my imagination, and I hope one day to bring him to greater fruition by giving his realism to readers and viewers in narratives and tales.


"Each of us could call ourselves a world, really - a world of thoughts, memories and experiences. We interlace ourselves into a patchwork of worlds within worlds, and yet we forget... Somehow, we deny ourselves the oneness that we once were.
Our first mistake, whether we called ourselves Iridian or Miriconian, was to think of each other as such. Man may have become afraid of Nature, and Nature may have become afraid of Man, but it is this fear that will continue to divide and destroy us until we abolish it." - Kalile B'Urendi


Original watercolor painting, 11x14
matted to 16x20

$350

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