Greetings, Lettie Jane here this week.
I’m writing you on an overcast Sunday from my home after a beautiful Saturday in the studio teaching. I feel grateful and fueled by our studio. I feel inspired each week by the artists who show up at the studio to experiment and make art.
In this newsletter I want to reflect on the specific influences my studio mates and fellow teachers—Jolyn and Cole—have on my artwork.
I recently had a student look at the paintings I’ve been making in my studio. They told me they could see Jolyn’s impact on my work. I was surprised. Yes, of course, I can see it now, but I didn’t go into these paintings trying to paint like Jolyn.
You may remember the newsletter I wrote last September about Jolyn’s show: Charms For Your Whole And Broken Heart. I was bowled over by the work, and I can see now the impression it’s making on these pieces. I’m using pink! The brush strokes are rhythmic and straight. Jolyn’s penchant for visceral, emotive abstraction mixed with soothing still life is there.
My creative process isn’t stagnant, it’s cyclical. There are times when I feel like a sponge, not making anything I like, but taking influence in nonetheless. This part of the process can feel frustrating because I have some expectation that I should be creating finished work all the time. I will draw or paint during these periods, but feel ambivalent about my work, it’s in chrysalis, I just have to keep going until the flow state returns.
Being in the chrysalis or sponge state allows influence to subtly alter my work, it lets in inspiration and composts old ideas into new ideas.
When I am ready to be in flow again—when the feeling of excitement to get going returns—I can feel like a clam. I don’t want to be interrupted, I just need the time to create. I am making pearls (my artwork) inside a tightly closed clamshell.
Cole’s work has been influencing me in ways that feel more intentional. Over the past year of knowing Cole, I have watched his dexterity with dry brushwork with envy. I have shied away from dry brush marks in watercolor, tending towards mixing wet on wet. Cole’s brushwork has had me challenging myself to practice the dry mark and love the way it can offer texture and dimension to a piece.
Cole, Jolyn, and I run Ulna Studio with the intention of holding expression and looseness over exacting detail. As teachers, we each recognize the value of making art in our daily lives. I find being neighbors and collaborators with Jolyn and Cole creates a web of connections between our art-making, teaching styles, and the work our students make. I can see the way this process is cracking my work open, it’s looser and more organic. I’m excited to spend some time this month in a clam state: finishing the paintings I started last month and letting the influence of this space move my work in this new direction.
We all see you our Ulna community influencing each other and our art, too!
Thank you all for making this studio what it is. I appreciate you.
Warmly, Lettie Jane
OPEN STUDIO
Open studio is happening twice a week. Sign up and read more here Ulna Open Studio Info!
Students currently enrolled in a class may attend Open Studio for free.
Mondays 1 pm-4:30 pm & Wednesdays from 5 pm – 8:30 pm
Email Drew with questions: drewdinesart@gmail.com
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2024 CLASSES:
*new offering*
Dried Flower Wreath Workshop with Solstice Flower Works
Instructor: Alex Hale
Dates: March 30th
Times: Saturday, 1:00pm – 3:30pmIntro to Painting (Thurs PM) Feb/Mar/April
*starts this Thursday - 1 spot left!
Instructor: Cole Lyons
Dates: February 29th- April 4th
Times: Thursdays, 5:30pm – 8:30pmIntro to Landscape Painting (Tuesday PM) Feb/Mar/April
*starts Tuesday - 3 spots left!
Instructor: Cole Lyons
Dates: February 27th- April 2nd
Times: Tuesdays, 5:30pm – 8:30pmAbstract Play (Saturday Afternoons) March
Instructor: Lettie Jane Rennekamp
Dates: March 16th & 23rd
Time: 1:30-4:30Friday Night Figure Drawing (Mar 29)
Instructor: Sarah Levy
Date: Friday, March 29th
Time: 5:30-8:30
APRIL / MAY 2024 CLASSES
Intuitive Drawing (Saturday AM) April/May
Instructor: Lettie Jane Rennekamp
Dates: Saturdays, April 13 – May 18
Time: 10:00am – 1:00pmDeeper Drawing (Saturday Afternoon) April/May
Instructor: Lettie Jane Rennekamp
Dates: Saturdays, April 6th – May 18th
Time: 1:30pm-4:30pmIntro to Painting (Sunday Afternoons) April/May
Instructor: Jolyn Fry
Dates: April 7th- May 12th
Times: Sundays, 1:30pm – 3:30pmIntro to Painting (Sunday AM) April/May
Instructor: Jolyn Fry
Dates: April 7th- May 12th
Times: Sundays, 10:30am – 12:30pm
ULNA COMMUNITY EVENTS
We are so excited to have a group show celebrating that last Deeper Drawing class. Mark your calendars and we hope to see you there!
If you have an upcoming art show, let us know!
Monochromatic….visual poems from Intro to Painting
“I love creation more than life, and I must express myself before disappearing.”
~Sonia Delaunay, multi-disciplinary abstract artist
Cole, Lettie Jane, and Jolyn here to say THANK YOU for being part of our community.