Etudes: A Daily Practice--Jane Dunnewold

When I recently took the Improvisational Screen Printing class with Jane, she took us up to the Hite Gallery to give us a private gallery talk about her work in the "Etudes" exhibit. Wow, what an opportunity. She told us all about the pieces--what she was thinking, how some were named, how she got the look she was going for, what some of the symbolism meant, etc. It was very enlightening.


I want to share some of the pieces with you. They are mixed media pieces created using cotton and silk over an industial grade backing. Processes included screen-printing, devore (burnout), lamination of both paper and metal leaf, sanding, fusing, and drawing/writing. She also used vintage Bible pages, musical scores, re-purposed clothing, sand, paint, and hand stitching in the pieces. Most of the pieces are approximately 12" X 44".


I apologize for not getting all the names down. There were VERY small numbers beside each piece that related back to the names of each piece in the gallery handout. My camera didn't capture the numbers clearly, so I couldn't match them up when I got home. I remembered a few of them.

The picture below is called "Choir: A Capella" and measures 12" X 48".

 Closeup of the piece above.

 The piece below is called "Etude 28: Counterpoint" and measures 12" X 44".

Below--"Etude 34: Arabesque: Adagio"

 Closeup of "Etude 34: Arabesque: Adagio"

 This piece used small bits of what looked like a crazy quilt to add color to it.

 Here, Jane talks about the piece. This one is called "Etude 21: Retreat Adagio." It includes a piece of a blouse.

The next piece uses a piece of a blouse and a tissue paper pattern piece.

 Here is a close up.

 I like the vertical "slivers" in this piece.

 Close up.

Pages of music are used in this piece.

 Bits of color and gold leaf are added here.

 A flour-paste resist was used on the background of these pieces.

 Dyeing the fabric with India ink gave Jane the color she was looking for.

 She said she has used this screen print of birds in many pieces.

As I said, this is just a small sampling of the exhibit. There are 48 pieces in all.

In Jane's words..."These 48 studies sprang from a four-month commitment to making/working every day as spiritual practice. Selecting the color palette, the tools, and the materials prior to beginning encouraged discernment on the impact of limitations. Daily fuel for the practice emerged as a co-mingling of spiritual belief with a visual language crafted over twenty years. I was astonished and humbled by the breadth and richness of the imagery."