Gallery
On the Edge
This painting was created while preparing for an exhibit with the Central MN Arts Guild. As artists, we worked in all different media and styles so we decided on a concept for the exhibit and prepared artwork for it. The title of the exhibit was "On the Edge". To me, the yellow shape feels like a cliff that just disappears while it also feel like a tornado underneath. That uncertainty is exactly what "on the edge" feels like to me.
Urban Rhythm
This beautifully dynamic painting was created during an Art Crawl in St. Cloud, MN. The public was able to watch as Jo Svaren was painting. The activity and excitement of the public became the inspiration. The textured ribbon of color was created by scrapping color from the palatte onto the canvas and dragging it up to feel like buildings in a metropilis. The many colors layers represent the many different layers of people needed to create the sounds and colors of a city.
Growth
Growth was insprired by a sketchbook drawing of natural grainging in a rock Jo Svaren found while traveling in Europe. The green growth is the pattern that was in the sketchbook. This painting is rich with movement and texture. It was a period of personal and artistic growth for Jo and you can feel that reflected in the painting.
Falling Into
When I created this piece, I was acquainting myself with crocheting. My mother taught me how to do a basic crochet stitch as a child around the age of 10. I had only used to to make things like “cats in a cradle” games. I decided I want to crochet with wire and weave it into the painting. I had a few cuts in my attempt to find the kind of wire that would work the way I wanted it to. It was a fun and challenging experience.
The Art of Falling
Life is short and should be lived to the fullest. After losing a close cousin that was so full of life, Jo knew she needed to do something different. She decided to go skydiving for the first time. After a day of trainging for a static line jump, she went up in a small plane and prepared to jump. The view of the land below was divided in chunks in a variety of greens. The wire added signifies important markers in space to help direct the landing. It was an exhilerating moment to jump out of the plane followed by peace once the parachute opened. The Art of Falling captures the moments of that peace floating about the earth.
It's So Hip
This particular painting was inspired by an exhibit titled "Bones". Jo Svaren spent time studying human anatomy and found the hip bone so interesting as it is different from all other joints. Each interpretation of a "bone" is connected to the next but hip joint is highlighted. It was created with both acrylic and watercolor.
Raising Emmitt
Raising Emmitt is all about my oldest son. He loves drawing. While he was preschool aged, he would spend time with me, drawing. He made a drawing on paper that had different colored boxes, much like this image. I loved the way he made the connection between something ridged like a box but was able to let it fall outside of any specific grid. It really feels like him as he is very controlled but also likes to play.
Rebellion
I had the wonderful opportunity to do an artist residency in Balleyvaughen, Ireland. While there I saw the artists around me painting the stunning landscape. I did so as well for a bit but felt it wasn’t me. I decided I would do something different and divided my canvas into 4 unequal sections. I intended to highlight the sky, interesting rock formations, seaweed and the grass. As I was painting it, I got more and more angry because I felt like I was denying who I was as an artist. In my anger, I cleaned my palette on the left side. It was cathartic and reminded me who I am. I drew rock on top of the canvas. I often come back to rocks in my drawings and since this felt like coming back to who I am, I had to include them.
Light Cannot be Contained
This paitning is the visualization of a caged in feeling that I was experiencing. The happiness of the yellow, teal, pink and purple felt so joyous. The black ribbons that threaten to choke out the bright are prominent but they cannot conceal the joy behind it. The black was symbolic of the outside pressures that I was feeling at that time. Even with the outside presures, the light still shines through.
Uncertain
The world felt uncertain around me. It felt like all the things around me were unsteady, the health of people I cared about, fiends going through tough times, politics impacting daily life, etc. Creating is the thing that grounds me. For this piece, I wanted to have a balance of smooth gradation juxtaposed to a darker textured space. It made me feel like with any uncertainty we face, we can look for the calm and find the balance and it can be beautiful.
Busy Boy
I really enjoy the artwork of my children before they entered school. The drawings are always free of judgement and comparison, really just pure. My youngest son made a drawing with similar shapes. He is active and interested in everything soI made sure to use vibrant colors to fill the shapes and scraped paint across to feel like movement and chaos while still seeing the colorful joy behind it all.
Tempo of Light
I had an opportunity to be part of a group working to build a children’s museum in central MN. As part of the design, there were plans to create and art alley that would be a place for children to make art amid a play town. I had many sketches exploring ideas. This painting is a spin off of one of those ideas. To me it feels like musical rhythm alone with light from stained glass windows.
