November 1, 2008
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2008
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Articleby Lucy Purdy
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Having returned to school to complete a degree in fine arts at Georgian College, artist Jeanette Luchese Jacobs sees her success in the simple terms of fulfilling a dream she had put on hold. Although Jacobs has been a professional graphic designer for the last 25 years, there was much for her to explore in terms of painting.
“Ultimately, you get better with what you’re doing and you learn to communicate what’s important to you as best you can. And you hope that it stirs something in people so they can relate to it or that it can impart some kind of value,” she said of her artwork. Jacobs is one of the top students taking part in the Annual School of Design and Visual Art Scholarship Show, which runs until May 21 at the Campus Gallery of Georgian College, in Barrie. As a third year student, she was honoured with the award for Fine Arts Excellence in Studio. Also featured in the show will be the work of students from the Art and Design Fundamentals, Fine Arts, Interior Design, Jewelry and Metals, Graphic Design and Digital Photography and Imaging programs. Luchese-Jacobs recently held her first solo show, Emerging, for The Barrie Art Club’s March exhibit. The display featured a number of visually striking colour relationships and the emotional intensity of spontaneity, as it was channelled through Jacobs’ mind and energy. One of her pieces, Blue Day in Black, was also part of the art club’s exhibit, Equinox, which was on during the month of April in City Hall Rotunda, and highlighted the diversity and talent of many local artists. Jacobs’s acrylic pieces are aptly named with monikers like Red Day in Black, Blue Day or Explosive by Nature. “The sensory aspect of colour seems to fit because I don’t begin with any preconceived notion when I start the work,” Jacobs noted. After discovering the Barrie Art Club, and witnessing others fulfilling their passion, Jacobs became inspired to enroll in the college program and plans to go on to do a masters degree. She has also been encouraged after being the recent recipient of the Juror’s Choice Award at the South Simcoe Arts Council and Millpond Gallery Emerging Artist Exhibition. Jacobs sees her multi-layered style as non-representational, and views her work as inner landscapes, created in the spirit of the moment, driven by inner necessity. “A lot of it is an exploration of identity … my art is emotional impulses made real through the act of creating a free flow of inner consciousness. It’s very much a journey of reconnecting or trying to find out if there’s an artistic voice within,” she observed. Motivated by an urge to create, Jacobs takes the approach of experimentation and after tapping into the intuitive, the results is spontaneous mark making. Sometimes she surprises herself. Sometimes she wonders why she has not produced a picture of nice flowers. While Jacobs had graduated from Sheridan College for Graphic Design, she was still haunted for many years about the idea of formally pursing her art education further. As a mature student, she is excited about learning as much as possible as quickly as possible. “With age, you know that what you’re doing is a gift. Not a lot of people give it to themselves. You’re more focused, more eager to learn and willing to explore every avenue and put in the extra effort. It’s like making up for lost time.” The SDVA Scholarship Show hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday until May 21, in the Campus Gallery in the Helen and Arch Brown Centre for Visual Art (D Building). Lucy Purdy |