{"id":45502,"date":"2019-06-04T12:33:13","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T18:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=45502"},"modified":"2019-07-01T15:49:42","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T21:49:42","slug":"jenni-christensen-welcome-to-my-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/jenni-christensen-welcome-to-my-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Jenni Christensen: Welcome to My Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n“Peonies VII,” etching by Jenni Christensen, photo by John Snyder<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always loved flowers and the garden. The variation is endless.\u201d
\n– Jenni Christensen<\/h4>\n

Although in the high desert of the Great Basin, you could mistake a small patch of Pleasant Grove, Utah, for a flower-filled backyard in Oahu, Hawaii. \u201cThe place isn\u2019t quite as lush as I\u2019d like it,\u201d says Jenni Christensen as she points to hundreds of plants that surround her home, lap pool, and studio. \u201cIt just gets more difficult to keep up as I get older.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Christensen\u2019s life is such a mix of gardening, art making, and domestic living that it\u2019s difficult to determine the delineations, if they even exist. Now that her three children \u2014 Cutler, Anna, and Lili \u2014 are grown and she\u2019s living alone (divorced long ago), almost every room of this 1,876-square-foot brick duplex built on a third of an acre in 1973 has evolved into workspace. Even the kitchen is a workshop when the grandkids visit. \u201cI love making messes with them \u2014 paint, glitter, whatever.\u201d<\/h4>\n
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Jenni Christensen in her living room, with a painting of southern Utah by Royden card, and two watercolors of Hawaii in the background<\/p><\/div>\n

Born in 1949, Christensen lived in Oahu until she was 13 and is \u201cforever impressed by the warmth and variety of the people, spaces, the flowers\u201d found there. She recalls the \u201cgreens\u201d of everything, \u201cthe ebb and flow of the ocean, the islands.\u201d Christensen had an almost-feral youth, as she \u201cdidn\u2019t wear a shirt or shoes\u201d until she was 9 years old. When she reached 6th<\/sup> grade, she had to wear something on her feet \u201cfor at least half the school day, but then walked home barefoot.\u201d This was normal to her, and it wasn\u2019t until she reached adulthood that she appreciated how those early years of sandy feet, sunburned skin, wind-messed hair, and ubiquitous Hawaiian flowers had affected her life and career.<\/h4>\n

Her life as a beach girl ended at 13 when her dad \u201cdecided to be a cowboy\u201d and moved the family to an Idaho ranch in 1962. The artwork of her adult years pulsates with floral influence of that faraway island of her childhood, but not a hint of the un-tropical ranch lands of Idaho, although she acknowledges \u201cswell school-spirited years in Caldwell.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Raised in a Mormon family, Christensen made a natural transition to Provo\u2019s Brigham Young University in 1967. She was drawn to the art department, as it fit her profile of \u201cexploring, dissecting, collecting curious things.\u201d Her early artistic influences were through her music and ballet teachers in junior high and high school, the only \u201creal artists in manner and attitude I met until BYU.\u201d Her maternal grandmother, Pearl Olsen, a writer and poet, also provided inspiration toward Christensen\u2019s artistic side, skills her grandmother \u201choned throughout her life.\u201d<\/h4>\n
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“Sink,” silkscreen print by Jenni Christensen<\/p><\/div>\n

Off the Idaho ranch and into the art studio, Christensen was all in. \u201cOnce I zeroed in on the art department and the folks there, I was on my way.\u201d She found \u201cschool was a time to idealize and fantasize about many things. Anything was possible.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cI was an \u2018art\u2019 student. When I couldn\u2019t be working on art, I would read art books \u2014 books about artist\u2019s lives, writers, dancers, theater folk. My roommates were all art students, my friends were art students. I was completely smitten, submerged in the possibilities.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Motivated by those possibilities, and being guided by critical, but supportive faculty, Christensen was awarded a BFA in craft design (1973) and an MFA in printmaking (1977). \u201cMy time in the MFA program was more a time to work, nurture, and foster my fledgling attitude.\u201d She was drawn to printmaking, first experimenting with silkscreen, then intaglio and the use of aquatint in her studio practice:<\/h4>\n

\u201cStirring up grounds, mixing up mordants, generally cooking up something messy but always interesting in one way or another. I still feel it is the most direct hands-on printmaking process. I draw directly, etch directly, ink with my hands and print. Much of it\u2019s unpredictable, but what a nice (most of the time) conversation with a process. After my plates are etched, the color is wiped on with a tarlatan (ala <\/em>poup\u00e9e<\/em>) and all the colors are printed at one time. It\u2019s difficult for anyone of my prints to be exactly like the one before because they\u2019re inked and printed in a more painterly than precise way, a bit of an understatement.\u201d<\/h4>\n

After graduation and working in Boston at the Experimental Etching Studio and then in Portland at the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Christensen returned to Utah, established her own studio in Pleasant Grove, taught at BYU for 10 years, raised three children with then-husband Day Christensen, and of course, gardened.<\/h4>\n
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A collage making station in the artist’s studio<\/p><\/div>\n

She says her productivity can be attributed to bipolar disorder. Christensen tends to \u201cjump in, make some kind of beginning, and see where and how it goes,\u201d and says her \u201clet it fly\u201d attitude \u201cusually<\/em> results in happy accidents.\u201d The longer she works, \u201cthe more possible solutions\u201d she\u2019s aware of, constantly maintaining \u201ca forward progress, slow but consistent.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Christensen\u2019s work can be divided into four main areas: printmaking, painting on gourds, painting on board, and most recently, collages related to family and friends. This doesn\u2019t include offshoot production of dolls, jewelry, postcards, mosaics, and stained glass.<\/h4>\n

Throughout her long career, Christensen\u2019s love for flowers and other plant life \u2014 more poetic than botanical \u2014 has shown itself in her compositions, her direct unpremeditated line gestures, and strong color sense. Almost all of Christensen\u2019s work (not counting some early silkscreens) \u2014 prints, paintings, and collages \u2014 is floral, whether plucked from her garden or clipped from photographs. Her work laments our threatened natural world and asks viewers and collectors to consider the beautiful aspects of creation \u2014 \u201cfeeling and responding to the beauty that surrounds us, of looking for it, expecting to find it, filling up with it.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cHaving grown up in Hawaii, I had taken the growing things for granted. Flowers seemed innocuous enough \u2014 actually, entertaining \u2014 I became, and still am to some extent, intrigued with their sensuality and infinite variations. The possibilities, as it turned out, continue to challenge and appeal to me. The flowers and plants don\u2019t move (much) or complain; occasionally they die (very poetically)! I\u2019m not so much interested in the botanical correctness as in the overall aesthetics.\u201d<\/h4>\n
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Rows of the artist’s painted gourds on a shelf in her studio<\/p><\/div>\n

Once Christensen moves from one major type of work to another, she seldom returns to a previous genre. Since she decided to stop making prints, she has not placed a single piece of damp rag paper across a zinc plate to pull through a press. That was in 2007, \u201c18 months after my grandparents died.\u201d<\/h4>\n

As she began to transition away from etchings, Christensen started painting on gourds. \u201cGourds \u2014 why not? … they\u2019re just so\u00ad\u00ad \u2026 organic.\u201d To Christensen, the gourd paintings are serious artworks made more interesting because of their \u201cthree-dimensionality\u201d and the challenge of designing, drawing, and painting \u201caround rather than flat.\u201d They also hearken back to Hawaii, where gourds are an integral part of the cultural heritage of the islands.<\/h4>\n

When she launched into this new medium, drawing on a curved surface wasn\u2019t her only challenge. \u201cWhen I started working on them, I didn\u2019t happen to get it right the first time or a couple of dozen times thereafter.\u201d As she learned, each gourd responded differently to whatever colorization she was using \u2014 dyes, stains, and paints. \u201cThere is a certain tediousness \u2014 and a large amount of patience required (of which I\u2019m in short supply) \u2014 to the work and at the same time, different solutions to different problems present many different results.\u201d<\/h4>\n

In her February 1995 Southwest Art<\/em> \u201cBest of West\u201d article, Ellen Rosenbush Methner observed that Christensen\u2019s \u201ctransition to three-dimensional work didn\u2019t happen overnight.\u201d But once she resolved the challenges of working with this new material, her gourds became \u201cawash with tendrils, petals and sprigs of ornamental flowers \u2026 Her luminous colors cover the rounded bodies and serpentine necks.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Just as in her etchings, Christensen\u2019s spontaneity and line control transferred to gourds, \u201ca bridge between printmaking and painting.\u201d She starts work by drawing floral designs directly onto the gourd with a pencil, then incises the line into its skin using an etching needle from her printing supplies. \u201cThen I use oil paint, glazed in layers, to get the color. When the glazes are dry, I mix powdered pigment with mineral oil and rub it all over the gourd, then off the gourd, so that just the lines remain dark [which is the opposite of her etchings which remain white as the ink isn\u2019t rubbed into incised grooves]. Before the final varnish, the negative area is repainted (beefed up), two coats of varnish are applied and I\u2019m done \u2014 hopefully, the gourd is too.\u201d<\/h4>\n
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“Moonflowers,” painted gourd, photo by John Snyder<\/p><\/div>\n

Welcome to My Garden: Selected Works by Jenni Christensen<\/em>, is an exhibition at Brigham Young University\u2019s Gallery 303, curated by its director, Jason Lanegan. Lanegan was stunned when he visited Christensen\u2019s home\/studio, surprised at the extensive work from which he had to choose. Besides the large number of prints \u2014both framed and unframed, but all carefully stored \u2014 she had many paintings on board. Shelves full of painted gourds were carefully kept in a pantry. Work areas were filled with finished and in-process collages and a large supply of pressed and cutout flowers and other images. \u201cI can tell my work is cut out for me,\u201d he commented wide-eyed at her productivity. Fortunately for Lanegan, collectors have purchased Christensen\u2019s work for years, and those works are in their<\/em> homes and businesses across the country, not in the inventory through which he had to sort.<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat I find most impressive about Jenni is her drive and commitment to create,\u201d comments Lanegan.\u00a0\u201cHer unquenchable passion and prolific output are to be respected.\u00a0The result is simply astounding and to be in her \u2018garden\u2019 is a delight for the eyes and heart.\u201d He says he feels it \u201ca privilege to be let into Jenni\u2019s world and be given the opportunity to curate this exhibition. To meet and work with an artist so skilled and widely collected, who also has such an unassuming and sincere demeanor, is a pleasure.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Before she moved on to her most recent medium, collage, Christensen produced two types of paintings \u2014 potted sunflowers and close-ups of tropical plants. The color is bold and vibrant, unlike the subdued, controlled colors in her etchings. \u201cThe sunflower paintings,\u201d she says, \u201cstarted as an homage to Van Gough and then took on a life of their own.\u201d Although her tropical floral series preceded her sunflowers, they also contain the nervous, animated color and brush strokes similar to Van Gough\u2019s. Unlike Christensen\u2019s prints, gourds, and sunflowers that have been previously exhibited, her tropical floral paintings are being shown for the first time by Lanegan. He also premiers the few collages on display, homages as well, this time to family, friends, ancestors, and progeny. \u201cFinally, after trying for so long to be an artist, whatever that is, I realize with great clarity that in the end, what really matters, more than my art career, is my family.\u201d Her collages are an exploration into that recognition.<\/h4>\n
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“My Mother, Bille Jean Olsen,” collage by Jenni Christensen<\/p><\/div>\n

Although a graceful line runs through Christensen\u2019s prints and gourd paintings that serve to tie them together, a not-so-graceful line has run through most of her life. \u201cAt 31, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder,\u201d she says, sitting in her Pleasant Grove living room. \u201cMy life has been fraught with creative highs and despairing lows. There were times when I couldn\u2019t sleep; I couldn\u2019t stop stacking, gluing, piling odds and ends found in the trash, anything around, stuff literally rubber banded together making art; self-medicating; feeling that all I had was my artwork. All I could do was work.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Once the cause of her mood swings and productivity was diagnosed, the inner turmoil that plagued her since early adulthood started to make sense, not only to her, but also to her family and friends. That sensemaking, however, didn\u2019t mean her condition would disappear. \u201cI\u2019ve just had to keep working, to stay ahead of my excessive mood swings.\u201d Working in her studio \u2014 her lifeline \u2014 has helped; but she has also been buttressed with assistance from a good physician, family, friends, neighbors, and trust in her faith. Christensen continues making works of art, managing her struggles, and, when possible, helping those besieged with manic depression. \u201cI encourage others with this disorder to talk it out with someone and seek help.\u201d<\/h4>\n

As Christensen enters her 70th<\/sup> year, she maintains, \u201clife is a gift, but not an easy one.\u201d Her life, however difficult, has seeded a troubled world with beautiful images that can calm troubled hearts. Her invitation: \u201cPlease come into my garden, be encouraged.\u201d<\/h4>\n
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“Magnolias XVIII, Second State,” color etching by Jenni Christensen, photo by John Snyder<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h4>\n

Welcome to My Garden<\/em>, selected works by Jenni Christensen, Gallery 303, BYU Harris Fine Arts Center<\/a>, June 18-July 10; Artist\u2019s Reception June 20, 6-8 p.m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Peonies VII,” etching by Jenni Christensen, photo by John Snyder \u201cI have always loved flowers and the garden. The variation is endless.\u201d – Jenni Christensen Although in the high desert of the Great Basin, you could mistake a small patch of Pleasant Grove, Utah, for a flower-filled backyard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1628,"featured_media":45512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,19,14],"tags":[3481,1165,3480],"class_list":["post-45502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artist_profiles","category-exhibition_reviews","category-visual_arts","tag-gallery-303","tag-jason-lanegan","tag-jenni-christensen"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/11peonies-VII.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 06:34:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1628"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45502"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45519,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45502\/revisions\/45519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}