But if the trees fall, where will the birds sleep?
What will hold the flood? Embrace the Earth?
Draw the soul from my bones so that someday
someday
I might yet get a chance to pay my debts?
Be kind to the trees, Wind
For if they do not stand, I can’t walk
Written during a series of gusting storm fronts that swept through my city over several days. March came in like the proverbial lion this year. I wrote this while the wind howled, my house swayed, the dogwood branches clawed across my windows in the dark, and I just had one request.
Which was granted, after all.
The illustration is a small painting in ink and watercolor.
Today begins the year of the Wood Snake according to the Chinese lunar calendar. In the Chinese zodiac, it seems snakes are associated with wisdom and calm, grounded dispositions, something I think we could all benefit from this year. Last night, I wrote this:
Snow is falling on my street Slow and light Bright against the night
The wind calmed down at last. I draw the blind across the glass and go to bed.
They say the wind will blow again tomorrow So tonight I sleep in blankets deep and the silence of the snow falling on my street.
It’s been dark all day today Dark sky Dark light Dark rooms whispering dark news
But the soft air invites a sweater And the birds talk with me among the dogwood leaves in the rain outside my window
Heavy clouds all day. It was too dark to mix colors, too dark to photograph art. The news of the world was pretty damn dark, too.
But then I fed the wild birds on the porch roof outside my studio window. They were waiting for me, as usual – sparrows and mourning doves, house finches in their subdued red, jays in their glamorous blue. So much gossiping and yakking while they ate.
It didn’t matter that I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Sitting with them, listening to the rain and their voices, feeling that soft, damp, early autumn chill, it gave a strangely profound sense of perspective.
I have been off wandering in the weeds again, trying to figure out how to organize all the new tools and features I’ve been picking up in building my little corner of the online world. I have progress to report.
Behold!
It’s an org chart.
A Jen-style org chart – over-thought, drawn free-hand, complete with smudges and the ghosts of erasures, a big ol’ patch where I messed up in ink, and pencil notes indicating more to come. Terrible photo, I admit, due to having no scanner at the moment and the weather here being so stormy, I can’t get good light even with lamps. Oh, well, it’s a working draft, still in progress. The original is hanging over my desk now.
The point is that it’s all finally starting to make sense. Take a tour with me:
The Studio: This is where I work the magic, all by myself. This is my workspace, home base, refuge, and one-person think tank. Everything flows from here.
The Website: The official online hub for all things Jen Fries Arts. Whatever happens in the Studio ends up here eventually, and everything else revolves around this site. If you’re looking for anything to do with my work, this is the place. Over the next few days, I’ll be adding some tabs, updating some buttons, and sprucing the joint up.
Community: Free, public, via Patreon. The new social media arm of Jen Fries Arts. This the place to find frequent updates on WIPs and the Arting Life, engage in discussions, participate in challenges and prompts, and purchase digital downloads, starting this month. And we can do it all without the intrusive, passive-aggressive shenanigans of the social media platforms.
Patrons: Paid, exclusive, via Patreon. Friends of the Studio who opt to support me with a $5 monthly pledge receive exclusive content and benefits as well as my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation. Patrons will enjoy free downloads, discounts on purchases, backstage looks into my creative processes, discussion threads on art and writing, invitations to events, and more as we go along.
Newsletter: Free, private, via Email. The newsletter is being transformed into a monthly digest of Studio News and Community content for those who prefer to keep things mellow, far from the social media hurly-burly.
Buy: All the legit venues where my work is sold will be listed and linked on this site. Artrepreneur for original artworks. Patreon for digital images and files (coming soon). My email for commissions, licensing, or offline sales. And more to come, including art prints, books, and other stuff currently simmering in my head or in development.
Offline: I’m a real person living in the real world where I do real things. Watch this site for exhibitions, pop-ups, and in-person events. Check out my public, professional network. Someday, there may even be some courses and workshops.
An Alchemy of Dragons is very much alive. Chapter 4 is getting reposted in two parts for more screen-friendly reading length, with additional illustrations. Chapter 5 is written and waiting for its illustrations. Our second protagonist has arrived at last. Chapter 6 is scheduled for this month as well.
And I’ll be exploring the season with some witchy, autumnal moods. Be on the lookout for moons, dreams, and magical stuff.
So hi. How’s it going? It’s been a challenging few weeks, hasn’t it? Yes, it has. It freaking damn well has been challenging. And I’m sure those whose idea of fun is to make life harder than it needs to be have plenty more challenges in store for all of us.
But you know what? The hell with them.
Because you know what else happened since my last post? NASA started receiving the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope, and it’s spectacular! Here is NPR’s report about it.
Our universe is bigger, fuller, and more sparkly than I, for one, dared to hope.
To quote Jane Rigby, operations project scientists for the JWST, “Everywhere we look, there’s galaxies everywhere.”
It’s so wonderful, and honestly, by comparison, I’m just done with all the petty, trivial, back-biting toxicity that some people on our little planet want to waste everyone’s time with.
Look around you. There are galaxies everywhere! And flowers, and bees, and rainbows, and rabbits. The other day, I baked a cake with raspberries from my own garden. Here’s the recipe, courtesy of King Arthur Flour (an employee-owned company; no affiliation): Late Summer Berry Torte. It’s super easy, and you can make it with just about any fruit.
This is what matters in life.
So here’s what we’re not going to do: We’re not going to waste any more time with crap that doesn’t matter. We’re not going to let the bastards take away our rights, ruin our environment, get us sick again, or otherwise make our lives revolve around them, because they are tiny, stupid, pointless, and they don’t matter.
Here’s what we are going to do instead: We’re going to make art and look at art. Read stories and write stories. Eat yummy things. We’re going to keep everybody’s rights – period. We’re going to keep transitioning to clean energy and saving Planet Earth – period. We’re going to pay attention to the countless galaxies and stars sparking like jewels out there in the forever and ever.
And we’re going to know that this is the reality we all live in together, not some bleak, zero-sum, dead-end bullshit a certain bunch of raging randos dreamed up for themselves.
In the Reality Universe, we live in light, color, sparkles, and bunnies, and we have cake, so we win.
Sound like a plan? Good. Let’s get on it.
Updates from the Studio:
Summer Exhibition: “From Dark to Light,” July 14 – August 20, at the Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville. Visit their website for details and directions. I will be showing one of my Blue Lake paintings.
Poetry: Four new poems are up for reading. Click the Books & Writing tab to check them out. They were all written one sunny day when I was trying to work on my porch but got distracted by the perfection of the afternoon.
Web Novel: An Alchemy of Dragons, Chapter 1, is coming next week, around July 20, hopefully. Here’s a rough hint about the in-progress illustrations, from my sketchbook:
June is one of those times, isn’t it? It’s a quarter month, when the year takes another turn. The summer solstice is – checks calendar – Tuesday. Already! Omg. Things are happening. The garden is blooming, bees all over the place, beans shooting up. The baby birds are flying. I can’t help but keep moving, too.
Three new small paintings are in the Shop now. Two abstract landscapes and one representative image of the moon over my street at 2:00 in the morning. I’ve been working late a lot. See below, and Shop here.
My second ever poem to be released in public is up. Titled “Spilled Ink,” it tells the story of the painting of Abstract Landscape 6, and I think something more as well. Read it here.
An Alchemy of Dragons continues in progress. The beginning is the most daunting part of an adventure, don’t you think? It’s the first and potentially most fatal test of one’s competence. I have to start a key set of wheels turning in these first chapters, and I admit, it’s taking longer to get it right than I’d hoped. But I think it will be worth it. Aiming for July on that one. Be sure to sign up for the Newsletter for alerts when chapters are posted.
Finally, I’ve taken on a new project, a commission, which will stay a secret for now. It’s pretty big. I have no idea how long it will take to finish. I will post hints and progress reports as I go.
It’s actually a bit intimidating when I list it all out like this. It’s all been happening in just the past few weeks. Sometimes, I don’t even feel the pace of work, like the dizzying speed of the Earth’s rotation, and I have no idea where I am in my To-Do list, just as I have no innate sense of where I am on the planet. I’m just here, now, doing whatever I’m doing – painting, drawing, writing, business, gardening, house stuff, people stuff, world stuff, giving a freaking interview for crying out loud, making good on commitments, oy-geez.
Maybe I just need to put my nose back down on its comfy grindstone and avoid that big-picture perspective thing for a while.
Welcome to Aeldreth, where gods live among mortals, magic is mundane, and two unlikely heroes stand between an ancient curse of poison and hate and the very soul of the world.
Erran Fox, a Ranger of the Earth Realm, loves his job. He gets plenty of fresh air, time to himself, and keeps well clear of his family’s politics. That is, until he is sent to quell a rampaging wyvern and runs into a web of conspiracies, lies, and a mysterious bard who might be as dangerous as the dragon itself.
When the wyvern’s blood gem is stolen, Erran must find it before its deadly magic spreads. Is there anyone he can trust as he chases the thief through a maze of sorcery, betrayals, and enemies from his own past?
Iarius Venzo, the Bard of Perna, has many faces and many secrets. In bawdy taverns or glimmering palaces, weaving lovers’ dreams or royal plots, there is purpose in all he does. That is, until he tangles with a mad wyvern and a dedicated Ranger who is more than he seems and won’t take no for an answer.
With Fox at his heels, and treachery hidden everywhere, can Iarius pull off the most delicate and dangerous gamble of his life? Or will the Realm and his own fate unravel in his hands?
From magical cabals, to enchanted hearts, and one mystical beast after another, Erran and Iarius race against time to save the land – and themselves – from An Alchemy of Dragons.
The full description of the upcoming web novel!
I’m having so much fun writing it. I’m pretty confident you’ll enjoy reading it, too. Sign up for the newsletter to get email updates when chapters are posted.
In addition, a new poem,” Spilled Ink,” is up for reading. Check out it and the novel info on the Writing & Books tab.
Also, three new small paintings will be added to the Shop soon. Watch this space.
News! I was recently interviewed for The Somerville Times by poet, publisher, and arts editor, Doug Holder. We touched on my personal history, my creative process in art and writing, and my sources of inspiration.
It’s perhaps a little more of a glimpse behind the curtain than I often give out, and I’m excited to share it with you all. It’s drawing me out of my burrow, as it were, just a bit.
I’d like to thank Doug for his kind interest in my work and for asking wonderful questions that made it easy for a recluse like me to talk about myself.
Please click on the shiny new Writing & Books tab.
At long last, the Letters half of the classic Arts & Letters combo has arrived. Wait until you see – omg, I’m so happy about it.
Writing & Books is the index page to my written works. You can read the stuff, comment on the stuff, follow the stuff. Eventually, you will be able to order print editions via that page. At some point, I will likely add artist books and zines as well. Basically, anything bookish goes under Writing & Books.
So what is it, exactly, that I do write?
Well, similar to my visual arts, I like to switch and blend genres. You may choose among fantasies, mysteries, romances, or thrillers, but they are all linked by certain common themes. Just as nature, memory, and dreams run through all my artworks, so I think you’ll find most of my writing deals with emotions, relationships, and wild, sometimes dangerous landscapes, both external and internal.
Right now, you can dive into four of my 50-word micro-stories: “To the New World,” “The Runaways,” “A Lot of Frogs to Kiss,” and “Faith.”
Some of you may remember my 50-word story challenges, based on a surrealist word game, in which a complete story had to be told in precisely fifty words, no more, no less. I liked to raise the ante by randomly pre-selecting five of the words, which every participant had to use in their stories. It’s actually quite a lot of fun.
You can also read the very first poem I feel brave enough to show to anyone, “Night, April.”
Inspired by the American-style haiku of such intimidating giants as Ezra Pound and Allen Ginsberg, I decided to experiment with this form because why the hell not? To me, this is such a perfect and basic form of expression – to capture the essence of a moment, to make a picture in words of ephemeral experience – I really think everyone should try their hand at something haiku-esque, just to get the feel of it – the feel of one’s feelings. Go and take a look, and let me know what you think of my effort.
Finally, there’s the big project. Oh, boy, this is the one that’ll have you saying “Wow, Jen, you really went off the edge this time.”
Yeah, you’re damn right. I’m going straight off the edge – of the map – where there be dragons. A whole alchemy of them, in fact.
An Alchemy of Dragons
One peace-loving ranger with a past. One audacious bard with an agenda. And one deadly conspiracy – with dragons.
You’re not hallucinating. It is, indeed, a fantasy novel. What’s more, it’s a serialized web novel, which means it will be a hell of a lot longer than a haiku or some fifty words. It will be posted on this site by chapters, as they are written. It will probably be illustrated, too.
Now granted, fantasy is not everyone’s cup of tea, but we don’t drink tea here at the Jen Fries Arts studio – we spill it. (Actually, we do drink tea, every day, but you get what I mean.)
Yes, An Alchemy of Dragons will feature both swords and sorcery. It will have creatures and fancy outfits and very high stakes, but this is not going to be that Dungeons and Dragons or Lord of the Rings type stuff.
This is a Jen Fries project.
So check out the stories and poetry, reacquaint yourselves with the artwork, and you’ll get a sense of what you’ll be in for. I think you might enjoy it, and I hope you’ll give it a try. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter, if you haven’t already, to get email notifications when chapters are posted.
In other news, it’s spring time. And yes, a lot of shit is happening in the world, but the trees and bulbs are flowering and the birds are courting, and that’s what I’ve decided to focus on. Look for an upcoming blog post about spring time artwork, soon. Also please visit the Shop for seasonal works available now.
Jen Fries Arts 