This week’s featured artist: John Jensen, Board of Directors; member since 1985:
ME: I was talking to a friend on the phone the other day. I hadn’t spoken to him in over 40 years. He wanted to know what I had become. I just said I was “some kind of artist.” It’s hard to be more specific than that because I’ve worked in so many media and continue to try new things. I was a writer and a poet in high school, but I hadn’t written anything to speak of in 35 years until year before last when I wrote an award-winning movie script. I started oil painting when I was thirteen, photography when I was 17, watercolors when I was thirty. I moved to Annapolis when I was 40 and soon opened a pottery business. I spent fifteen years studying the figure in clay, including dozens of portrait busts. I embraced digital media when the digital cameras hit the market and learned to edit still photography and then video. I learned web design and programming . I also play blues and other American roots music at 49 West Street Cafe and Wine Bar every Saturday from 4-6 PM.
MY ART: Lately I’ve been exploring the production of the most primitive forms of pottery: Work which is hand-made and fired in an open bonfire or pit. Simplest forms allow the smoke and fire effects to show most clearly. I’ve been giving workshops with the Clay Connection Mid Atlantic Clay Conference in Virginia for a few years and have been including this method of firing in the pottery classes which I teach at St. John’s College in Annapolis for about the same amount of time. Visit my website: /www.johnjensenartist.com.
MFA & ME: I’ve made quite few short films in the last few years including a documentary on the Maryland Federation of Art, which was inspired by the celebration of its fiftieth year of operation. I first joined the MFA when I moved to Annapolis in 1985 and have been on the board for about four years. Being involved with the MFA has put me in touch with a lot of people who also highly value art. To see the MFA 50th Anniversary Video and other videos I’ve posted to YouTube, visit: www.youtube.com/user/homewoodpottery.
Spread the word about…YOU: Every week, we feature an MFA member for “Me & My Art Monday.” If you would like to be featured, please submit a photo and three paragraphs: one each about YOU, YOUR ART, and MFA & YOU totaling approximately 350 words, to meandmyart@mdfedart.org.
