Tonia Jenny - Incite 3: The Art Of Storytelling: Incite: The Best of Mixed Media Series, Book 3

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Google the Destination | LOIS PARKS DECASTRO

36" 48" (91cm 122cm)

Mixed media collage on canvas

Google the Destination explores hopes, dreams and a fantasy that became conscious as I worked. The fantasy went like this

If only I had a Great Navigation System where I could enter my highest hopes and craziest dreams and receive from it a road map, with precise instructions for how to get to wherever I want to go. My Great Nav can route me to great riches and achievements, and it maps out what to study, who I had to know, and exactly what to dostep-by-step and turn-by-turn. No roadblocks, detours or highways. The path Im offered to my dreams will be paved, smooth and certain. My dream navigation machine knows how to lead me to absolutely everything. And, if I stray off course, a reassuring voice will guide me back on my journey until I reach my destination. If only I had a Great Nav for my hopes and dreams.

INTRODUCTION
The Art of Storytelling

PART ONE
Stories from the Outside

PART TWO
Stories from Within

If You Want to Get Lost, Follow Me | CATHY NICHOLS

24" 30" (61m 76cm)

Encaustic with oil paint, paper and rhinestone accents on cradled wood panel

This painting is a love story and it reflects the paradox of falling in love. On the one hand, you are open to the possibility of losing yourselfof being unmoored and bewildered. Yet, when you get lost in love, you are also setting out for a dreamlike adventure. The pair in this painting is open to both possibilities. I used encaustic medium to imbue the piece not only with joyous poetry, color and gems, but also with the dents and scratches of loves dangerous journey.

If youve never been to Squam Lake, I highly recommend putting it on your bucket list. I can easily recall my special experience therethe time I attended Squam Art Workshops. It was truly one of the most beautiful musky, magical-forest, at-one-with-trees-mushrooms-water-and-silence experiences Ive ever had.

The first day my class was with Alena Hennessy, and it was called Joy of Intention. Alena had us begin class outside with some breathing and light yoga to warm up our minds, bodies and spirits. At one point we were told to share the first word that came into our head. I said acceptance. I would never have hand-picked that word; it seemed so... predictable. Whether we loved our word or not, it was to become a part of the intention we would set by the end of the day.

After we were done stretching and breathing, we were told to walk around a bit, observe things we liked the composition of, and then, create a series of small thumbnails to capture the essence of what we saw. I felt stymied. Instead of walking around, I was compelled to sit under the picnic pagoda that was our gathering place. I looked out across the field at the trees, I looked down at the ground, and I looked at the structure of the pagoda itself. I also jotted down a few little words or thoughts that came to me while looking at the sketches I made.

Not all stories have to make sense, but the important ones need to be told. You are the vehicle to do this with your art. Allow your paint brush to have a voice in the tale by trusting it to dance on the canvas as you play the music. All you need is one word, one stroke, one voice to start.

jodi ohl

As I sat there thinking about all of this, and making little sketches, the a-ha moment came. All of the structures I was drawing were made from wood. Trees are wood. I love trees just as they are, yet they also provide us with a substance to build witha distinct purpose. The most revealing thing here for me was the realization that while the tree does have its wood to offer mankind, it also serves a purpose (albeit a type of higher purpose if you will) just being. And the tree does not go on a search everyday looking for someone to give its wood to; it lets us come to it for what we need. This was a huge revelation for me as someone who hunts tirelessly for how to deliver my own life purpose.

Art is your voice, with it you can say what you want; so make sure what you say is worth hearing.

orin c. carpenter

The art I created that day from my sketch of the trees and pagoda was the most fulfilling painting that Id ever created up to that point. I now have a piece of art that acts not only as a memento of a special day, but one that continually retells a poignant story.

Welcome to the third edition of Incite! We all love a good story and as artists, whether we realize it or not, we are all storytellers!

Reading through the stories in this fabulous collection, it became clear to me that they tend to fall into two camps: stories that happen on the outside (other beingspeople we admire or pets, favorite or memorable places, eventshistorical or personal celebrations, brushes with nature, etc.) and those that happen within (life lessons, dreams, language, personal symbolism, emotions, fears, identities, challenges, expressions, encounters with the spiritual, nature as an extension of the self and the abstract or intangible).

These two directions for the story then became the two sections for this book. While much of the art youll see speaks for itself, I encourage you to take the time to read the artists stories that accompany the art. You have countless stories within you, and its my hope Incite 3 will inspire you to tell more of them through your art, regardless of the type of stories they are.

Enjoy the stories! TONIA JENNY

The people, places and things around us often provide more than ample inspiration for great works of art. For most of the artists in this section, it was a particular person from their past (or present), a memorable place they visited or something that stands as an important symbol that prompted their art making.