Having just celebrated Thanksgiving and with Christmas on the horizon, I think now is a good time to reflect on what it means to be part of a community. The weather becoming cold and bitter feels like it’s encouraging us to huddle together for warmth with our loved ones! Now I’m one of the few crazy people that actually enjoys the winter season (as long as it doesn’t last too long!) and I think this may be why. It’s not that I enjoy having the painful, cold air scraping my face or chilling my bones… it’s that in spite of the harsh weather there’s so much warmth during this time of year. Whether it’s spending time with my family, friends, or neighbors, having a community around me brings so much joy and purpose to my life. The theme of community is what inspired a lot of what I’ve been working on this past month.

What’s New?

Next Painting

I’ve started the process for my next painting! The outline is done and now I’m working on the grisaille under painting. If you remember from one of my previous emails, I talked about trying out a new painting technique using a black and white under painting and fell in love! (At some point I’m going to write another painting process article talking about this new step). Once I’ve finished the under painting I’ll start layering in the colors, here’s a sneak peak of what I have so far.

Painting series

This painting is going to be part of a newer series inspired by religious symbolism. Moving forward all of my art is going to be organized by theme into different series:

Meditation series - inspired by philosophy (where most of my paintings are now!)

Mini painting series - abstract smaller paintings 

Symbolism of the saints

Sacred symbols - inspired by religion 

Coming soon - a series inspired by mythology!

All of my artwork will still use nature as the primary imagery but hopefully this organization helps people find work that aligns with their interests and builds a community of like-minded art lovers! Each series will be ongoing and have paintings added as I complete them. Which brings me to my next update…

Artwork release schedule

In order to accommodate my changing workflow (being a new parent always keeps you on your toes!) I’m going to switch from releasing artwork as soon as it’s finished to releasing it 2x a year in batches. You’ll still get to see updates on my artwork and some of the finished pieces first! but I’m going to update all work on the website and officially release it in March and September each year. 

Uplifting ARTicles

I’m also going to start posting more on my art blog: Uplifting ARTicles (all a part of my website). This is where I talk about art collecting, my art process and inspiration, philosophy, religion, and all things art and nature! Inspired by the idea of building a local community, I recently wrote a new post about various art fairs that take place in Cincinnati. As you know I LOVE art fairs, both as a participating artist and as an art loving attendee. Hopefully this post helps with building an art community in Cincinnati and inspires other people to check out some of the events! Here’s a link to the post, be sure to share it with anyone else who loves art fairs!

Artwork Spotlight

Finally, I wanted to highlight one of my paintings that also builds on the theme of community. This is my painting Birth of an Individual. With the word “individual” in the name, you may think it was inspired by individualism, but actually I was inspired by how someone BECOMES an individual. I love coming-of-age stories (here’s a link to an article all about that) and how someone goes from a member of their community (family, social group, village, etc) and learns to stand on their own two feet. This painting wasn’t created to glorify individualism or collectivism but rather how the two work together to shape who we are.

View the original painting here

and prints here

Thanks for being a part of my community!

All the best,

Jen Dufau

contemporary artist

www.JenLDufau.com