Process

Detail of Underpainting

I work in a series of contradictions. I usually start with no idea of where I am really going. However, sometimes I start with a colour., and sometimes that colour changes. I always start a painting on canvas with an underpainting of colour washes.

Detail of Underpainting

The colour washes are applied in thin layers. In places there will be one or two layers, in others there will be several. These washes start to build a landscape, a road map of lights and darks and of movement. They give direction  and are in no way indicative of the colour that will be applies over them.

Once this has been achieved  I spend a great deal of time looking at it from all angles. I place them upside down, sideways, and mix them up. Often times a triptych will become a diptych or a single canvas.

Detail of Underpainting

Triptych

40" x 78" 

I search for the movement that suggests the figure that should be there. Once this has been established I can start painting.

So really, my underpainting a series of underpaintings.

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

Sold

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

Sold

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
.

In the Still

In the Still

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

20" x 26"

Sold

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

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.

What dreams are made of.

Providence; Surfacing III

Oil on Canvas

68' x 34"

9750.00

I am not sure where my desire to paint comes from. It does not feel like something I choose to do, it feels like something I am compelled to do, like breathing. It is a quite thing that for me is accompanied by daydreaming.

I remember being a child and having pencils and crayons and sheets of onion skin typing paper. I would carefully draw my plans for a barn with plenty of paddocks and pastures. I would fill the pastures with the lush green waxes from my box of 100 Crayolas. Then I would draw the horses to fill that barn. I can still smell the pencil lead and the paper, and the scent of crayons transports me.

I drew my dreams. I drew to dream. I now paint to dream, and the dreams are still the same.

Artist Statements??????

Almost every maker of images is at some point to asked to write an Artist Statement. Note the request is always capitalized, I personally believe this is to strike terror into the heart of the writer. It stinks of self-importance, of something you can never retract, of something set in stone! Where as the truth of it is, it couldn't be more elusive and changing if it tried, at least for me.

This is my latest artist statement.........

Artist Statement

I believe that each act of kindness, each act of compassion, each moment of joy enriches the whole of humanity. It is from this belief that I create art. 

When I was three years old I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to draw pictures and ride horses. This was both a blessing and a curse. What a gift it is to know where you heart lies, and a curse to be told that it is impossible, ridiculous, an infantile fantasy that you will out grow.

I didn’t outgrow it. I am as or more passionate about painting than ever. The colours, the smells, the act of making marks on canvas with a fully loaded brush is intoxicating and meditative. Transforming a blank surface into a painting, it is what I live for.

And as for the horses, as you can plainly see, I still love them too!

It is as honest and as heartfelt as I can make it. Is it perfect? Far from it, and it will change. Hopefully I will grow as a human being and my work will reflect that.

Today however, this is my offering.

Horse of a Different Color

One of the things I love about printmaking is that I can make lots of variations with the same basic image. It is so exciting to experiment with different media and colors of ink and maker. Adding marks here and removing them there.

I had an intaglio print that I embellished with watercolor, ink, and various papers. I then mounted the on either Rives BFK or Somerset paper that was torn to approximately 11" x 15". The print sizes are all about 5.5" x 10.5" and mounted on a torn sheet of decorative paper that is roughly 11" x 13". All prints are $165.00 each.

Sometime the differences are small, and the prints have the same mood or feel. Other times they are huge. 

Here are some of the results.

Horses Bathed in Violet Light

Amethyst Light I

Mixed Media 

24" x 30"

1195.00

Amethyst Light II

Mixed Media 

24" x 30"

1195.00

These are two would be a lovely addition to any room. They were beautifully framed by Hidden Light the Framing Department and are ready to hang. The frames are predominately silver with a warm wash that goes with gold leaf beautifully.

The painting were created with graphite, ink, watercolor, asian papers, and 23 karat gold leaf on 300 lb Saunders Waterford Watercolour paper.

Changing Horses in Mid Stream

Image Size

11" x 11" 

on 

15" x 22" Stonehenge

This is an intaglio print I created last fall. Black ink on a pale limestone paper.

Embellished Intaglio

12" x 12"

The one above is one of the intaglio prints I embellished blue watercolor,silver ink, 23 karat gold leaf, and chiyogami paper. The one below has been embellished with blue watercolor, silver ink, 23 karat gold leaf, and an asian silk screened paper.

I love the possibilities for variations I can achive with these.

It should be noted the first image was photographed by Tom Alexander, the other pictures I took.

Embellished Intaglio

12" x 12"

Sunflowers and Horses

Sunflowers and Chestnuts

Oil on Canvas

20" x 20"

$1450.00

I love the contrast between Sunflowers and the summer sky, and Chestnut or two completes the picture.

Hope you are enjoying the summer as much as I am.

Horses, Horses, Horses!….and little girls.

I had a fabulous time up at The Event at Rebecca Farm, in Kalispell, Montana. Beautiful horses, horse people, dogs, and lots of little girls.

An eleven or twelve year old pony clubbed asked me if I had painted all of the artwork displayed in my booth. I told her I had. She very seriously walked into the middle of my booth and with hands on hips surveyed it while nodding. Solemnly she pronounced "Good job" and left.

A girl of about eight came in with two of her siblings. The looked at the paintings and made comments to each other, grabbed a piece of candy and headed out. The eight year turned and came back. "Did you do all of theses?" she asked. I said yes. She stood still for a moment, through her arm up and exclaimed "Fantastic!" and left.

Those two were the cherries on top of my ice cream sundae of a trip.

Roses and Violets

Untitled Horse in Roses and Violets

Oil on Canvas

34" x 34"

$3750.00

When I start a painting I have a very general idea of where I am going. No set destination, no completely formed picture in my head. I like it that way, it keeps it interesting for, the not knowing. The discovery of lines, and shapes, and color combinations.

This just such a painting. I knew I wanted the composition to be dynamic, but I had no idea what color this horse would be.

I love a good surprise.

In Search of the Superlative Horse

After months of painting on May 2nd, 2014 "In Search of the Superlative Horse" opened at Hidden Light. Hidden Light is a world renowned photographic studio owned and operated by Corey Allen and Stephen Saunders. They usually do one, maybe two shows a year, so I was excited to have the privilege to show there. It was extra special as I was the first painter the exhibited.

These beautiful photographs are by Tom Alexander of the installation. Enjoy!

The event was fantastic and well attended. I could not have been happier with the way my painting look hanging in this space.

These beautiful photographs are by Tom Alexander of the installation. Enjoy!

The show runs through the month of June.

Hidden Light is located at 427 South San Francisco Street, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 

The Space In Between

Garden Variety Friends

34' x 56"

Sold

I was recently asked why there is a gap in between these two panels. I answered the question in this way.

It is a diptych, I like working on two or more canvases and feel the gap is time, distance, and connection.

All true, but something else.

I love the way the eye must skip the gap and make the connection to the other side. I like that it breaks up the larger areas and adds a bit more interest. I like that it makes it easier to ship.

….and still, there is something more. Something that hints at what is going on beneath the surface. It whispers about a past history and a future story. About a place that can't be wrecked by the ravages of time. A glimpse at the edge of that eternal field that is just out of sight beyond the horizon.

I may never fully understand why I prefer to use the gap, the space in between, but it some how comforts me to know that there is more.

Horse Cloth

"Horse Cloth"

Monoprint, Chine-collé, and Collage 

on Stonehenge Paper

15" x 22"

$525.00

This started life as a Monoprint, but as we all know, I can't leave things alone. So after adding a small painting on canvas, ink, vintage sew patterns, I was satisfied.

Life Paths

I recently was talking with a colleague and mentioned that I knew from the time I was three years old that I wanted to be an artist and equestrian. Of course when I was three this was expressed as, all I wanted was a horse and to draw pictures of horses. He asked me what that was like, the knowing what you wanted to do with your life at such an early age. I shrugged and said that I had not taken a straight path to where I am now.

I later started thinking about that question, "What is that like, to know what you want to do at three?" Well, quite frankly for me it was hell.

I was told by teachers that that was absurd to believe I could be an artist. I needed to grow up and pursue something more realistic. I needed to stop day dreaming.

Other well meaning adults told me that my parents would never let me have a horse. My parent said we couldn't afford horse or riding lessons. I believe the closer truth was that they knew nothing about horses and didn't have the time to shuttle me to a stable for a weekly lesson.

I was a relatively undemanding child. I believed that if you knew me and loved me, you would know what I wanted and needed. So when I didn't get the horse or the lessons, I believed that there was something wrong with me and that perhaps my parents didn't love me.

My parents did support me in art. We went to Museums and the Ballet. We always had books on art and artists. I always received art materials for Birthdays and Christmas. And, from the time I was 7, I was always given a place to set up my studio.

And so, I dreamed about horses and sketched them in secret. What I wanted to do with my life was unrealistic and foolish.So I even stopped drawing and painting horses, even in secret, when I was 13.

Try as I might to completely turn my back and walk away from art and horses, I was always drawn back as if they were sirens. The two things I loved more in this world than any other. But still, I was a fool and would listen to the negative rhetoric.

At 30 I went back to school. I knew what I wanted to do, what I needed to start learning. I still listened to negative comments and took many of them to heart. I still have plenty of well meaning adults in my life who tell me that I need to get a "real" job, that I shouldn't have a horse, that I need to be realistic.

I have no retort. They may be right, I am not sure about this. I am sure though that for me, not pursuing
what I hold most dear would be a wasted life.

So here is to the dream.

Spring Green

Colt

22" x 30"

Mixed Media on

300 lb Watercolour Paper

with 23 kt gold leaf

$1250.00

This painting reminds me of all the colts and fillies frolicking in the fields.

Hoof Prints Studio

Hoof Prints Studio,948 Marie Rochele Drive,West Chester,PA 19382 610-696-3422 is having an Open House,Sunday Dec.19th 2pm-7pm.

She has a great selection of Art,Jewelry,and gifts including this little collage and several other pieces of my art including paintings from the "In Search of the Superlative Horse"series