Jennifer W. Mark

I love the concept of bird song , poetry and music all coming out like a giant bouquet of fragrant colorful flowers.

They all are gifts of nature and must be appreciated for the gift that they all are.

I feel our singer/song writers are the poets of our time. Writing stanzas that inhabit our minds for weeks. I love the simple poems of Mary Oliver and the music of Agenes Obel and Andrew Bird.

Living on the edge of the forest in Portland means I get to wake up every morning to the sounds of birds awakening. My life is so enriched by the birds that encircle my house and forest, This piece reminds me of them all and how they fill the mornings with chatter.

The addition of the sedum is something very contemporary in modern flower arranging starting around 2010. I loved the unexpected gray blue addition .

This is a cute little Green-Headed Tanager. They are found in the lower Eastern jungles of South America blending into the beautiful jungle foliage. I imagine this little bird just received a postcard from a long lost French friend. It reminds me of a summer day spent in the garden eating strawberries and just watching the bees buzz. Often times when my mind is idle and my thoughts are wandering is when weird synchronicities happen. I love those moments when I am thinking of someone or something and then a letter , message or phone call comes from that person.

There is an innate beauty to seeing art on wood grain. The beauty of working with carne ‘d ache water soluble crayons is you can create a watercolor effects on almost any surface. The garden surrounding my house are filled with flowers. The birds always hang out under my kitchen window deep into the fall.. All the nature that I need for my artistic work is right out my back door.

This piece is a reminder of my favorite “mom” saying,

“If you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all”.

It is a personal reminder of the power and beauty of words, especially kind words.

Carne ‘d ache and acrylic on wood

Jennifer Winship Mark

12”x12”

unframed panel

$580

There is an innate beauty to seeing art on wood grain. The beauty of working with carne ‘d ache water soluble crayons is you can create a watercolor effects on almost any surface. I worked on this piece over several years and finally added the much needed shading using acrylic paints. The garden surrounding my house has several different varieties of clematis and some amazingly prolific blackberry vines. The humming birds always hang out under my kitchen window deep into the fall. They always amaze me how they are a cross between a bird and a bee. All the nature that I need for my artistic work is right out my back door.

There is something so friendly and innocent about the face of a Budgie or parakeet.

I wanted to paint this character to capture the subtle yet vibrant colors of his delicate feathers.

It reminds me of the tropical jungles but also the boring suburbs of America. Growing up it was so common for many households to have a cage with several parakeets. They seemed so exotic yet there surroundings were usually so dull, dirty cages with black and white news print and a piece of rotting fruit. No madder how much the owners tried to keep things tidy the birds were just busy being birds, scattering their empty hulls from the mullet seeds all over the crack linoleum floors and tan shag carpets. It was the tiniest act of defiance they could muster.

I always like to imagine how amazing it would be to see a parakeet in its natural habitat.

what a gift it would be to see the various colors flying through the deep green shaded forest.

The birds I paint do not live in cages in my imagination, they live in nature scattering their seeds everywhere and becoming one with the process.

acrylic on wood panel

$550

18” x 24” acrylic and mixed media on wood panel.

This piece is a reminder of my favorite “mom” saying,

“If you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all”.

It is a personal reminder of the power and beauty of words, especially kind words.