BRATTLEBORO-Harmony Collective features artist Erin Jenkins during May, and the public is invited to the opening event during this year's first Gallery Walk on Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 p.m.
Jenkins's linocut prints and handmade sketchbooks in the exhibit "Meander" revolve around memories of "quiet moments that emerge from taking time for a slow aimless wander, looking with patience and curiosity, and capturing the calmness found there," write organizers in a news release.
Jenkins says she finds herself inspired by nature, especially water - oceans, lakes, ponds - and to the convergence where water and land meet the sky. She explains, "I'm energized by traveling and seeing unfamiliar landscapes - but also by seeing familiar landscapes with new eyes. Taking time to pause, notice, and create in a place makes me feel like I know it a little bit better, like we've shared an intimate moment."
She hopes this idea of exploring without a destination extends beyond this exhibit. The handmade sketchbooks on view are not meant to be stagnant objects on a shelf admired from afar, but to be "used, loved, filled with notes, scribbles, sketches."
"Let them accompany you as you meander on your own adventures; as you collect your own memories and stories." She adds, "I like the idea that something I made can be a small part of others' journeys, too."
Jenkins is a printmaker, specializing in linocut relief images and carved wood blocks. Printmaking blends her love of creativity - carving into blocks to create images - and process - editioning prints - to create the final product.
Jenkins is drawn to art that shows the artist's hand, and she leaves evidence of that in her own work. One can identify individual, carved marks throughout her linocut relief prints; a combination of gestural and deliberate hatch lines visible in the final result.
"Meander" is on view May 2 through June 4 at Harmony Collective. More information can be found at harmonyartsbrattleboro.com/events.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.