Jennifer Countney Barr - Artist Birthday: June 3 Sun Sign: Gemini
I am the youngest of seven children born and raised in New London, Wisconsin. I liken this statement to being raised in a cardboard box. My mother made every effort to raise me with the Roman Catholic fear of damnation. This alone might explain my curiosity about other people’s human experience and my desire to find beauty through art. But, for me creating art is a cathartic process of expressing ideas about family, spirituality, nature and duality. I work on multiple artworks at a time on a table, easel or on the floor. I use pencil, ink, charcoal, pastels, wax, coffee, wine, oil, acrylic and water color paints. The surface of the picture may be layered with newspaper, pages from a book, wallpaper, wood, metal, paper or canvas. My style is a combination of photorealism and abstraction, allowing me to blur the lines of what is and what could be.
Jennifer Countney Barr – Fine Artist
1396 River Road, Montpelier VT 05602 Phone: (802) 229-5864
April 26 to May 3, 2009
Vermont Studio Center Vermonter’s Week Fellowship, Johnson, VT:
Mixed Media Paintings and Drawings created and shown at 25th Anniversary Gala.
May 2008
Group Show “Revelations” at Nectars, Main Street, Burlington, VT:
Mixed Media Collage Drawings based on the theme of interconnectedness.
Sept. 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001
South End Art Hop – South Burlington, VT:
Mixed Media Paintings and Drawings; abstract and photorealistic.
April 2007
“Spring, Sprang, Sprung” - Green Bean Gallery, Capitol Grounds, Montpelier: Drawings and Watercolor Paintings – photorealistic portraits of children, flowers and vegetables at various stages of growth.
Sept.2006
“Serenity” - The Cobblestone Deli – Battery Street, Burlington, VT:
Mixed Media Collage Paintings of nature.
Sept. 2005
Women Helping Battered Women Arts Auction – Daily Planet, Burlington, VT:
Donated a large scale Mixed Media Painting titled “Nightmares”.
Nov. 2003
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Auction – Burlington, VT:
Donated for Auction a large scale Mixed Media Collage Drawing “Finding Common Ground” based on religious symbols from several major religions.
June 2001
Art’s Alive Fine Arts Festival – Church Street, Burlington, VT:
Collage Drawings at Echo & voted “Best New Vermont Artist”.
August 2000
“On the Line” Daily Planet – Burlington, VT:
Charcoal & Mixed Media Drawings hung on a clothesline with clothespins.
Sept. 1999
Rhombus Gallery – Cherry Street, Burlington, VT:
Mixed Media Collage Drawings & Paintings
Aug. 1999
Arts Alive Chair Painting – Main Street Landing, Burlington, VT
Donated a hand painted chair with a water nymph motif to benefit Arts Alive.
May 1999
Teaching Collage Style Drawing at So. Burlington High School
Volunteer based class for 40 students for Career Day creating Collage Style Drawings using the theme of “Life’s Road Map”.
Sept. 1998
Very Special Arts – Burlington, VT
Donated a pastel and mixed media drawing entitled “Roosters” for Auction at $3000.00 to benefit the Vermont based children’s organization.
May 1997
Steve’s ICE CREAM in Newtonville, MA
Charcoal Drawings of children, a Victorian house, a French model; self portrait.
Sept. 1996
Café Moca – Boston, MA
Mixed Media Drawings & Poetry reflecting imagery and impressions of city life.
June 1996
“Rebecca” St. Cloud Playhouse
Abstract and Photorealistic Mixed Media drawings and paintings of Women
paired with the play “Shirley Valentine”.
May 1996
“Lost & Found” at Keihle Visual Arts Gallery at St. Cloud State University, MN
Mixed Media drawings and paintings with the theme of opportunities and losses.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Nature of Twins
Hi all! I am very slowly getting used to being a father. Most activities have increased in scope and intensity except for sleeping! I feel older now than ever before, yet there is also a freshness to the life experience that has truly grown since Abigail and Josh arrived on the scene on April 2nd.
It has been interesting to see my own twins in action during the last months and to ponder the phenomenology of “twindom” – I consider this performed work to be put to good use in this month’s Gemini blog.
As I write this post I am listening to old Prince music and truly there is no better musical communicator than his royal badness. His music and presentation are proficient and transcendent and he is a fantastic band leader and multi-instrumentalist. In a word, an amazing Gemini. The man is a million personas at any one time. So glad that he is still doing music. He and Miles Davis – double Geminian musical proficiency at its height.
So who or what is a Gemini? Well, supposedly this sign tends to manifest the very idea of twindom!There is a twoness to twins, obviously, and as far as my own twins go, I imagine that as they grow older they will be having to work on the problem of what is me and what is my sibling and, perhaps, what is us together. Already one can notice the definite complexity of the Gemini. Anyone who spends time with a Gemini native understands that there are many folks appearing from out of that one human body and mind. I have known many Geminis over the years and indeed they are communication specialists and seem forever youthful both in appearance and in demeanor. Often they are great talkers and tend to act as butterflies flying from one rapid social transaction to another. They also tend to forever be on the go.
This month I would like to simply feature a Geminian artist. She is the Vermont artist, Jennifer Countney Barr. Jennifer has been a friend of my wife’s and it has been a pleasure getting to know here and her husband, Rick. Jennifer works in a variety of mediums, but her favorites generally involve works on canvas. Jennifer captures the complexity of color and texture and always produces work that is rich in meaning and theme. She makes amazing collages.
So what makes Ms. Barr particularly Geminian? Well, there are a number of qualities that do. When Jennifer walks into a room she has a youthful appearance and cheeriness that is impossible not to be lifted up by.
It has been interesting to see my own twins in action during the last months and to ponder the phenomenology of “twindom” – I consider this performed work to be put to good use in this month’s Gemini blog.
As I write this post I am listening to old Prince music and truly there is no better musical communicator than his royal badness. His music and presentation are proficient and transcendent and he is a fantastic band leader and multi-instrumentalist. In a word, an amazing Gemini. The man is a million personas at any one time. So glad that he is still doing music. He and Miles Davis – double Geminian musical proficiency at its height.
So who or what is a Gemini? Well, supposedly this sign tends to manifest the very idea of twindom!There is a twoness to twins, obviously, and as far as my own twins go, I imagine that as they grow older they will be having to work on the problem of what is me and what is my sibling and, perhaps, what is us together. Already one can notice the definite complexity of the Gemini. Anyone who spends time with a Gemini native understands that there are many folks appearing from out of that one human body and mind. I have known many Geminis over the years and indeed they are communication specialists and seem forever youthful both in appearance and in demeanor. Often they are great talkers and tend to act as butterflies flying from one rapid social transaction to another. They also tend to forever be on the go.
This month I would like to simply feature a Geminian artist. She is the Vermont artist, Jennifer Countney Barr. Jennifer has been a friend of my wife’s and it has been a pleasure getting to know here and her husband, Rick. Jennifer works in a variety of mediums, but her favorites generally involve works on canvas. Jennifer captures the complexity of color and texture and always produces work that is rich in meaning and theme. She makes amazing collages.
So what makes Ms. Barr particularly Geminian? Well, there are a number of qualities that do. When Jennifer walks into a room she has a youthful appearance and cheeriness that is impossible not to be lifted up by.
Her art is as complex as she is. Best of all, Jennifer is ever changing as is her artwork! The Geminian is forever fascinating.
Behold, then, my Cancerian wife at left and the Geminian artist on the right.
Happy Twinning!
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