Jerry Fenter

Margaret Erickson -composition from jewelry (avatar/self portrait)

Create Your Own Avatar

Workshop by Jerry Fenter

 One Day Only

Saturday, May 19, 2012

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

The Dalles Art Center

$40

avatar  n: Incarnation (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus)

avatar n  1. In Hindu religion coming down in bodily form to earth; incarnation 2. An embodiment; bodily manifestation. (Webster’s New World Dictionary)

Together Jerry will take you on an artistic journey to find inside yourself your own avatar.  Your job will be to create a piece of art, it can be two dimensional, three dimensional or even a written piece of prose or poetry that expresses how you see yourself as a person. Ask yourself some questions.  How do I really see myself?  What can I do to express “myself” in a completed art piece? Can I express myself as the feminine energy of a spider with the ability of weaving my life into a work of art?  Maybe I am a spirit animal.  Could I be a wave hitting a shore or an abstract combination of beautiful colors? Am I a rock with beautiful texture? Am I humorous? What about my fingerprints or handprints?  Do they tell a story?  Am I serious? Am I afraid? Am I fearless?  Ways to think about and compete this piece of art are infinite.                           

An avatar by Frida? Frida Kahlo Mexican Artist 1938

BRING: Supplies to share and use. Pens, pencils, crayons, scissors, magazines, stamps, glitter, found objects, sticks, stones, pressed flowers, scents, charms, jewelry, dirt, dust, make up, candles, ink, sumi ink, brushes, paints and on and on and on. Bring stuff to share and stuff for yourself. This takes some thinking and self-examination.

As always food and drink brought to share are enjoyed!

We’ll begin by drinking our coffee (bring a cup) and brainstorming together.  We will work all day.  At 3:00 we’ll stop and take some time to share our pieces.  Jerry will photograph each one and send the photo to you.  You will title it.  Your results will be posted on her blog if you’re happy with what you did. If not…don’t worry it’s the process not the product!

Any questions, call Jerry at 509-365-5119 or Carmen at The Dalles Art Center at 541-296-4759.  I’d love a full class!  Sign up early so I have an idea what to bring.  I can’t wait!

I’m also availiable for one on one art sessions in drawing or watercolor by appointment.  Just call me.

Some moths are beautiful but NOT our Timber Valley buggers

Living in Timber Valley comes with its problems.  Towards the end of October I noticed a few tiny flying moths in my kitchen (mostly around the night light), hanging out on my lamp shades in the living room, and flying around my head in bed while trying to read.  I brushed them aside and ignored them.  As November rolled around, the moth population started to increase by huge numbers.  At night my cheap Fred Meyer lampshades were covered with them.  My “Freak Show” night light in the hallway was also all but blacked out by the tiny creepy things. The small infestation had become a major irritation and a worrisome problem for me.  I hate the flying bugs when they come in big numbers.  I’m a little obsessive about them swarming near my head.  When one actually flew up my nose as I was reading  Joan Didion’s “Blue Nights“ I lost it. Then  I accidentally sucked one down with my coffee while reading “The Emperor of All Maladies ” by Sid Mukherjee.  I had a situation on my hands.  No flying dusty insect would break my concentration!

I remember my grandma fighting the same sort of problem.  She called these horrible little flyers “moth millers” and if she found even a single one we’d have to go through all of her cupboards, look through the flour, cornstarch and even check her parakeet’s birdseed to see if the tiny caterpillars from the “miller” eggs had hatched out to eat our food.  So my first defense was to go through my entire kitchen and all of the food for anything resembling a “miller worm”.  No luck.  Sorry, grandma.

Add your own flying moths

One night I actually dreamed that the moths  were flying out of my electric plugs to do their evil business while I was asleep.

When I found them inside my car I called neighbors.  YES neighbors were having the same problem and it wasn’t coming from our cupboards.  We were being attacked.  Everyone had tried some trick to get rid of them.  We started counting how many we could smash during the evening. It was a contest. Ron got out the vacuum…The Dirt Devil with Bagless Power.  We thought it was helping but each night a fresh platoon of moths joined the battle.  Then my favorite neighbors found the answer.  Jeff, a Search and Rescue Hero, and his wife, the brave librarian from Klickitat School, found what may clear our houses of moths…forever.    Here is Sara’s sworn statement:

MOTHMAN (SWORN STATEMENT)

Living up on Walton’s Mountain (as my brother refers to Timber Valley) is like living in a totally separate climate region from the gorge.  Summers are 10 degrees cooler, which gives us relief from the usual  hot days, but we are also 10 degrees cooler in the winter, which means we often have snow and ice whereas “down below” they don’t. I’m not sure if our crazy topsy-turvy weather of late has anything to do with our “little moth problem” but we have lived here 15 years and have never had to share our home with these little shits.

They dive at our plates of food at dinner time, they swarm the lamps at night, they collect on the window outside the door and all make a run inside when I’m not sneakier than they are. It seems they come in cycles. Jeff (SARS Rookie of the Year for Klickitat County) points out that my obsessive behavior with the vacuum cleaner hose in hand makes it hard to watch TV when I fire it up every ten minutes to capture our enemies. I want to suck those buggers down.

When touched they disintegrate into powder. We’ve torn our house apart looking for hiding places. We find nothing but dust bunnies. I was having whole conversations with anybody that would listen about how to get rid of the little buggers. Finally, when Jeff was as sick of them as I was (or of listening to me complain) He searched the internet. He found NoSquito!!, my foot tall new best friend. We set him on the fireplace mantel. He emits a soft bluish glow so he doubles as a nightlight! The soft sound of the fan inside is somehow soothing and assures me that our catch will not escape. Looks like we found the solution to the moth problem, wonder if it works on crazed deer? Sara

Keeping the air clear in Timber Valley

So now we wait.  Will the NoSquito (by Stingo) solve the problem?  I hope to Hell it does.  If it doesn’t I may start flinging myself toward the bulbs. The war in Iraq may be officially ended but this one continues on the mountain.  Good night John Boy.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

the lesson of the moth By Don Marquis, in “archy and mehitabel,” 1927

(Jerry: The narrator is a poet reincarnated in a cockroach’s body. He types by jumping on the keys of a typewriter…no caps. This is a good introduction to my next post that will be written tomorrow morning with full explanation if all goes the way I plan.)

i was talking to a moth

the other evening

he was trying to break into

an electric light bulb

and fry himself on the wires

Moths are swarming at the Fenter household

why do you fellows

pull this stunt i asked him

because it is the conventional

thing for moths or why

if that had been an uncovered

candle instead of an electric

light bulb you would

now be a small unsightly cinder

have you no sense

plenty of it he answered

but at times we get tired

of using it

we get bored with the routine

and crave beauty

and excitement

fire is beautiful

and we know that if we get

too close it will kill us

but what does that matter

it is better to be happy

for a moment

and be burned up with beauty

and excitement

than to live a long time

and be bored all the while

so we wad all our life up

into one little roll

and then we shoot the roll

that is what life is for

it is better to be a part of beauty

for one instant and then cease to

exist than to exist forever

and never be a part of beauty

our attitude toward life

is come easy go easy

we are like human beings used to be before they became

too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him

out of his philosophy

he went and immolated himself

on a patent cigar lighter

i do not agree with him

myself i would rather have

half the happiness and twice

the longevity

but at the same time i wish

there was something i wanted

as badly as he wanted to fry himself

archy

(Jerry: I will continue with a rant on evil  moths tomorrow morning. My thanks to the late Don Marquis and to whoever took this beautiful picture of the swarm.)

Come and experience "Agonizing Love" at the Attic Gallery with me.

On Thursday, December 1st, I have a show opening at the Attic Gallery in downtown Portland. Earl Hamilton, Sandy Visse and I will be showing our work together.

EARL HAMILTON…Earl who is a great admirer of Marc Chagall’s paintings has a unique whimsical style all his own.  His playful images painted in acrylic with texture and collage take the viewer into a world of fantasy.

JERRY FENTER…This year Jerry set the theme for our holiday show: “Agonizing Love”.  Her tantalizing paintings are humorous with collage bits, capricious sayings and bizarre narratives.

SANDY VISSE…Sandy’s unique ceramic sculptures are playful  and fanciful artistic creations that follow the theme of “Agonizing Love”.

 Opening reception to meet the artists on FIRST THURSDAY December 1st, 6-9 PM.

Attic Gallery..206 SW First Avenue

Portland, Oregon 97204

503-228.7830

Gallery Hours 10-5:30 Monday-Saturday

This should be a fantastic opening and I’m hoping lots of people will come and see my paintings and also enjoy the work of Sandy and Earl.  Flowers for ME are always my favorite!  I’d love to see all  of you.  It’s common knowledge that we all have had some kind of agonizing experience with LOVE.  I know it!

SEE YOU THERE!   I was actually inspired both by the old Romance Comics of the 50′s and 60′s and by my high school crushes and long lost loves. Anyone from Parkrose High School class of 65 is required to come!