Deceived Detailed Breakdown

(For the story behind the painting, see below. Thanks for visiting my blog! - JK)

My Critique on Auburn University Montgomery

Deceived, oil on canvas, approx. 24x24", NFS

In May I will be hosting my senior show at AUM showcasing my work during my undergraduate studies. As all graduating Fine Art students, I want this gallery exhibition to be poignant and to encompass the essence of my greatest lessons learned during my four years at AUM. I have therefore given it much thought.

Deceived is a visual analysis of my experience within the AUM Fine Arts Department. I was given a full tuition scholarship my freshman year which remained with me throughout my sophomore year. However, when the Dean of the Liberal Arts position changed and scholarship renewals came around, my scholarship was reduced to half tuition even though I remained one of the top art students in the department (according to professors with 20+ years of AUM tenure) and held a 3.70 GPA. Of course I was baffled and inquired of the Liberal Arts Dean as to why the suspension of half my tuition scholarship. Reluctant to give me the time of day, he said that there were more promising students.

Later, when talking with a close professor and mentor who was part of the scholarship committee that had adversely affected my award, it was revealed to me that the sculpture professor, whom I had never met, felt that I should not receive the full tuition scholarship due to foundational courses which I had not yet taken. I had never been advised to take these courses during my first two years. This sculpture professor subsequently divulged to me the following year that she thought I had arrogantly neglected basic art courses in order to take advanced painting classes and confessed to me that she had no plans on treating me fairly in her class. This latter statement proved to be harshly true.

But that's it. I appealed to deaf ears and decided that AUM had turned a cold shoulder on one of their most promising fine arts students. This painting will be front and center at my Senior Art Show! JK

Self Portrait

Untitled, graphite on black paper, 18x24" NFS

I saw an article about a young female artist who started working with graphite on dark papers especially black tones. Graphite acts inversely on black paper with the thicker layers appearing as bright highlights and the paper itself acting as the darkest hue. The neat quality to this approach is that if the lights aren't set just right it actually appears to be an empty sheet of paper. However, take a few steps in one direction and BAM - the art magically materializes! I haven't sprayed this piece with fixative yet because I am afraid of the effect it might have on the metallic highlights of the graphite. I plan on doing more drawings in this style just for fun. Tell me if you like this or not -JK

American Standards I & II

American Standards 1&2, Linocut, 6x12" ea. contact artist for price

I created this print after Simulacramorphous and they support the cultural commentary format. I have tried to illustrate two distinct faces of America. I think that everyone will find imagery in either of the prints with which they understand and embrace. I am curious to know if an individual leans toward one or the other and if it is due to the different iconography embedded within the pieces or if it is due to something more fundamental such as the composition or balance of contrasts. Each print in the edition is $100. Subscribe to my blog and get the next updates on my prints! JK

Simulacramorphous-HAPPY LEAP YEAR

Simulacramorphous, 11x22" woodcut, contact artist for price

Try placing that word on the Scrabble board! This is one of my first attempts at printmaking ever. This woodcut opened up a part of my creative mind that I haven't tapped into much. During the senior year of my undergraduate studies, I took a couple of printmaking classes just to fulfill some lingering electives - after all I was a painting major. Notwithstanding a very restricting first Professor, I was taken instantly with the medium and the process of black and white compositions. As a painter I spend most of my days dealing with color issues. Now, confronted with the void of hues I was free to express my sentiments in a very graphic nature - visually speaking as well as subject matter.

This piece is a strong cultural commentary. The title derives from the term simulacrum which has been used in journal essays to describe the works of Andy Warhol. Basically, a simulacrum is a copy of a copy - a watered down and distorted whisper of reality. I thought that this would serve my purpose in this image well.

Look forward to seeing more prints coming to this site soon. It's become a strong second love for me! Please contact me to purchase one of these prints. The editions are very limited. Best wishes - JK

The Lamb of God - DONATED

Behold, The Lamb of God, 40x40" oil on canvas

A local church contacted me over a year ago to create an original Nativity painting to be used for an annual Interfaith Nativity Exhibit. I immediately thought of this composition. I had never seen a Nativity piece with the Christchild as the only figure fully visible. I equally like the idea that the viewer is in Mary's place and therefore interacting with Christ. The entire painting flows with traditional classical imagery and has many significant details.

This painting was donated to the church following the Nativity Exhibit and continues to be displayed each year.

Bride's Maid

Ashley, 26x52" oil on canvas

This is my little sis, Ashley. I wanted her to get something special for highschool graduation. In this piece I was inspired by the trompe l'eoil genre and messed around with it. I used a BW photograph for the reference (which I do often) and found that by keeping the landscape in greyscale it actually helped push Ashley to the foreground - she almost leaps off the canvas! I let her lower body blend more into the surrounding area by leaving only light washes of pigment. It was hard to give away!

Baptist Medical Center East

Ida V. Moffett, David Satcher, and William Gorgas, all 4x4', acrylic on panel

These were all part of my volunteer service at the Baptist Medical Center East during my senior year at Auburn University. I had a close aunt pass away after spending much of her life in and out of hospitals. I decided that there should be beautiful, meaningful pieces of art adorning the walls of hospitals because many people get their last look at life while in hospitals and why should they be stuck with drab and macabre settings? They shouldn't! I hope that my art fills the walls of many more hospitals in the near future!

More Portraits

Here are additional portraits that were done as commissions for friends.

Jesse's Wedding Gift

Charlotte, 24x36" Acrylic on mounted canvas, contact artist for price

My regular artworks were postponed by the wedding of a good friend of mine. For his wedding gift I wanted his wife and him to have a wonderful bridal portrait that I hope will become a family heirloom. As is my custom, I used more than half a dozen different reference photos to create this one-and-only composition to be separate from the hundreds of wedding day photographs taken by family members and the hired photographer.