Jenny Pope's Carved out Place

Printing an ancient reef

2012-02-22T10:37:00.002-05:00

Roll em' up

steady....

Hovering takes much concentration

I think it is lined up

grrr...roll!

I get to work in my slippers :)

Lift off

And, the tan color is printed and in the right spot. Yahoo!

A colorful reef in progress

2012-02-13T11:31:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist posting this photo of the Devonian Reef woodcut in progress. Much movement thanks to the shooting ammonites in the background with a smattering of colorful ancient corals.

Carving an ancient sea

2012-02-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

A new ancient reef woodcut is coming together! Sometimes the blocks look so pretty as I carve...

I live in Ithaca, NY and was told that the Devonian period was almost called "The Ithacan" instead but Devon, England had more clout at the time and jumped on the naming boat first!

Seahorse Latitudes Finished!

2012-02-06T15:34:00.000-05:00

Done with my Seahorse Latitudes woodcut! These Longsnout Seahorses make the Sargasso their home. The Sargasso is a large sea that is bound by 3 strong ocean currents. Unfortunately, the movement of the currents make all of our plastics pile up creating the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre which is basically a landfill at sea. I wonder if plastic mining will be in our future?

The wonderful critters of the Sargasso depend on us. As more of the ocean is littered with trash, oceanographers wonder when the entire ecosystem will start collapsing, or has it already occurred? How much plastic an a pelican eat before it starves, it's stomach full but unable to digest anything? How much petroleum can pass through the gills of a seahorse before it is poisoned? Do we really need that item in a blister pack from the store? What about the people making the plastics that are thrown immediately away when we bring an item home? What is their fate?

I am reading Moby Duck right now by Donovan Hohn which is about his path of following a container ship that spilled into the ocean that was filled with plastic bath toys, he actually visits a trash gyre (there are multiple places in the ocean where currents converge creating multiple gyre's in the sea), goes to a remote beach in Alaska and sees the debris washed up on shore and visits a factory where plastic "things" for American consumers are made. It is quite a good read, and does make me question the fate of plastic, and of all the animals that make the Sargasso their home or any other watery wilderness. I hope that we don't ever see our ocean kissed goodbye, for then, any land dwelling animals surely could not survive. That is unless we colonize the moon.

Devonian Reef

2012-01-25T10:40:00.000-05:00

I am working on a commission about the amazing, ancient Devonian Reef. Here are two thumbnails which include Ammonites, Nautilus, Trilobites, Sponges, Cnidarians, Hydrozoas, Echinoderms and more....I was sent an amazing book on Invertebrate Palaeontology and have been enjoying the research about some phylum's that are extinct and others still surviving the in modern day seas.

Seahorses in Progress

2012-01-22T10:13:00.000-05:00

Carve Carve Carve! I am busily carving up this woodcut for a collaboration between Pyramid Atlantic and The Sargasso Sea Alliance. Pyramid Atlantic invited 16 artists to make a piece of art about animals in the Sargasso Sea and they are going to make 28" x 8' scrolls that will feature the special marine life that call the Sargasso home. So far the scrolls are slated to be shown at the Washington Printmakers Gallery and Bermuda.

Pinniped Predicament

2012-01-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

And, it's finished! Newest woodcut about crusty ice and walruses. Walrus use ice as a resting site when out to sea searching for prey and as a safe haven to raise pups, far away from the threat of polar bears and people. If the ice disappears, their safety is in danger. All animals that depend on sea ice find themselves in a bit of a "predicament."

Orange Slices

2012-01-14T13:28:00.000-05:00

A splash of color to brighten up a grey day in New York City.

A Pinniped Preview

2012-01-11T11:51:00.000-05:00

Just about the print the last color on this walrus clump. The guy in the foreground looks like he is ailing from ocean acidification...or the flu.

The Florida Swamp

2011-12-30T07:26:00.000-05:00

My sweetie's mom lives in South Florida, so, we often end up visiting around the holidays. Besides all the subdivisions and traffic which make me mad, there are some really interesting wild places. Here are some photos of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. At some point, you may see a Florida series about all the invasive pets that now are taking over the wild. Including lionfish, which people think either came from an aquarium during a hurricane or people just dumping their beloved aquarium fish into the wide blue sea.

Happy Holidays Lionfish!

2011-12-13T15:51:00.000-05:00

I tell myself every year that I am going to make holiday cards, and then I end up being too busy! I feel like I cannot buy a card, being an artist and able to make something so I end up not giving cards at all! But, I can make a digital lionfish happy holiday, kickstarter e-card :) with warm wishes enclosed, er...ah, or warm wishes from my screen to yours.

How to make a Narwhal

2011-12-06T19:38:00.001-05:00

just two more colors to go!

criss cross, I was toying with the name swizzle stick for this piece because that is another name for Narwhal tusks.

ink reflecting


block pre-light purple

In Tents Installed

2011-11-29T13:24:00.001-05:00

Poodle in the Print Shop!

A view of the back room

Johanna Mueller's fantastic wood engravings, they look particularly lovely next to an etching press.

Chris Plummer's fine woodcuts, just $85 each, framed

The front room of The Ink Shop

In Tents, prints from the Art Fair Circuit will have a 2nd reception for First Friday Ithaca on December 2nd! Come check out some really great affordable art for the holidays. http://ink-shop.org/ Sorry, my poodle will probably be at home since we are hoping for TONS of visitors.

Not a Turkey

2011-11-23T10:27:00.001-05:00

OK, so this may not be the best thanksgiving recipe, but, I could not resist posting these when everybody is thinking of food. Warm wishes!

A flock of black birds

2011-11-18T09:17:00.001-05:00

Soon I will have a flock of black birds for my book! More swooping, whistling, squawking starlings coming your way. Two more for now...Tree Bird (Click to see on my website)

Starlings Shipped (click to see on my website)

Starlings in progress

2011-11-09T16:14:00.000-05:00

Preview of "Starlings Shipped," only one more color to go! And a quick peek of "Tree Bird" shown in the 2nd photo.

Booth Shots from "In Tents" artists

2011-11-02T09:41:00.000-04:00

Wowsers! The "In Tents" artists have collectively shown their work in 173 US cities. Marina Terauds wins the cake having traveled to 60 cities with her van, art, walls, and stamina. Come to The Ink Shop this Friday November 4th for the opening of this exhibit.

Chris Plummer's list of cities where his work was shown "In Tents"

Cincinnati, OH
Columbus, OH
Cleveland, OH
Bowling Green, OH
Lexington, KY
Louisville, KY
Atlanta, GA
Reston, VA
Virginia Beach, VA
State College, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Indianapolis, IN
Bloomington, IN
Milwaukee, WI
Madison, WI
Ann Arbor, MI
Chicago, IL
St. Louis, MO
Kansas City, MO

Heinrich Toh's list of cities

Seattle, WA.

Portland, OR.

Sausalito, CA.

La Quinta, CA.

Scottsdale, AZ.

Sun Valley, ID.

Park City, UT.

Denver, CO.
Kansas City, MO.

St. Louis, MO.

Des Moines, IA.

Chicago, IL.

Milwaukee, WI,

Ann Arbor, MI.

Austin, TX.

San Antonio,TX

Houston ,TX.

Chattanooga, TN.

Birmingham, AL.

Reston, VA.

Winter Park, FL.

Daryl Storrs list of cities

Chicago, IL

Ann Arbor, MI

Rhinebeck, NY

Tarrytown, NY

Saratoga, NY

Syracuse, NY

Armonk, NY

Glastonbury, CT

Greenwich, CT

Guilford, CT

Wickford, RI

Cohasset, MA

Chatham, MA

Northampton, MA

Amherst, MA

Rutland, VT

Manchester, VT

Stowe, VT

Lyndonville, VT

Middlebury, VT

Shelburne, VT

Burlington, VT

Woodstock, VT

Lancaster, PA

Pittsburgh, PA

Wilmington, DE

Shaker Heights, OH

Johanna Mueller's list of cities

Nashville,TN
WebsterGroves, MO
Dallas, TX
Duluth,GA
Boulder,CO
Golden,CO
Evergreen,CO
SanAntonio, TX
Rockport,TX
Wayzata,MN
Wyoming,OH


Ann Eldridge List of cities Newbury NH Wolfeboro NH ManchesterNH NorthamptonMA Worcester MA MarlboroughMA GreatBarrington MA Chatham MA Wellfleet MA Lowell MA Guilford CT GlastonburyCT Greenwich CT New BritainCT Armonk NY Manhattan NY ChautauquaNY LyndehurstNY Wells ME Shelburne VT Stratton VT Wickford RI StateCollege PA PhiladelphiaPA

Marina Terauds list of cities Ann Arbor, MI
St Joseph, MI
Marquette, MI
Pontiac, MI
Lansing, MI
Novae, MI
Port Sanilac, MI
Lexington,MI
Birmingham, MI
Rochester, MI
Southfield, MI
Bellevue,WA
Salem, WA
Bend, OR
Sausalito, CA
Park City, UT
SunValley, ID
Jackson Hole, WY
Crested Butte, CO
Scottsdale,AZ
San Antonio, TX
Fort Worth, TX
Dallas, TX
SouthLake, TX
Houston, TX
Kansas City, MO
Des Moines, IA
Minneapolis, MN
Madison, WI
Milwaukee, WI
Oconomowoc,WI
Chicago, IL
Peoria, IL
Springfield, IL
St Louis,MO
New Orleans, LA
Covington, LA
Jackson, MS
Memphis,TN
Chattanooga, TN
Louisville, KY
South Band, IN
Indianapolis, IN
Bowling Green, OH
Cleveland, OH
Columbus,OH
Cincinnati, OH
Birmingham, Al
Pensacola, FL
Tampa, FL
Orlando, FL
Fort Myers, FL
Bonita Springs, FL
Naples,FL
Miami, FL
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Jupiter, FL
Boca Raton,FL
Vero Beach, FL
Winter Park, FL
Charleston, SC
Bethesda,MD
Philadelphia, PA
Lancaster, PA
New York, NY
Armonk,NY
Greenwich, CT
Westport, CT

Jenny Pope's list of cities
Northampton,MA
Marlborough, MA
State College, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Mt.Gretna, PA
York, PA
Baltimore, MD
Washington, DC
Reston,VA
Chicago, IL
South Bend, IN
Toledo, OH
Savannah,GA
Naples, FL
Montclair,NJ
Morristown, NJ
Armonk, NY
Ithaca, NY
Buffalo,NY
Rochester, NY
Windsor, NY
Canandaigua, NY

Bats from the Past

2011-10-31T21:49:00.000-04:00

A little red bat etching

Peddling Affection from a Sweet Bouquet

In lieu of All Hallows'

Curated show "In Tents: Prints from the Art Fair Circuit"

2011-10-20T23:13:00.000-04:00

I am curating a show at The Ink Shop Printmaking Center in Ithaca, NY that will include 6 great printmakers. They are all full time artists, traveling thousands of miles a year to get their work out to the public. They are tenacious and business wise trying to make a life and a living by taking their work on the road. The artists are Heinrich Toh Kansas City, MO Daryl Storrs Huntington VT Christopher Plummer Alexandria, KY Ann Eldridge Bradford, New Hampshire Johanna Mueller Denver, CO Marina Terauds Leeper, MI. If you find yourself in upstate NY, the show opens Friday November 4th and will be up until December 23rd.

Being“on the circuit” selling art full time is an interesting life.All of us have loads of gear; tents, portable walls and pedestals,directors chairs, and a large van to pack it all in. Dodge Sprinters,Ford Cargo Vans and a whole medley of Minivans drive in and out ofcities full of artists and their gear. We set up in streets, fields,courtyards, and shopping plazas. The show usually goes on regardlessof hail, hurricanes, downpours, and sweltering heat.

Thisyear I heard a number of stories from the midwest of tents blowingaway. During the heat wave in July artists were standing in bucketsof ice water to keep cool. My booth flooded in Pennsylvania due tohurricane Irene. There are times where I stand in the rain for daysand barely make back my booth cost, when I miss my partner and mypoodle, or my tire blows out on the journey. Even so, it isencouraging when somebody purchases something from me and says thatthey have never bought art before or when a newly married coupletells me they are going to make art a part of their lives. I know Idon't have to wake up in the morning and drive to a job that I don'tcare about, and everything I do for my business will continue to payoff, I just have to keep showing up. A colleague once said, “beingyour own boss = priceless.”

Iam an advocate for people who want to try art festivals to get outthere and do it! It is not just grandma's painted jars and grandpa'swhittled ducks for sale, there is some truly wonderful work. Ifthere is a festival in your town, appreciate the vendors on thestreet and think about the path (or super highway) they took to makeit easy for you to see their wares.

Starlings Shipped

2011-10-12T16:15:00.000-04:00

New starling woodcut showing the birds journey across the Atlantic

My partner Craig wondered if I cracked open a can of bondo for the first color. See more starlings on my website.

Deep Sea Delicacy

2011-10-03T08:43:00.000-04:00

What a green! It may be awhile before I use this color again.

The wooden handle palette knife is my favorite!

I love this little spookfish and rubber duck. Bioluminescence has to be one of the most amazing feats of that ma'nature.

Bowls of Borscht

2011-09-30T21:48:00.000-04:00

Octopi! Eating Borscht (beet soup) is truly a pleasure when there is an eight legged friend at the bottom. Glynnis Lessing is the creator of these wonderful pieces, see her website for more lovely functional as well as sculptural ceramics.

How I make Borscht (the veggie way):

Saute 1/2 - 1 whole onion and 3 cloves of garlic in a large pot with a lid.

Chop up a bunch of beets, how many people do you want to feed? Have a beet and a half for each person. You can substitute potatoes and/or carrots for some of the beets to "stretch" the recipe. Sautee with the onions and garlic til' soft.

Add a bunch of water and 1-2 veggie bouillon cubes. My favorite brand is Rapunzel with sea salt and herbs.

Season to taste. I add thyme and balsamic vinegar to almost all my soups, well, maybe to almost everything I make. I also usually put a hearty amount of parsley, marjoram and dill and salt.

Cover the pot and let the soup bubble, then, turn down heat and simmer for 20-50minutes.

If you desire, put a plop of sour cream and a sprig of cilantro on top. Be sure to have a mighty spoon on hand if you chop the beats huskily. Though borscht seems like a winter treat, it tastes just as good cold making it a nice summer soup too.
Blast off with a bowl of Borscht! Yummy.

Website Headers

2011-09-07T09:20:00.000-04:00

Corn + Plan B Climate Change header

Working within series is really helpful because I can create an ongoing dialogue about a particular ecological topic and talk to people (in a confident way) who study the animals that I want to make art about. That is until I find a picture in the Living Bird magazine about Acorn Woodpeckers that store caches of nuts in trees and I just want to make art about it...my thoughts in my head go to where would I put this wonderful woodpecker within my already set "boxes?"

Endangered animals including a Right Whale and a Whooping Crane

Since revamping my website earlier in the year, I made headers that correspond to the different series. I hope you enjoy having a peek at my boxed in art :) Please click on an image and it will go to my website about the particular topic.

Deep Sea header featuring rubber critters and deep sea dwellers

Megafauna extinct australian animals, on the back on an echidna

Commissions featuring Monarchs, Cuttlefish and Orioles

I'm out of the Swallows that make up this Bird Migration Myth header

Birds of Paradise are wild and wonderful Oddballs

A flock of Starlings, backyard birdies.

Most comprehensive collection of woodcuts about invasive animals from around the world

Newfoundland woodcuts. Puffins + doggies = a playful affair

The Players

2011-08-30T22:46:00.000-04:00

Petya wants a snark! My favorite thing to do with this cat is pick him up and bury my face in his neck.
I think he secretly likes it.

Here the "mister of charms" looking like a doll. His tail is flitting back and forth forever more.

Oh Elliot, did you just drop that slimy ball in my lap?

Finished woodcut "Lena Mister of Charms" click to go to my website for more information about these "friends"
thank you Jason Edwards and Craig Mains for these wonderful photos

Catch and Release, woodcut about Rainbow Trout

2011-08-29T10:42:00.000-04:00

“Observers on the ground described a cloud of mist that suddenly appeared behind the plane, full of the barely distinguishable dark shapes of small fish. The fish tumbled through the air in a spray of water and splashed like raindrops in the middle of the lake. Many of them, according to the observers, survived.” (halverson pg 90) My woodcut represents the history of rainbow trout introduction into isolated lakes, streams and rivers. Rainbow trout are an invasive species, and, have been introduced into all kinds of lake environments mostly for the pleasure of sport fisherman. Visitors come in droves every year and bring lots of tourism dollars to isolated areas in hopes of catching a big one. According to National Geographic, the largest Rainbow Trout ever caught weighed in at a whopping 57 pounds. I wonder if it is displayed above a fireplace somewhere preserved til the end of time…
Many Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries thought the high isolated mountain lakes were being wasted because of the lack of fish, so, as the railroad became more popular, people and fish were transported at the same time across the states and dumped into any and all bodies of water in the area. The fish were also carried in backpacks, on mules, in milk and coffee cans and any other container that could hold water. (halverson pg 167) Aeriel stocking became a preferred way of introducing the fish after WWII. Stockpiles of military equipment were put to use. Other animals were dropped as well including beavers (equipped with a special parachute), turkeys, partridges, shrimp and aquatic plants. (halverson pg 91)Very little research was conducted on the effectiveness of the “trout toss”, but, it was common practice til the year 2001, when it came to a total stop. (haverson pg 170)
Unfortunately nowadays 2 of every 3 fish in the Colorado River are non-native. The river once had 51 native fish species and is now overrun with 100 non-native fishes (halverson pg 146) including multiple synthesized species of rainbow trout.
The lakes use to be very special and unique ecosystems. It is estimated that 5% of lakes mountain lakes contained fish 1000 years ago. Today only about 40% lack fish and most of those are lacking only because the lakes freeze the fish out in the wintertime. The only animals that were able to make it to these high isolated areas were amphibians, insects and other invertebrates. Once the fish were released, the frog populations and (native fish if they were present) plummeted. The probable reason for the frog decline is that they make good fish food, and when the lakes become overrun with a large predator, the frogs don’t have a chance to recuperate. It is kind of like my garden and the battle with the deer. My plants just don’t have a chance to grow back all of their branches before another herd comes to take a bite.
At first fisheries managers thought the native fish were “trash” species as they were small, hard to catch and didn’t fit into a capitalist society. Because of the big bucks in tourism dollars brought by anglers wanting to bring home a whomper and have an adventure as well the Colorado Pikeminnow, Humpback Chub, Razorback Sucker and the Boneytail Chub are now on the endangered species list and Americans have spent over 100 million dollars trying to bring these species back. And, the eradication tables have turned, now, rainbow trout of the subject of removal and more moola is spent trying to get rid of them. Instead of tossing them out of planes, maybe we could create a huge vacuum cleaner and suck all the water out of the lake, sort the fish from the other stuff, put the other stuff back and voila, have a perfect ecosystem once again (it may be hard to sense sarcasm in text, but, it is there.) A former fisheries manager Phil Pister is quoted saying, “why professional biologists employed by western fish and wildlife management agencies lacked the motivation to inventory their native faunas and devise programs to ensure their perpetuation… Having spent most of the past two decades pondering this question, and based on my own experiences as a state fish and game agency biologist, I would lay most of the blame at the feet of a bureaucracy rooted in tradition, an almost universal program direction and professional ethic built around sport and commercial fishing, and university curricula devoid of courses in environmental ethics and ecological and evolutionary principles.” (halverson pg 179-80) I think this is a good note to leave it on.

Thank you Anders Halverson for writing “An Entirely Synthetic Fish” and giving me fodder to make this woodcut.

JPOP Printmaking

2011-08-24T09:20:00.000-04:00

Printing my piece titled, "Sleeted Chicklets" This is how I make most of my color-reduction woodcuts.

Rolling up penguin beaks

close up

Setting down the block, I put the paper down first and then the woodblock

then I crank the press and the pressure of the roller transfers the ink to the paper.

Voila! Orange penguin beaks!


This is how I use to dry my woodcuts, but, now I have a fancy drying rack :)


Sleeted Chicklets finished! Click to see the piece on my JPOP website. Penguins in Antarctica are having a hard time, with a warmer climate snow is turning into rain. Baby penguins have a soft down coating, snow just falls right off but rain penetrates to their bodies and they freeze to death. A very sad story, but, one worth telling. Everybody loves a penguin!

Bird of Paradise woodcut in progress

2011-08-22T10:05:00.000-04:00

This piece is about the Greater Bird of Paradise which is a wonderfully decadent avian species. Actually most birds of paradise are quite amazing show pieces.

Edwin Sholes works at the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University and was kind enough to talk with me about Birds of Paradise and showed me some amazing short films taken in Papua New Guinea about their strange mating rituals. Since the birds live on isolated islands, there was never a threat from being eaten by other animals, so, the males feathers grew longer and brighter, and more elegant (or ridicules depending on your nature) in order to impress the ladies.

I made this piece in particular because of a story I read about collectors in the late 19th century sending skins of the Greater Bird of Paradise to Europe and the prepared them in the fields of Aru Island without wings or feet because it was easier to ship them that way.

The species was named Paradisaea apoda, or "legless bird of paradise", because when they arrived in Europe scientists there believed they were missing those key body parts. The birds were thought to be rather mythical creatures, floating in the atmosphere by their plumage, females laying eggs on the males back, and only touching earth to die.

Below are all the colors of the piece scanned as I printed each layer. I carved, then printed then carved then printed. I hope this explains the "reduction woodcut" process in a visual way as I know it is hard to understand.

Yellow! Wowsers

2nd color

What a green

turquoise

brown

and DONE! Please click to go to my website and read more about birds of paradise.

A little about Jenny

2011-08-18T13:38:00.000-04:00

G' Day

Sit down for a bit and check out my art and this blog! I am a full-time artist residing in the the lovely Finger Lakes region of NY State. If you like wine, winemakers, waterfalls, cross country skiing, and acedemia then Ithaca is the perfect spot! Oh, and woodpeckers. We have seen 7 species in our yard, and, had 3 species let us know that there were bugs in our shingles.

Wanna Chat?

Feel free to contact me anytime about art, ecology, ideas for new woodcuts, or to tell me to get on task and stop wasting my time on Etsy and facebook :) my email address is jpopstudios@gmail.com

I also am available for lectures and an occasional workshop. My presentations can include information about my artwork and important topics such as invasive species, endangered animals and extinct animals as well as the business side of art and how I have found a way to make a living through art festivals.

Favorite Things

I love birds, my poodle, my partner Craig Mains, and reading about ecology and the environment and how we are changing our planet. I am always up for a good read, so please pass any favorite books along. David Quammen and E.O. Wilson are two of my favorite nature authors. Their writing has shaped my artwork on multiple occasions. Traveling is a wonderful activity, my life involves trekking to 17 cities all over the country each year, and, a trip to Italy is in my future! If you are needing any lionfish woodcuts in your life, take a look at my Kickstarter project where I am trying to pre-sell some art to pay way to the land of pasta. Thank you for taking a peek!