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Jen Herzig Smith : Artist

Get a notebook that feels good to write and draw in. One that is a good size, that will fit your lifestyle. Take it wherever you go. Live with it. Sleep with it. Feed it daily with your ideas. Nurture the relationship you have. Whatever you need to do to become best friends. So, on the days when you feel confused or stuck you can go back and look through it. Sometimes your notebook is the only one that understands what’s going on.

 

Jen Herzig Smith

from Deepwell by Sara Tiefenbrun

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BREATHING CHAPARRAL

 

Inhaling steadily, exhaling gently into the fieriness of developing Manzanita skin and glistening like Mountain Mahogany. 

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JEN HERZIG SMITH IS AN ARTIST

 

In addition to owning a letterpress business where she designed invitations, stationery and artworks Jen Herzig Smith has worked on collaborative print and bookmaking projects, has been a freelance graphic designer for individuals and small businesses and worked in corporate branding. Over 30 years alongside her design profession, Jen has continued to create work in mixed media painting, installation, printmaking and bookmaking. Her recent work has been shown in The Terrain Biennial 2023 in Wales,  Terrain Biennial 2023 in Los Angeles, The Terrain Biennial 2021, Red Chair Studios, and A Little Space Gallery.

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photograph by BarbaraHashimoto.com

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CREATING INK AND ART WITH PLANTS

 

Like the lines and scars on my body, truth comes from working with plants. This practice keeps the door open for depth and raw earthiness to walk through.​

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TENDING THIS GARDEN

 

Working with native plants in Eagle Rock, a Northeast Los Angeles Community on Tongva/Gabrielino land with the question living in my heart, "What kind of ancestor do you want to be?"

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MAKING INK JOY

 

This process is connection. The bubbling inside the pot or the warmth of the sun. A reflection, whiff, or the thinnest spine of the tiniest leaf. Noticing something for the first time, almost every time.

REFUGIUM

 

Here with you California.

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