Jes Lee

It is a wild ride sometimes

The last couple of weeks have flown by much faster than expected.
March 1st brought the opening of my solo exhibition at Anoka Ramsey Community College. I couldn’t be happier with it! It is so exciting to have my artwork up where this journey all began for me! This was also the first solo exhibition that I have had my books included in. I was actually able to make sure they were placed out in the open so people could look through them. After many discussions with some of the other book artists at MCBA, I have decided how very important it is to be able to touch books and page through them, that many book art pieces lose meaning when they are just behind glass in a case or podium. I plan to make as many of my book pieces accessible to their audience. I think that is part of the magic.

I had many friends and family members come to the reception. It means so much to me to have them come and share these events! These shows are huge to me. Each one is special and requires a lot of work and preparation, and I miss a lot of fun times when I am working so hard on these, but it is really cool to be able to share the end results with everyone. I met many of the sculpture students that night as well, and after the reception, I was able to bring a few friends over to watch the bronze pour that was going on in the art building next door. That never stops being magical to me. I remember watching many times when I was in college and having a chance to watch that night brought back a lot of very happy memories.

That show will be up on the walls at Anoka Ramsey until March 31st. If you have a chance, go see it. And then walk over and see the new art building! It is cool!

Now I am busy with getting work done for the MCBA Artist Co-op show that will be up at the Anderson Center down in Red Wing this May. We are creating an exhibition catalog for this show, and I am in charge of photography for the book. I love having the opportunity to work with all of these amazing artists that are in the Co-op with me. It is so inspiring, and has given me so many new ideas of where to go next with my work. I am hoping that this year is full of me making new things! (It better be, I have a big show coming up next March that I need new work for!!)

I have been working for some time on updating my website, as I have a lot of new work to include. Of course, this has gotten more difficult than me and my wonderful webmaster first anticipated. We are now working on moving my website and blog in a totally different direction. This will mean quite a bit of work on my part, and it won’t be done quickly. I am excited for the results though. Stay tuned!
Until next time,
~Peace~