Artist Profile--Lorraine Jones

Our featured artist this month is Lorraine Jones. Lorraine is known for her exquisite sense of design and attention to detail. Every tiny bit in a piece is always in exactly the right place.

1. What are the main mediums you use? What do you find satisfying about them?

I use anything and everything to create my mixed media collages. I have incorporated monoprints, real butterfly wings, gingko leaves, fibers, wire, beads, old game pieces, and other assorted treasures that catch my eye. I create my collages on paper, canvas and board using mostly acrylic paints. An old watercolor of mine may sometimes sneak in there. I love working in mixed media collage because of the freedom and fun that it gives me. There is no sense of right or wrong in collage for me, only a sense of balance and harmony and discovery.

2. If someone were going to get started in those mediums, what suggestions would you give?

Yes, I would recommend taking a collage class to get ideas and inspirations. There are also some great books out there available for free at the library. If you have a limited budget, working in collage is fun because you can use anything at hand. Save your magazines and fabric, buttons, stamps, paper scraps, anything that can be glued down onto a surface. Taking classes is a wonderful way to learn, not only from the instructor, but from the other participants as well. Everyone has a favorite adhesive and a favorite source for their materials (for example: the Goodwill bins and SCRAP in Portland.) There are also lots of Yahoo groups on-line where you can learn and be inspired.

3. A perfect art day would look like...

a winter day with all road surfaces covered with ice so that I could not leave the house and could not go anywhere. (Though not so much ice that we would have a power outtage!) The last time we were housebound because of road closures due to deep snow, I worked for 3 days straight on my art.

4. Do you have dedicated studio space? Give a brief description of where you work.

Yes, I have a small area under the stairs where I create. I have a drafting table set up in the corner where I stand when I am working. I have a small table that I use as my cutting surface nearby. I store my big sheets of paper under the bed in the guest bedroom which is next to my work area. I use an armoire in the guest bedroom to store my supplies.

5. Favorite place you've visited or lived?

I love traveling and staying in Paris with my husband.

6. What inspires you (or are there recurring themes in your work)?

For some reason my collages always seem to evoke an Asian sensibility. It may be the sense of balance and simplicity that calls to me. I am also drawn to the Asian letter forms and frequently use Joss paper in my work.

7. I still struggle with...

committing myself to going to my art space and actually doing the work. I have no problem creating cards and gifts for friends and family members when a birthday, anniversary or other important date is looming on the calendar. Deadlines of all sorts always get me to create art. But if I have no deadline, I will avoid my art desk and fill my time with going to the gym, walking with my dog or working all day in my garden.

8. I'd be lost without...

my husband.

9. Favorite dessert?

The blueberry pies that I make all summer long from the blueberries that I pick up on Sauvie Island. I love having a huge piece with coffee for breakfast.Then I love having a piece with lunch. Oh, and then there is pie for dessert for dinner!

10. What's on the horizon?

1.Renewing my love of French by taking a class with L’Alliance Française here in Portland.

2. Moving 8 hybrid tea roses out of a large raised bed in my garden and planting vegetables there instead.

3. Finally completing the photo album of our trip to France.

4. I am also excited about making some small gift items to sell at our Portland Art Collective’s Fourth Annual “Open Doors” art show and sale this December. For the past three years I have sold my collages which are made to hang on the wall. I will still create more collages but plan on having smaller items for sale as well.

Don't miss all of Lorraine's exciting new pieces at our "Open Doors" show on Dec. 3 and 4 at Multnomah Arts Center! (details in the sidebar.)