Aftermath

Storm Sandy unleashed her wrath here at the Jersey Shore. Her strength was underestimated and  the aftermath inconceivable. There are no words at the moment so all I can do is paint.Works in progress...

Change: On Top Of My Head

Life itself  is change. It is inevitable. We struggle to preserve and protect what is and what was. Our minds grow attached to the comfortable and familiar, the safe and the sound. I only know that for me, decades of holding on have left me in a place of fear, anxiety and discontent. I lay awake rationalizing my life and my choices, all of which have led to a lovely state of being....quiet, secure but very alone. "Get a life right?" "Quit the complaining!" "Have a grateful heart and stop the self centered babble!" I mentally scolded myself for years with these reprimands. But the gnawing desire to leave, to do more and be more, to find like minds in work and in my heart persists and paralyzes. So change is due. It is now. It is terrifying because those I love most, now know what plagues my heart and mind and they are waiting. My change will be theirs as well.

On Top of My Head is a series of paintings that I will continue to develop, inspired by my Child's Play work. Within them I explore the idea of self imposed mental clutter that creates an emotional and psychological weight .These burdens, both real and imagined, threaten to crush the spirit. I am not here to lecture or solve or reflect on how to make change. I do that with myself in every waking moment it seems. I just know that leaving means changing and changing requires unloading the heaviness. I can't run and fly with all of this extra weight. And now to decide...where the heck am I going...I believe post grad school, will take me to where my art and the art of others surrounds me daily, where my heart is understood.This requires   painting and more painting to get me where I want to be! (Oh and welding, I need to know how to weld !) x

On Top of My Head....some new images in process:

All images are copyrighted by Jude Harzer Fine Art and CRO Designs 2012

Progress: Child's Play On Top Of My Head

In recent months, I have developed these symbolic visual narratives in greater depth . They are a culmination of concepts and images from previous works, all aimed toward the exploring the importance of "child's play" as a venue for learning, communication, collaboration and self exploration. It is a time when secrets are revealed, roles are defined and emotions are expressed. In 2012, I will compose text that more explicitly defines the story of these works.
Here is a glimpse of this evening's effort! Enjoy!

 

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create -- so that
without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”
― Pearl S. Buck

Wonder

“Wonder is not a Pollyanna stance, not a denial of reality; wonder is an acknowledgment of the power of the mind to transform.”~  Christina Baldwin

 

For every child: I wonder if you will ever know how loved you are and how you have graced my life...109814

"Wonder...Know this child will be gifted...With love, with patience and with faith...She'll make her way ...".

http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Wonder/20LU7t?src=5

Upcoming Exhibits

Art Connections 7
January 18-February 19, 2011
Montclair State University
George Segal Gallery
1 Normal Ave.
Montclair, NJ 07043

Juried exhibit
Accepted for display and sale:
"In A Boy's Dream"
24" x 24" oil on wood

montclair.edu/Arts/galleries/
Inspired by an image of my beautiful nephew, Brady Estelle.
For commissioned custom children's portraits , please contact me through my website or on Facebook.

Believe In Your Dreams

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”Shel Silverstein

Imagine if from the time we were little, we were encouraged to fearlessly and passionately follow our dreams! I think that pure magic and love would happen! Dream huge!

Balloon Series: She Flies Alone

I am a little obsessed with the notion of "flying." It is an amazing concept and symbolic of varying states of mind and being. What child doesn't imagine being able to fly at will, effortlessly soaring high in the sky?To "fly" simultaneously implied freedom, breaking away and escaping.I developed an uncanny ability as a kid, in a very noisy and often violent environment, to emotionally remove myself from the existing situation by flying. Well not actually flying of course, but I could disconnect emotionally and physically it seemed, at will. It was through my art and through music that I found my greatest solace. The problem is, that it took me a long while to realize that as I was fleeting and fleeing, protecting and avoiding, I was also escaping the "good stuff"...the love, the care, the beauty and the joy.

It is still through my art that I experience the feeling of flight but it is no longer solely as a means of escape:) It is a much more positive and meditative exercise.To fly, is to succeed, explore and dare to live. For me it has become synonymous with awakening to my true self. When we discover and foster our life's purpose, our abilities and passions,we are destined to "fly." I paint. It is my purpose to create. Often it is because of our own fears that we stay grounded and still. I can't seem to stay very still these days:)

The balloon series was inspired by an email  that I received while staying in NYC this summer. The story is lengthy but truly symbolic and inspiring. I'll save it for another time and share it as these paintings progress. I love the idea that balloons float, hover, and soar. They possess a simple but fleeting beauty. If you liken them to people, and this is key to my work, you have to hold on tightly and protect them, in order to enjoy these ethereal, fragile and momentary treasures. I deemed one of my friends, my big fat green balloon who I try to handle not too tightly but with great care:) There's more to come. Wildflowers, balloons and shhhhh! slides and swings! Awesome!

She Flies Alone

Jude Harzer Fine Art 2010

Jude Harzer Fine Art 2010

Jude Harzer Fine Art 2010

And just because I love this song and listened to it as I painted these images:

Matchbox 20: You're So Real

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/You+re+So+Real/zQcsm

Keep it real:)

Precious Patterns

Painted on unstretched canvas, this image explores several of my most valued sources of inspiration: children's portraiture, pattern and color. Master illustrator, fine artist,photographer and film maker,George Pratt, generously allowed me to use an image of his beautiful daughter as a resource for this painting. I am interested in textile design and the integration of other materials and processes with traditional oil painting. The preciousness of painting with oils,is reduced by the free flowing canvas and the use of embroidery floss and waxed linen to join and embellish this work.I wanted to create something more intimate and accessible.
One objective was to abstract pattern so that it appears visually authentic although no attention was given to the "rational" use of light and dark, shadows, contours or space. The lower patterns are disconnected from the upper portrait, aside for the use of a common palette. I like that these two compositions can be viewed as independent and solid works. They are aesthetically strong when separate, but more pleasing and complimentary presented together:)
I am anxious to finish the stitching after the paint is varnished. Another image of little Miss Mary is in the works!

Less Like Scars

Years ago,my beautiful friend Jessica took me to a Sara Groves concert in Baltimore. Her voice and talent were inspiring. She is an artist who has the gift of manifesting others feelings and thoughts through her song writing and voice.
When I painted this summer, I created a large version of my "Fly" paintings which incorporate a child blowing a breath of inspiration and a painted "quilt"motif. A typical comment was that my paintings have a haunting quality but in one of my critiques someone observed that the stitching around the "fabric" panels, looked more like scars.That was somehow perfect as much of my work alludes to my past and to childhood memories and experiences.Listening to Sara's music this morning made me think of my own work.
I haven't painted much since this summer and I have not returned to my "Fly" series.
I think over time, the past,the errors, the misjudgements,the regrets, the hurt, the pain,the neglect,the sorrow.....seem "less like scars and more like character." I think it's called healing:)I love you Jessica:)