Three Generations, Braided Memories of Kenya Silverpoint/Silverfoil/Prismacolor

My Art Blog:

I have been blogging on matters of art and life in general.  Check out reading what I am writing at:  JeannineCook.blogspot.com.
Happy reading, and let me know what you think.

My blog has been listed in various blog directories after review.  The latest to have chosen to list my blog is The Best of the Web Blog Directory, under Visual Arts.

Art on Auction: 

From February 18th to 4th March, 2011,  my small silverpoint drawing, Cedar Lace, was offered for auction by the New Hall Art Collection at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge University.  As an artist whose work is in the permanent collection, I was asked, along with all the other artists, to create a small piece of art for auction, to raise money for the Collection's maintenance.  We were all given the same small-sized piece of paper.  The results are fascinatingly diverse and very collectable.  Many of the artists in the Collection are top names in the British art world.  Bids started at a low £20/$32.50 and rose in increments of £5/$8 - a very affordable way of owning some of the big names in British art. The total amount raised was £5,550, a record.

Workshops:

I was asked to give a three-week Watercolor Workshop by the Telfair Museums in Savannah, in conjuction with their exhibition, Winged Creatures: Birds, Moths and Butterflies by John Abbot and Floyd Robbins.  The sessions were planned from 10 a.m.-1.30 p.m. on March 16th, 23rd and 30th.  The last session was to be a plein air painting experience. To sign up, call Education Studio Programs Manager, Jamie Richey, at the Telfair, at 912.790.8823.  All levels of expertise are welcome: watercolors are lots of fun and do not live up to their reputation of being "difficult". This workshop has been postponed as I had to leave on a family emergency.  Watch for new possible dates for the workshop...

In conjuction with my solo exhibition in Darien, GA, "At the Edge of the Marsh", I  held a plein air workshop on Saturday, March 26th, with a group of artists.  We used graphite pencils or pen and ink to draw in beautiful spring-clad Butler Island landscapes.  This workshop was organised through the McIntosh Art Association at 912.437.7711.

The Telfair Museums in Savannah, Ga, asked me to give another Silverpoint Workshop and Talk, in conjunction with their wonderful exhibition, Metalpoint Drawings by Dennis Martin. (We had both had drawings included in the Telfair's Luster of Silver exhibition in 2006.)  This workshop took place on Thursday, January 13th, 2011, at the Telfair Academy and Jepson Center Education Studio. Participants first viewed Dennis Martin's magical work, before getting down to drawing in silver, in absorbed silence.  Beautiful drawings came into existence and were carefully taken home.  What fun!

Recent and Forthcoming Exhibits:

Professor Jeffrey Lewis and I have been invited to be co-Curators and organisers of an exhibition of  contemporary silverpoint drawings for the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, Auburn, AL.  The show will take place in summer 2013.

I was  invited to participate in "Luminous Metal: Contemporary Drawings in Metalpoint", an exhibition held at The Clement Art Gallery, Troy, NY, from August 26th to September 29th, 2011.  I am one of ten artists selected for the exhibition, a delightful honour.  The exhibition has just opened and images from the reception (during Hurricane Irene's visit to New York!) are on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=261646793860278&set=a.261646320526992.68657.100000448773629&type=1&theater.

I have been invited to display my artwork at the forthcoming Coastal Wildscapes symposium, "Open the Garden Gate: Gardening inspired by Nature", on October 8th in Richmond Hill, Georgia.  One of my silverpoint drawings is also being auctioned as a fundraiser for Coastal Wildscapes.

My artwork will now be on display, for sale, at Xanadu Gallery website.  Xanadu is both a bricks-and-mortar gallery in Scottsdale, AZ, and also an active presence on the Web.

I am now listed on the earliest and world's largest artist registry, the Irving Sandler Artist Slide Registry, which is now called Artists Space. I also have portfolios at the Women Environmental Artist Directory, ArtistSites.org, Saatchi Online and Wooloo.

"At the Edge of the Marsh.  Jeannine Cook - Works on Paper" was on display from 1st April to 31st May, 2011, at the Spotlight Gallery at the McIntosh Art Association, 404 Northway, in Darien, Georgia. An Artist's Reception was held on Wednesday, 6th April, from 5-7 p.m.

From 1st May-30th June. 2011, Savannah Hospice's Art Gallery hosted "Point and Counterpoint: Works on Paper".  I exhibited silverpoint drawings and Daniel E. Smith, a wonderful  and very respected artist from Savannah, showed monoprints.  It was a fascinating series of contrasts in creative approaches. The Artists' Reception, at 1352 Eisenhower Dive, was held on May 12th.  Allison Hersh, of the Savannah Morning News and SavannahNow reviewed the exhibition.  Read the article, "Dynamic Duo at Hospice Gallery".

"Brainstorm",  a curated multi-media exhibition of the Georgia Chapter of Women's Caucus for Art, was displayed at the Upstairs Artspace in Tyron, NC, from February to early April.  Three of my silverpoints were included in the show.

I was invited to include ten silverpoint drawings in an exhibition, "Lasting Impressions", held at the Art and Soul Gallery, Women's Center of Jacksonville, FL, from April 7th-July 28th, 2011.

One of my silverpoint drawings was included in "Salon des Refusés" at the Pen & Brush, New York, from March 3rd-27th, 2011.  The Club decided to include artwork that they had not been able to accommodate in previous exhibitions during the last three years, alluding to the famous Salon des Refusés in Paris which started in reaction to the French Academy's rejection of the "new" Impressionist art.

Three of my silverpoint drawings were included in an on-line juried exhibition, "Transformation", on the San Diego chapter of Women's Caucus for Art.  One of the drawings, Vertebral Distractions, has been awarded second prize by the Judge, Helen Ross.   

Artist-in-Residence awards:

I have just been awarded a two-week Artist Residency at Palazzo Rinaldi, Neopoli, South Italy, in June 2012.  Neopoli, a hilltop town dating from the VIII-VIIth century B.C., is in the vast Parco Nazionale de Pollino, a wild and beautiful area in the far south.  I am thrilled to be able to spend time there exploring "Layers and Links" in art-making.

Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, Georgia, 19th-21st February, 2010.  I was so privileged to be able to return to Sapelo with Marjett Schille for a golden weekend of plein air work.  We are trying to create another large body of work to exhibit on behalf of SINERR and their marvellous work of protecting this important barrier island halfway down the coast of Georgia.

Henderson Cultural Center, New Milford, CT, June 13th-27th, 2010.  I was to work with my dear friend, artist Marjett Schille, to prepare a body of work in silverpoint entitled "Nature's Tapestry".  I was to be especially concentrating on doing drawings of the Center's flora, while Marjett would use painting and mixed media to depict the local fauna.  As in past situations, we seek to benefit the Center and area by highlighting their environmental riches. (Alas, this Residency has had to be postponed due to the economy's downturn.)

Les Amis de la Grande Vigne, Dinan, Brittany, France - October 1st-30th, 2008.  The month I spent creating art in the Dinan area was an extraordinary experience. The City of Dinan and the Association of Les Amis de la Grande Vigne oversee the museum and artist's atelier left by famed artist, Yvonne Jean-Haffen.  Selected as Artist in Residence, I was able to spend time painting and drawing in the Rance River valley and along the dramatically lovely coast, all within easy distance of Dinan itself. The Rance river is one of the most beautiful areas I have ever visited, and the stay, with my husband, Rundle, was made more magical by the truly delightful people we met in Brittany. I created a large body of work, both watercolours and silverpoint drawings, and hope to exhibit them as a group in the near future.