New "Eyes", New Work

The other day I was going through the photos on my computer, deleting duplicates and bad images etc. I came across some images of the first pieces I painted in my Forgotten Memories series. These were dated 2009. I remember being excited back then about my new work and I was proud of myself for challenging my skills and painting people, something I had never done before. It was a turning point in my career as an artist and it is because of these pieces that I have shown in so many galleries.

I, fortunately, do not have any of these paintings still in my studio. They have all been sold and are living in someone else's home. Because of this, I haven't really had a chance to look back at these pieces and reflect on them. I never really felt the need to look at the old photographs, either. It wasn't until I did that I realized how far my work has come. I realize that my skills have improved tremendously, which shouldn't be so surprising since back then I had never painted people before and now I have been doing it for five years (WOW, five years? Has it really been THAT long???). But what shocked me was how much I have changed as an artist, and by this I don't mean my subjects or my techniques. My skills have change (for the better) and more importantly, how I see things and what I find "acceptable" as a finished product has changed. A LOT. I look at these older pieces and I see so much that I could have improved. I see so many mistakes. I see so many things that could be worked on that I NEVER noticed back them. This is not my being over-critical about my past and thinking everything I've done now sucks. Some of the pieces are quite good. But what I deemed as good or acceptable back then for most of those early pieces clearly isn't okay anymore.

It's natural to grow and change as we get older and continue to make art. I think over the years I have definitely matured as an artist. My "eyes" have improved along with my skills and I can see better now. It's nice to look back every once and awhile and see this growth. It's not something you can do too often since it takes time for growth to happen and to be apparent. But now that I have seen it, I am so happy with my progress and even happier with where my art is now going.

Here are the first five pieces of my yet to be titled series. I hope you like what you see and feel free to comment about them on my blog.

"Pretty in Pink", 36"x36"
oil and encaustic wax on panel

Untitled: Blue, 36"x36"
oil and encaustic wax on panel

"Smile for the Camera", 20"x16"
oil and encaustic wax on panel

Untitled:Yellow, 20"x24"
oil and encaustic wax on panel

"Fleur de Lys" 30"x24"
oil and encaustic wax on panel

It's Been a Long Time

It's been a long time since I have written anything on this blog...since July 2013 to be exact. Last year was an interesting year, to say the least, and I wasn't in the right mind frame to do much of anything, including writing or painting. It was filled with a lot of frustration and heartache that came from my body refusing to do what I wanted it to do, this then causing my creativity to shut down. It was a hard year to feel like I should be creating but not able to do anything about it. I am really good at making myself feel guilty about things like this, which only makes matters worse. But today is a new year and with this new year comes a commitment to write more and, of course, to paint more.

Albert, our dog we adopted in June, is such a character!

This year I will be working on a new series that has me excited and inspired (some of you have had peeks of of the new work on Facebook). I have just completed five pieces (as soon as I have them photographed I will add them on this blog) with a few more in the works. The bulk of these new pieces will be shipped to a new gallery in Charlotte, NC, which will have it's grand opening on February 6th. A few of these pieces will also be available at JoAnne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA. I am hoping to have a few more galleries showing this work, so stay tuned.

Along with a lot of painting this year, Ben and I are planning on adopting! We are working with an agency that works with children that are in the foster care system and are hoping to get one to two children (siblings of the same sex) under the age of three. We have already completed our training and paperwork (which was pretty hefty) and are now waiting to get our home study done. I am hoping (keep your fingers crossed!) that we will have a little one by summer.

Happy New Year from the Morse Family!

A lot of great and exciting things are in the works for the Alvarado/ Morse family this year. Some of these things will be challenging, and I truthfully, I can't wait to face them head on. I am ready for 2014 to be a great year! Happy New Year everyone!!

Here are my "2014 Goals/ Resolutions":
1. Continue to write in my blog and keep it updated.
2. Paint at least 15-20 hours a week.
3. Kick ass on this new series
4. Have at least one solo show/ featured artist show this year.
5. Try something new once a month.
6. Keep a gratitude journal.

"Storytellers: New Work by Jhina Alvarado" at Julie Nester Gallery

I am very pleased to present the following paintings which will be part of of my show, "Storytellers", at Julie Nester Gallery. The show opens July 26th and runs through August 27th.

Storytellers

New Paintings by

Jhina Alvarado

July 26th- August 27th

Julie Nester Gallery

1280 Iron Horse Dr, Park City UT

www.julienestergallery.com

"Oh Dear", 30"x30" oil and encaustic wax on panel

"Sunbathers", 24"x30" oil and encaustic wax on panel

"Shy Girl",  30"x40" oil and encaustic wax on panel
 

"Football Player", 24"x24"  oil, graphite, and encaustic wax on panel

"Polishing Shoes", 20"x40" diptych, oil, graphite, and encaustic wax on panel

"The Twins",  30"x30"  oil and encaustic wax on panel

"Finding Our Way", 40"x30" oil and encaustic wax on panel

"Soaring High", 30"x40" oil and encaustic wax

Today's work

Just a little something I'm working on in between studying calculus and trigonometry...

Features Within the Shadows

It's been a slow couple of weeks in the studio for me. I haven't been painting much. It is not because I don't have any deadlines, I have a two person show coming up in August with Julie Nester Gallery, and it's definitely not because I lack inspiration. I have three pieces drawn out just waiting to be painted. I guess lately I just haven't been motivated to paint. I realize that motivation can come and go, but for someone like me who always seems to be working on something, this was not something I wanted. I wasn't too worried about it at first since I am supposed to be relaxing more. My stress levels can get pretty high and it has been affecting my health so I have been trying to do more "calming" things like massages, exercise, naps, and reading. But now it has been over two weeks, I'm bored, and I need to get back to work. So how does one motivate onseself to get back "on the saddle again"? I guess for me I need to be a Nike ad and "just do it". I find the hardest part is just getting myself downstairs into my studio. It may seem silly considering my studio is in my house, but sometimes I have to trick or bribe myself to get down there. Once I am there, it's usually pretty easy to get some work done, even if it's for a short while.  Coincidently, Brooke Shaden, a photographer in Southern California, recently wrote a blog post on how to get motivated. Between reading her article, and dragging myself downstairs, I actually got some work done yesterday.

The man looking down on the right has almost no visible details on his face.

My two current pieces that I worked on have a lot of interesting shadows on the subject's face. I love painting high contrast pieces and these, with some of the faces in mostly shadow, were especially fun. One would think that it would be easy to just paint a dark, abstract shape and the face would be taken care of, especially in the case of the first piece where the second man's face really doesn't show much of the features, but there is more too it than just a dark mass. Even when I can't see what is going on, I imagine what shapes are underneath the shadows. I paint slight gradients of the dark color in order to give an impression that there is a face there. Even though you can't see much of the details I am adding, if I didn't do this, the shadow would look flat, as if some 2-dimensional absract object just landed on his face. I'm pretty sure that is not the look I want to achieve. I do this with clothing that looks as if there is not much detail because the fabric is black or in shadow. Sometimes if I squint really hard I can see some gradients in the reference photograph, but more often than not, I have to imagine what is there. This is true for white areas where the sun is bleaching out any details of the subject.

The little girl on the left was fun to paint. I had to get the profile perfect since
once again, there is not much detail in the face.

The two paintings I am working on are still in the very early stages so I still have more details to add in the really dark areas. Once I finish painting and waxing the piece you may not be able to see what I did in those areas but I can guarantee that if I didn't add details there, you would notice the flat objects that mysteriously landed on their faces.

Images from "Storytellers" at Manna Gallery

Friday's opening was a lot of fun. There was over a thousand people who showed up and my work was overwhelmingly appreciated and liked. It was such a great feeling to hear how many people really like my work, especially since this was the first show for this new series. If you missed the first Friday opening, fear not. I will be there for the first Friday reception in May since the show runs through May 11th. Below you will find images of the show before the massive crowds showed up. Ben, my husband, also put a very short video together on his phone while he was at the opening. Poor guy had to hang out with me at the gallery on his birthday.

Here's a little review of the show:
Daily Californian article by AJ Kiyoizumi

Oakland revived by Art Murmur

“Storytellers”

If you enjoy people-watching, you will enjoy Jhina Alvarado-Morse’s vintage film-still protagonists in her newest series, “Storytellers,” opening at Manna Gallery on Friday. Our habit of contemplating a person’s life based on a glance causes us to imagine pasts and futures for Alvarado-Morse’s familiar-seeming subjects — and you don’t have to worry about feeling creepy staring at canvases rather than people.

Each subject, paired with minimal surroundings, seems to envisage their futures or desires as realities, causing the viewer to dream for them as well. In “Soaring High,” an aviator rests below a soaring bird. A similarly titled piece, “Flying High,”depicts a handsome man mid-dive with nothing below him save for a shiny thin strip of graphite at the bottom of the canvas. The mid-century styled characters draw faint similarities to John Baldessari’s figures, but instead of amusing or shocking us, they gently endear viewers with their curiosity and earnestness.

The artist, who was named one of San Francisco’s Top 20 Artists by Asterisk San Francisco Magazine, will be present at the gallery from 3 to 6 p.m.

Manna Gallery

473 25th St

Oakland, CA

Paintings by Linn Thygeson

Review of "Storytellers" in Daily Californian

Daily Californian article by AJ Kiyoizumi

Oakland revived by Art Murmur

“Storytellers”
If you enjoy people-watching, you will enjoy Jhina Alvarado-Morse’s vintage film-still protagonists in her newest series, “Storytellers,” opening at Manna Gallery on Friday. Our habit of contemplating a person’s life based on a glance causes us to imagine pasts and futures for Alvarado-Morse’s familiar-seeming subjects — and you don’t have to worry about feeling creepy staring at canvases rather than people.

Each subject, paired with minimal surroundings, seems to envisage their futures or desires as realities, causing the viewer to dream for them as well. In “Soaring High,” an aviator rests below a soaring bird. A similarly titled piece, “Flying High,”depicts a handsome man mid-dive with nothing below him save for a shiny thin strip of graphite at the bottom of the canvas. The mid-century styled characters draw faint similarities to John Baldessari’s figures, but instead of amusing or shocking us, they gently endear viewers with their curiosity and earnestness.

The artist, who was named one of San Francisco’s Top 20 Artists by Asterisk San Francisco Magazine, will be present at the gallery from 3 to 6 p.m.

Manna Gallery
473 25th St
Oakland, CA