Mothership Calling Me Home
6.5" x 3.5" x 3.5" mixed-media assemblage sculpture 2019
LED requires three LR41 watch cells, included
shown light on; light off
available through Cactus Gallery
portfolio photography by Todd Powers

LED Light Detail:  Mothership Calling Me Home
6.5" x 3.5" x 3.5" mixed-media assemblage sculpture 2019
LED requires three LR41 watch cells, included
shown: light on; light off
available through Cactus Gallery

WIP and portfolio videos of this work can be found on the playlist,
"Mothership Calling Me Home" on my YouTube Channel: 
www.youtube.com/user/gessochick

At one of my first exhibits with Cactus Gallery, 2015; I remarked to a new friend that I'd never before felt so comfortable in a gallery space.  Puns on space immediately followed, and I quipped that Cactus Gallery felt, to me, like the mothership calling me home.  I was making a joke, but the sentiment was heartfelt, and when Cactus Gallery announced a show themed on the idea of "Homes" I knew it was time to pull this idea from the pile, and bring it to life.

Sculpting with Worbla occasionally results in burnt fingers, but it is so much lighter and sturdier than clay.  I have plenty of good-sized scraps to work with, left over from larger projects we work at The Raven's Nest; thermoplastic scraps never go to waste.

I positioned the tiny LED instrument in such a way that the switch can be removed, and the batteries can be replaced. 

The tiny jet-pack was left over from an old model kit, and there was only one.  We created a silicone mold, to cast replicas for more space chickens.  After a few trials, it was ultimately a success.  My chicken space-helmet ideas, not so much.  Every attempted helmet design so far has been chucked.  Most of the hours I put into new assemblage works are invested in trial and error; emphasis on error.  Still; working out helmet ideas for future sculptures. But this particular chicken would have to go without --my deadline was fast approaching and I needed to finish the work. 

Scrapping the helmet was a letdown for me, but painting is my strong area so that lifted my spirits considerably.  Painting the ChickenShip began with a layer of textured spray paint over the worbla, followed by an under-painting of metallic silver oil-based spray paint, detailed with copper.  A bit of acrylic gesso was added to the areas I wanted to finish in acrylic, so that the acrylic details would not peel up over the oil base.

When I went to add a plastic window to the ship's port hole, I discovered that I'd neglected to level the rim, and the window would not fit, flush. I'd already painted it so I could not just zap it with the heat gun, to re-shape.  Frustration.  Then I came down with a cold and found myself sick in bed; I missed my show deadline as a result, but I also continued to work the problem in my head.  Perhaps influenced by the heavy cold and flu medications, I hatched a potentially crazy idea; a ceramic plate, slow heat, and carefully timed application of pressure might re-shape the thermoplastic without warping the oil-based paint.  It was a risk but I decided to try it.

It worked.  And Todd got to joke that Raven finally learned how to do something right in the kitchen.  Ba-dum-ching.

Originally, the port-hole window was going to be a repurposed plastic spice lid; but when I turned on the light inside, it showed scratches on the lid I had not seen before, so I switched to a reclaimed plastic pocket watch crystal, affixed with 5-minute epoxy resin. 

I worked my signature into a rusty design on the back of one fin:

This work is now available through Cactus Gallery. Shop Cactus, online at cactusgalleryla.com.
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"The Love You Make," A Beatles inspired group show will run: July 22 - August 5, 2017 RECEPTION: Saturday, July 22 * 6p-9p Cactus Gallery, Los Angeles

For this exhibit, artists created works interpreting characters from Beatles songs.  I created three new tiny works, featuring my flying chickens, for 'Across the Universe,' 'Honey Pie' and 'I Get By,' my favorite Beatles song.  For pre-sale information on this work, contact Sandra Mastroianni at  sandra@cactusgalleryla.com

Across the Universe
3.5x3.5" mixed-media 2017

To Bee Where You Belong
4x4" & 4x4" diptych mixed-media 2017

I Get By (with a little help from my friends)
3.25x4.5" mixed-media 2017

'Tiny Treasures X' was my first exhibit with Cactus Gallery, in 2015.  This year's tiny works exhibit will mark my one-year anniversary with the gallery.  Yay! 

Detail, 'Fly Me Away Home'
6x 2.5" mixed media

'To the Moon, Alice!'
6x3" mixed media

'There's No Place Like Home'
5x2.5" mixed media

'Off to See the Wizard'
6x3" mixed media

'... And the Bees'
3x2" mixed media

'The Bee Keepers'
3x4" mixed media

'Backward'
3x6" mixed media

'Forward'
3x6" mixed media

'Holiday Heck' One
3x6" mixed media

'Holiday Heck' Two
3x6" mixed media

'Break these Chains'
4x3" mixed media

'To the Rescue'
3x4" mixed media

Update!  Only two of these works remain available!  Shop Cactus Gallery online at:  https://cactusgalleryla.com/collections/water-group-show/jen-raven

The Chickens are back ... and setting sail for Cactus Gallery in August!  --As part of a 'Water' themed group exhibit, in conjunction with the 10th Annual Frogtown Art Walk:

My collection of paper fortunes has given sails to a fleet of tiny fortune-cookie ships:

I've named this set of Chicken Adventures 'An Ever Fixéd Mark,' from a line in Shakespeare's Sonnet 116:

"... it is an ever-fixéd mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."

Take A Chance
8x6x 2 .5"
Shop online with Cactus Gallery
More photos of this work in my gallery

This mixed-media/assemblage project included more work with thermoplastics:  Worbla turned out to be the perfect material for these little wandering barks (their worth's, as-yet, unknown). 

You can see these tiny sailors in person at Cactus Gallery;
'Water' runs August 13 through September 1, 2016.
Or visit Cactus Gallery online at cactusgalleryla.com

Delightful Mysteries
8x6x 2 .5"
Shop online with Cactus Gallery
More photos of this work in my gallery

" ... Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds, / Or bends with the remover to remove: / O no! it is an ever-fixéd mark / That looks on tempests and is never shaken; / It is the star to every wandering bark, / Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken."

Detail of 'Eyes Open'
8x6x 2 .5"
Shop online with Cactus Gallery

Update:  'Delightful Mysteries' and 'Take a Chance' have sold! 

"Arrange for death to find you in the midst of a great love affair with life; with words and notes; with the dog down on the floor or the rose garden down the street; with the glorious revelation great art leads us to expect. Die in a state of wonder at all there is and all that you didn't manage to get to. It is so gloriously exhausting to live, and I wasted so many opportunities. I want to be in love with things when the tide rolls out." ~Tennessee Williams

So many good things in progress right now --Yay!

It's been an especially busy week at The Raven's Nest; we continue to work through photo tests of body painting and costumes for our ongoing project, The Bee Keepers.  In addition to this, I am delighted to report that I will be joining Cactus Gallery's annual tiny works exhibit, "Tiny Treasures X." Exhibit runs November 14 through December 23.

For this exhibit, I've created a new body of tiny works, titled "In Life."  I've borrowed this title from the quote, "In life, we are in death;" I am always appreciative of this reminder to live each day to the fullest.  These are functional artworks --wearable hair and clothing accessories which have bar pins and/or alligator clips on back. 

Also for this exhibit at Cactus Gallery, I've added three new tiny works to my ongoing series, "Flight."

I am a lifelong fan of the works of Roald Dahl.  My tiny work  "A Golden Phizzwizard" is a nod to Dahl's "The BFG."  If you have not read about The Big Friendly Giant, pick up a copy and read it with your kids; it's terrific fun!  

"A Golden Phizzwizard" measures 3x3" and has a sawtooth hanger on back.

Also for "Tiny Treasures X" are works "We Get By (with a little help from our friends)" and also "Guess What (chicken butt!)."

"We Get By (with a little help from our friends)" measures 4.5x3.5" and has a sawtooth hanger on back.  "Guess What (chicken butt!) measures 2.5x3" and also has a sawtooth hanger:

Included, in this busy week; Todd and I have been working with our neighbor, Terri, and with model Aileth Bran, to find homes for two scrappy little survivors we've dubbed Zack and Dragon:

Above:  Model Aileth Bran wearing a creation by Jen Raven, and posing with kittens Dragon (orange, left) and Zack (brown, right).

Their mother was a feral; the litter was abandoned; a stray dog attacked the litter:  Only two of the five kittens survived the attack --somehow they managed to escape unscathed, and Terri eventually found them, hiding in her grapevines.  Terri is fostering them and providing for their Veterinary care; Todd and I have given them Dawn dish soap flea baths, as they were too young for flea medication; and we are now working with Terri to find forever homes for these adorable little fuzzbutts.  Model Aileth Bran volunteered to pose with them, this week, in order to help us get the word out. 

Model Aileth Bran wearing creations by Jen Raven, posing with kitten, Zack.

Both of these adorable kittens are five weeks old, male, and have had their first Vet visit and first shots.  They are free of worms and fleas; their current foster, Terri, has pledged to pay for additional anti-parasite treatments AND will pay to have them neutered, when they are old enough.  If you would like to meet one of these little cuties, and perhaps give him a forever home, please contact Terri at 661. 833. 2675.  Thank you!

Below:  Aileth Bran models "In Life" pieces, created by Jen Raven.

These last few weeks have been all about the chickens. 

... And also, about paints, fabrics, wires, clock parts ... and plenty of five minute epoxy.

I've been creating a new collection of work, especially for Bunny Gunner Gallery's 'All U Can Eat' small works group exhibit, opening in Claremont CA this weekend, 4.4.14. 

The title of this collection is 'We get by with a little help from our friends,' and each work tells a different set of stories within that theme.

I don't know where I would be, if not for all the help and support I've been fortunate enough to receive, over the years; teachers and mentors, colleagues and patrons, family and friends --these fine people make all the difference.  And I am so grateful. 

My husband makes costume armor out of foam sheets, and the scraps from his work come in handy (or, help me get by! ) when small, delicate pieces like these are ready to ship:  Each one will travel securely within it's own custom-built case, inside the box. 

'All U Can Eat' is a popular exhibit, and many pieces had already flown off the wall by the time we got there ... including a few of my own works!  

Sales had been made, all over the gallery --and with good reason!  The work in this exhibit is consistently excellent, year after year.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be included in an exhibit like this, with so many skilled and talented artists. 

Another of my pieces sold, while we were at the exhibit!

Evidence of sales was present all over the gallery, in the form of lovely little red sale stickers, and holes in the neat lines of beautiful artworks, still available for sale. 

"One of the great grounds of study for all of the arts is friendship.  Arrive daily without expectation of your friends, only gratitude and understanding." ~John Gielgud

"Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction."  
~Pablo Picasso

It began with a wall. 

A creative wall, that is, and one that I was eager to break through.  I've been longing to finish up my current series, and move on to new things; but for one reason or another, I've been stuck --both on, and off, the canvas.

The take-out box has been for what you take with you, from your experiences in life.  Dine In, Take Out.  I've enjoyed playing with that idea.

The TV has been for the deliberate numbing, or drowning out, of that which you've taken, but you aren't ready to 'digest.'  But lately, the TV has come to represent more of a cycle, for me; I worked on these same three pieces all summer, and I'd paint in the figures, only to paint them out, over and over again.  I began to see the absurd in my creating, only to destroy, these three paintings ... I wasn't really getting anywhere.

The layers of gesso are really starting to pile up on these guys.

Whenever it goes thus for too long, I put aside my painting, and play with assemblage instead.  Todd knows how much I love random found objects, and that's why he surprised me with the forks, which of course I loved, and put to good use:

These tiny silver forks are begging to become wearable art.

I'm a great believer in Serendipity, and this instance is no exception.  The fork is an excellent visual representation for being 'Done!' -and I've really enjoyed playing with this whole new form of take-out; I feel that it mirrors my own situation perfectly.  The time has come, it says, to clear your plate, so that you may be excused from the table.  Release what is no longer necessary, and make room for new adventures.

Time to take this show on the road!

I've really let myself enjoy the forks, and I'm happy to say they've worked their way into my acrylics, as well.

The time has come, to push back from the table and say "No more Jell-O for me, Ma!"

I was ready to let the forks carry me to the finish line in 2012.  What I wasn't prepared for, was the way other people would respond to the forks, and embrace the idea of being Done:

It seems I'm not the only one who's had a transformational year --I'm in good company, with folks who are ready to clean their plates and ask for dessert.  They are quitting old  jobs and finding new careers; they are finishing up college degrees or taking classes for the first time; they are putting aside old heartaches and beginning new relationships. 

They are saying 'Done' to the old, and making room for the new.  Just being in their company has been energizing.  I'm now feeling ready to tackle my studio full of half-finished paintings, and get some things Done, myself. 

It ended with a wall:

We gathered for one last shot in front of the yellow wall, on the corner of 19th and Eye, to say "Stick a fork in me; I'm DONE!" What are you done with, as 2012 begins to wind down?  What new adventures are you ready to make room for, in your life?

Finished at last!  'Holding Pattern' 2012 triptych, acrylic on canvas 12x14" x3

'Stick a fork in me, I'm done!'
Special thanks to: Todd Powers, Poet Bakersfield, David Karnowski, Lavinia Marigold, Zack Forker, Devin Riane, Sarah Purdy, Robin Jonesensteinowitz, Katie Campbell, Jesse Arenas, Lisa Klassen-Barnes and Brenden Barnes, Allyce Owens, Lisa Bell, Natalie Ray, Fortino Alvarez, Lucy Cruz, Tsunami McCorvey, Jessica Franco, Christinev Bayb, Baby Lilli, Tabitha Paige Bruner, Brenda Saucedo.