Hearts

Heart I
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Here is a collections of hearts. Each one is composted of several printmaking techniques including Chine-collé and has then been altered with ink or oil pastel. Bright and colorful these small works add impact to any area.

Heart II

Heart III

Part of my Small Works Project they are each 4.75" x 3.75" matted to 10" x 8", so the will fit easily into a standard sized frame. 47.50 each includes shipping in the United States. Email me to purchase at ctannerjensen@gmail.com  subject line Heart.

Heart IV

Heart V

New Work

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

17.5" x 23"

975.00

I have been working in the studio and have this painting to share with you. It is currently untitled so feel free to chime in with any suggestions.

Please remember that I am a lousy picture taker. ;)

Detail

Detail

Small Works Project

Racer

3.75' x 4.75'

Matted to 8" x 10"

Acrylic, Vintage Pattern, Pigment

on Canvas

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Fowl

3.75' x 4.75'

Matted to 8" x 10"

Mixed media Collage

75.00

I have several projects that I am committed to for the spring. One of them is an installation where I will be presenting nine paintings. I am very excited about this show and will be sharing detail as it gets closer.

untitled

3.75' x 4.75'

Matted to 8" x 10"

Mixed Media Collage

55.00

Meanwhile I need to purchase materials to create and frame these paintings so I have initiated the Small Works Project. All work that I post will be priced from 45.00 to 200.00 and includes shipping via the USPS in the US, shipping may be arranged outside of the US for a fee.

untitled

3.75' x 4.75'

Matted to 8" x 10"

Mixed Media Collage

55.00

Please remember that I am a lousy picture taker. ;)

Love Cowboy

3.75' x 4.75'

Matted to 8" x 10"

Mixed media Collage

75.00

I will be posting artworks available here on my blog, on Instagram at sweetgrassart and on my FaceBook page Tanner Jensen Fine Art. Inquire about a piece of art email me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com

Thank you!

Love Cowboy II

3.75' x 4.75'

Matted to 8" x 10"

Mixed media Collage

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Falling Light and Poetry

Falling Light

Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas

30" x 24"

1950.00

I have a firm belief that my paintings are visual poems. What I am trying to convey is a feeling. I give just enough information to catch the viewers attention and then allow their imaginations take them away.

I belive I have succeed with Falling Light.

Where does it take you.

More than a Feeling

Pasture Mates

Oil on Canvas

34" x 34"

3750.00

Starting a painting is easy! I begin with colour washes. I layer them. I manipulate the colour by placing one on top of the other. I let gravity play a part in the pigments settling and running. Most of the time I'm delighted. The work comes in the next stage.
                                                                                                                                       
 I am an intuitive painter. A lot of what I do is that I allow myself to be guided by what I have already painted. I respond to the color, and the line, and the shapes.

What I am moving towards is a feeling. This particular painting was motivated by that feeling of joy, and peace, and of that full hearted love you feel when you see your horses content in the pasture.

If I have succeeded, you will feel it too
.

All the Angles

                                  Detail of a Work in Progress


I have consider this painting that I am working on from all the angles. I have considered each hue and value. I have agonized over each colour. The thickness of the lines have undergone scrutiny, not to mention their length, their direction, whether or not the intersected.

It has all been evaluated, not once, or twice, but again and again.

You see each time I add or remove something it affects everything.

September Workshop

  On Saturday, September 24th, I will be having a workshop on Creativity and making the most of time you spend creating.

I will be introducing strategies and exercises that will enable you to clear creative blocks out of you way.  While this class is geared towards visual artist it will help anyone struggling with creative endeavors.

The workshop will be held in my Flagstaff studio from 10:00 to 12:30 and will include all materials, although participants may want to bring a few of their own things. Space is limited so if you are interested please email me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com

Hope to see you!
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Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith

After several inquiries regard "Leap of Faith" I have decided to offer it as a Giclée print for a limited time. Image size 16" x 20", 2" white border, for a total print size of 20" x 24". 245.00 plus 10.00 shipping and insurance in the United States via USPS. Arrangements may be made for International orders.



or contact me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com

Thank you.

Titled

Against the Wind

Unofficial Photo until I can get to the Photographer

Against the Wind

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite

17.5" x 23"

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Official Photograph

Titling a painting is a funny thing. I never want something to be too specific as I don't want to constrict the viewers experience, I want to enhance it. So it needs to be a open ended.

I usually think of the title hours after I have left my photographers. He will ask me for the title and I don't have one, so we will reference it by materials and subject or color. I have quite a few files titled blue pony or red horse.

Everyone once in a while someone will be taking to me or I'll be listening to the radio and a word or phrase will catch my attention and that's it! The title of a work I have just completed. Or it will lead me on a little course of seemly random thoughts that bring about the title.

Last night via email chat someone asked me the title of this painting. I didn't have one yet. During our exchange she mentioned that her horses' Jockey Club name was Against the Wind. Voila! Titled!

Thank you Anne.

Sometimes

Primavera

Oil, Acrylic, and Charcoal 

on Canvas

40" x 60"

7950.00

Sometimes, if you are very lucky you just listen to your heart. You forget all the reasons why you shouldn't do this or you ought to do that, and you just listen to that constant, soft, true voice. The voice that usually gets drowned out by all the shouting in the world.

This painting is one where I just listened and was led down a garden path.

Double Edged Sword

Untitled

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

17.25" x 23"

975.00

One of the best things about being an artist is that there is no one telling me what to do. One of the worst things about being an artist is that there is no on telling me what to do.

The freedom is amazing! I can explore things, ideas, media, anything and everything. I can revisit the past or plunge into unknown territory. I am the one who sets my own parameters and can remove them or change them at will. It is boundless!

This sort of freedom can also become a hinderance. With all the possibilities, how do I choose one to start? How do I focus on one idea, one notion, and stay with it when there are so many other ideas dancing around demanding attention?

To be honest, I don't know. Some days I don't. Some days I clean and sort things. Some days I stretch and gesso canvas. Some days I do paper work. While, all these things need to be done, some days I do them to avoid choosing.

Most days however, I just pick my media and begin to work. 

Most days are good.

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Pleased

I am so pleased to get these out into the morning post. I sold a painting to a lovely woman in North Carolina during Kentucky Derby Week and so off these go to benefit ReRun Thoroughbred Rescue and Remember Me Rescue, both doing so much good.

Fortunate

Untitled

Mixed Media on Paper

30" x 22"

NFS

I am fortunate. I grew up with two parents that wanted me to be happy. Not Kool Aid and Potato Chip happy, but deeply satisfied and content happy. This means that it was always okay that I wanted to be an artist.

My friends have understood me. That I am a painter, I am prone to fits of despair, I am prone to fits of elation, I get lost in thought and conversation. That I will spend enormous sums of money on paint while fretting about how to pay the electric bill.

My friends and family believe in me. Maybe not that I am a great talent, but in me. That my pursuit of happiness is valuable, if only to me.

While it hasn't been easy and there are times that I wish I could go and get a 9 to 5 job, I am happy.

I am grateful for the support I receive in a myriad of ways, from clients and patrons buying my work to someone saying "This is beautiful", to a fellow artist discussing media and techniques. I am fortunate that I realize it and I am grateful for every bit of it.

Thank you.

Relieving the Stress

Shooting Star

Oil and Mixed Media on Panel

From time to time someone approaches me and wants to know if I will do a lay-away plan for them on a particular painting or print. They are usually a bit shy about this, but they shouldn't be. The answer is almost always yes.

The monthly payment plan gives me a bit of relief from stress. I know I don't have to worry about this bill or that because a check is coming in. That in turn allows me to focus for easily on creating.

To those of you who have or are on a payment plan for art, thank you!

Farming and Painting

Spring Romp

mixed media on paper

Framed 

34" x 42"

4250.00

I have long believed that I have the heart of a farmer. I love the smell of the soil and planting things. I can send hours choosing seeds, and bulb, and trees from catalogues and spend countless more drawing diagrams for where to plant them.

How to amend soil fascinates me. What to add to your compost to make it better for area is intended for is a subject I am enthralled with, and lets not even get started about my love for my earth worms.

Why do I think this gives me the heart of a farmer and not a gardner?

Well it's only those things in part. You see like a farmer I work tirelessly at what I love. I choose colours and canvas with care. I spend hours noticing which paint brand has more transparency than another. What happens when I mix this with that. How do get this effect or that on this surface.

And then there's light. I can become quite delirious when describing light. The mere thought of good light makes me swoon.

A farmer, you must understand is also a gambler. Willing to put all of their hard work into what they do and be at the mercy of external forces. One good hail storm will flatten a wheat field. New mown hay lies there at the peril of rain until it is baled. It's biblical in nature, all the misfortune that call lay waste to good crop.

And then there is the market. You have the most beautiful crop of white peaches that you have ever seen. People, however are buying strawberries. The peach buyers  ask "Do you have any cling free peaches? I am not sure I will like white peaches, even though they are beautiful and fragrant." You smile and know they are missing something, something you possess in spades, you are will to take a risk!

Days, weeks, and months may go by without a sale, and you are nagged by that practical voice in your head regarding why you keep at it. The answer is simple, and clear. I do what I do because it is what my heart desires and when it is good, it is glorious!

I have the heart of a farmer.

In the Still

In the Still

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

20" x 26"

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I usually don't have a plan when I started working on a painting. This was clearly the case when I started working on this one. I would just apply a layer of acrylic paint down, wait for it to dry and apply another layer.

After awhile I was satisfied with the result. I set it aside. Every day or so I would pull it out and look at it. After a few weeks of this I decided I was going to finish it.

 I gathered my materials and was about to set to work on an entirely different image when I notice the first horse emerging out of the field of blues and greens. Gradually they all made their presences known.

This is the result of wandering and allowing.

To purchase please contact me or go to my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/457615114/in-the-still?ref=shop_home_active_2

Kentucky Derby Today!

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

17.5" x 23"

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So today's the day! At the moment I don't have a favorite, I wish them all the best and a safe trip.

I love Thoroughbreds. I learned to ride on them. My first horse was a TB, and in fact the majority of the horses I have owned have been Thoroughbreds.

I also believe in giving back. So in celebration of the bred that has give so much to me 20% of all art purchased from between now and May 8th, 2016 I will be given to ReRun and to Remember Me Rescue. Both of these organizations do an outstanding job in giving Off the Track Thoroughbreds a life after racing.

My original artwork may be viewed at www.tannerjensenfineart.com and in past blog post.

As an added incentive I will be providing free shipping in the contiguous U.S.

If you have any questions, please email me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com

Thank you.

Exploring the Dark

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

17.5" x 23"

800.00

Everyone knows that in the dark, you can't see. However when I was in a drawing class many years ago an instructor turned the tables on the phrasing and said "In a world of absolute light you see nothing."

This had an impact on my. I started search for the shadows.

In Celebration of the Thoroughbred

Look Homeward

26" x 20" 

Mixed Media on Yupo 

1250.00

I love Thoroughbreds. I learned to ride on them. My first horse was a TB, and in fact the majority of the horses I have owned have been Thoroughbreds.

I also believe in giving back. So in celebration of the bred that has give so much to me 20% of all art purchased from between now and May 8th, 2016 I will be given to ReRun and to Remember Me Rescue. Both of these organizations do an outstanding job in giving Off the Track Thoroughbreds a life after racing.

My original artwork may be viewed at www.tannerjensenfineart.com and in past blog post.

As an added incentive I will be providing free shipping in the contiguous U.S.

If you have any questions, please email me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com

Thank you.

Real Love

I can't recall a time when I wasn't enthralled by horses, but I do remember the first time I watched National Velvet and fell in love with the Pie. I imagined myself as Velvet Brown. I rode each stride and wept when he fell sick. I was in love, not a fleeting crush, but a real love.

The horse that played the Pie was a descendent of Man O'War and by all accounts knew it. He was stunning, a bright chestnut with white stockings. He was a difficult horse, but he was good for Elizabeth Taylor and after the movie was finished the studio gifted him to her.

My heart still beats faster when I think of him, even though I know he was gone before I ever knew of him.

Small Packages

Listening to the Wind

Acrylic on Cradled Panel

8" x 10" x 1"

275.00

This painting reminds me of the moors in Wuthering Heights.

It is on a cradled wood panel and is ready to hang or frame.

Available in my Etsy Shop

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/467959130/listening-to-the-wind?ref=shop_home_active_1

An Artist Statement

Foundation Stock

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

17.5" x 23"

875.00

I am constantly evaluating my art and studio practice. Trying new media and experimenting with different applications. Working to improve my skill set. Playing with different ideas and approaching the same problem, question from different angles.

As a result of this my artist statement changes. The changes are subtle as I move closer to my own truth.

This is the latest.

I paint horses.

I paint them because I love them, and this love has led me to spend thousands of hours with them, learning about them, and coming to an understanding of them.

There is a moment when I sense an ineffable something that dissolves all the boundaries of my prescribed being, and I am filled with a joy that verges on heartbreak— a feeling so overwhelming that it takes my breath and all my words away, and I am only left with marks and color.

It is in these moments that I feel the most authentic, and want to share what I have felt.This is what I paint. This is what I have to share.

Doubt

Untitled

Ghost Serigraph with

Watercolour, Ink, and Graphite on

Rives BFK

Image 10" x 14"

Framed 20" x 24"

750.00

There are lots of days when I am in the studio riddled with self doubt. Questioning what I am doing. Questioning why I am doing it. Questioning if it matters.

Then a painting sells.

There is a rush. A feeling of yes, someone recognized me. Me. Not my skill, not my ability, not my choice of materials, but me. The me that was and is always there. The me that I had no hand in creating. The me that has connected with something I don't understand. Something that is beyond the word of defining and lies in the field of feeling. Something only the heart glimpses and the artist wants to share.

And someone else felt it too!

Always More

Detail of Work in Progress

"The mind is arrested and raised above desire and loathing" James Joyce 

Aesthetic arrest.

This is what I am striving toward.

Texture

Leap of Faith

Acrylic, Graphite, and Charcoal 

on Yupo

17.20" x 23"

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I have been working on Yupo for the past few weeks. It has a lovely smooth surface. The graphite and charcoal glide across the surface. It accepts the paint and also resists it. It is a fascinating and seductive material to work on.

Detail of Leap of Faith

Generally I do not incorporate a lot of texture in my work. I prefer implied texture, even when working on canvas. However, I find myself building and manipulating texture on the Yupo, both actual by building layers that have more body and implied by layering paint of different values and transparencies.

Detail of Leap of Faith

I have no idea where this is all leading me to, but I am enjoying the trek.

Mad about Yupo

Comin' In

17.5 x 23

Mixed Media on Yupo

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I LOVE the surface of this paper. Yupo is a synthetic paper made by a company in Virginia. It has soft and velvety texture. It accepts the charcoal and will then release it, leaving only a ghost of the line. A line like the memory of a dream.

I have been using acrylic, and gesso, and charcoal, and water-soluble graphite on it. I have been working with a limited colour palette, and yet I feel there is so much to still explore with in these boundaries. It's intoxicating, I love being a painter.

Light and Dark

Untitled

26" x 20"

Mixed Media on Yupo

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I have been experimenting with Yupo. It is a synthetic paper and responds quite differently than traditional paper. I have been fooling around with it from time to time for that 8 or so years.

A couple of weeks ago I decided that it was time to complete a painting on the Yupo. I used Golden Acrylic along with water soluble graphite, ink, and vine charcoal.
This is the result. A horse in shadow with light illuminating the lower half.

Spring Cleaning!

It took a week, but my studio is clean and reorganized.

I sorted through hundreds of pieces of paper, collage elements, tubes of paint, and old works. Went through boxes, drawers, and containers and grouped all the like items together. Threw out old sketches, half finished work, and old pieces that I was over.

  

Now to return and create.

It's Nothing Personal.

I am fascinated by the arrangements in medicine cabinets and junk drawers.

Leave me alone with your personal correspondence, a diary, journal, or stack of open love letters and I'm not going to read them. I not even tempted. In fact I probably won't even you if ask me to. However, I am going to open your medicine cabinet or pull out your junk drawer.

Oh don't worry. I'm not interested in exactly what you're taking. This isn't about learning anything about you. It's about me, I am interested in the shapes, colors, and composition of things.

Medicine cabinets, in most cases appear to be ordered. Tooth paste and dental floss sharing the same shelf. Bottles of medicine line up, their round and oblong pills inside. A razor lying next to a comb.

And the junk drawer. Heaven! A pair of scissors, one rusty nail, spare change, a piece of red twine curling around a toy giraffe. Wine corks, rubber bands, a shoe horn, measuring tape, a solitary lego, the plastic clip from a bag of bread. The colors and the random way they seem to have been shoved together to spend and undetermined sentence until the are needed.

They tell stories, these places where the things we don't consider until needed reside.

This is why I love creating collages. I like arranging color and shape, bits and pieces taken out of order and assembled into the beginnings of a tale.

Once upon a time there was a sheep who fell in love with a fish.


My collage may be viewed and purchased at my Etsy Shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSuperlativeHorse?ref=hdr_shop_menu