Dowd closes books at Teton Art Lab; LMC marks First Friday of ’08; Eddy hows landscapes at PSB

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

By Kate Balog

Jackson Hole, Wyoming - In her new installation at Teton Art Lab, Jenny Dowd studies the book as the subject of her art. She constructs incredibly heavy books out of porcelain, fiber and wax and displays them on her handmade paper shelves, which she welds herself.

The irony is that you cannot open these books or read them. The book, as it appears, becomes the art, not the content inside.

Dowd earned her MFA in ceramics and fibers in 2005 at the University of Missouri. Her ceramic works have been exhibited in juried exhibitions across the United States, and she received first place for her porcelain, fabric, graphite and wax sculpture, “Small Wrapped Books,” in the LSU Union Art Gallery 2006 national competition.

After teaching at the University of Central Missouri, Dowd decided to join her husband,
Sam, also an artist, to live full time in Jackson. Sam is the head of the ceramics department at the Art Association and will have his own installation in Teton Art Lab later in the month.

Jenny will teach two classes at the Art Association this coming season: Craft Tuesdays!, during which she’ll explore four themes – basketry, papermaking, book binding and mono-prints – over four Tuesdays in February. She will also teach fibers later in January.

“A Silent Dialogue: Sculpture by Jenny Dowd” opens on Jan. 4 with a reception 5:30-7:30 p.m. The show will hang through Jan 30. Teton Art Lab is located next to Teton Thai at 135 N. Cache #5.

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Also on Friday, Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary hosts another First Friday event.
Featured artists are two local artist – Dan Burgette and Wes Timmerman – who capture their subjects in the wild.

Burgette is a retired Grand Teton National Park rescue ranger and expert decoy carver who capture the flight patterns of birds in his sculptures. He manages to convey the fleeting, ethereal elements of flight by combining the heavy, stationary materials of wood, metal and sometimes stone.

Timmerman has been a Jackson contractor for 30 years. His photography has evolved from landscapes to an abstract interpretation on nature that focuses on texture and pattern. He tends to discover details that are often overlooked by viewers, such as the mineral-infused walls and lichen-covered rocks of the Grand Canyon.

Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, located at 130 S. Jackson St., kicks off a year of First Fridays 5:30-7:30 p.m. Both artists will be present to discuss their work. Contact the gallery at (307) 734-0649.

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Samantha Eddy is a full time mother of two preschool-age children who rediscovered art as a way to create balance in her life and have a personal outlet after her children were born.

Currently, she has 17 pieces hanging at Pearl Street Bagels, which will remain until Jan 15.  Most of the landscapes in the show were produced in oil pastels, a medium she prefers since they are transportable and easy for her work in the field. Two of the 17 pieces are in acrylic.

Raised in Connecticut by artist parents, Eddy moved to Jackson in 1991 after studying studio art, printmaking and art history in college.
This is Eddy’s third show at PSB. The first two were in 2004 and 2006. In early 2009, she will exhibit at the Brew Pub.

Stop by Pearl Street Bagels at 145 West Pearl and check out her lovely, vibrant work.

Photo: Jenny Dowd’s “Books about Pods and String”

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Dowd closes books at Teton Art Lab; LMC marks First Friday of ’08; Eddy hows landscapes at PSB | Planet JH News Article: Arts Beat

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