There are different styles and mediums to satisfy the tastes of varied artists and of those viewing the results.
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For artist Jewel Reynolds, the variety is one of the things which has inspired her creativity.
Obviously fantasy is a preferred theme for you. Why? What is about fantasy you like?
“Iactually started out with realism and a passion for wild cats, like Iwas obsessed,”said Reynolds. “Ididn’t like house cats I only liked wild cats, me and my dad actually painted one of my rooms with all the wild cats you could think of on one wall. It was amazing and Iloved it.
“Meand my siblings would bike ride all the way to the Guzoo which was five miles out of town (she grew up at Three Hills, AB.), and feed the animals, this way we would get a free pass in.
“I would bring my sketch book and just have a day of drawing the animals until it was two then we would bike back.”
But as an artist Reynolds’ focus evolved.
“I also went througha phaseof drawing people,” she said.
“Then Ifound it got borderline boring so I started experimenting.
“Iwould make crazy alien creatures and I found it more fun to come up with stories about places that creature would live, why they needed wings or pale blue eyes, why they looked they way they did.
“Or, just in general coming up with an environment that’s out of this world.
“They just became art pieces Icould explain and share.”
Today, fantastic permeates much of Reynolds’ work, although at only age 30 Reynolds, who has lived in Yorkton since 2016, may yet evolve her work.
Whether she does change her focus, it will just be another step on a path started when she was just a youngster.
“I was interested in art at a really young age because my father, (Robert Sieben), is an artist so I would always draw and colourwith him,” she said.
The passion grew from there.
“Art was always my favouritething to do in school,” said Reynolds.“I used to do lots of crafts and was even encouraged to enter colouring contest and events at a young age.”
Reynolds’ interest in varied mediums started at a young age too.
“My first wood burning was of a lynx drinking water at a watering hole,” she said. “My dad came into my room one day and said ‘Jewel I can trust you right?’, then proceeded to hand me a old school wood burning kit. He just wanted to ensure I didn’t tell my mother and that I didn’t burn the house down or hurt myself. That was in grade eight I do believe.
“I used the back of the original burning kit wood sheets provided, needless to say it snapped in half and I ended up just getting rid of it.”
But the journey had begun.
“My earliest art piece that was recognized in my school was in Grade 5,” said Reynolds. “We ended up painting it on a piece of paper to hang in the gymnasium for a performance, I actually still have a picture of the original art piece, My teacher Miss Wiebe laminated it for me and put a boarder around it.
“I just remember being proud and kinda upset since the paper that the art work was painted on had fallen the night before, and they hung it back up up-side-down.
“I was also recognized for art in Grade 6 and Grade 7 and received medals.”
Gaining some in-school recognition fired Reynolds’s interest farther.
“It wasn’t actually the piece that spurred me it was the people that encouraged me,” she said.“Myfamily was always saying ‘Jewel that’s cool you should sell it and make something of it’.
“Sometimes friends or classmates would say ‘wow that’sgreat. Can you draw me something?’
“I always had a great support from my family, my friends my teacher Miss Wiebe.”
And the encouragement continues to help.
“Finally I created my first painting collection due to my great partner Caleb Campbell,” said Reynolds. “So many times Ihave asked him his thoughts or advice about things.
“He also encourages me to finish projects and art pieces before Iwould just give up and walk away.”
But, where does Reynolds gain her inspiration, especially as her work takes on a fantastical focus?
“Sometimes Ihave dreams that are so wacky and random, but some of my art has come from those dreams,” she said.
“Some art Ihave painted is inspired by photos or just little cute things Irun across via social media.
“But most is just from my imagination.
“Some of my art work coming out now Ihave actually done while super young but held onto because Iwanted to make its day-view into the world as wondrous as Ienvisioned, and wanted to work out all the kinks and mishaps before Iput it out there.”
So does Reynolds have a favourite among her works?
“Honestly this is impossible to answer,” she said. “Ihave done art my entire life and Idon’t think I can pick a favourite.
“A lot of my older stuff was not as good as where I am today with my own style and likes, so more current work is more my favourite.
“Honestly, I cant tell you which one I like more because Ilike each one for their own reasons.
“And, Ifind them all beautiful in their own way.”
It’s much the same when it comes to what medium she likes best.
“I have tried tons of mediums,Isew, draw with markers, pencil crayons, carve, resin, paint with acrylic, oil or watercolour,” said Reynolds. “Ieven recently started trying upholstery and tattooing.
“Ijust like learning new things, and Idon’t think Iwill ever stop trying new things. All of the mediums I’veused so far Ilove. Ican’tpick one over the other.”
Now Reynolds is taking another step, putting her creations out there for the public to purchase. It was not an easy step to take.
“Honestly yes I’mhorrible at advertising myself and not much confidence when meeting new people,” she said. “I just recently was encouraged by Caleb to try and he gives me the confidence to even just put it out their. I’m kinda a recluse when it comes to going out; it’sonly to replenish my stash of crafts or tools and Istruggle with talking about my art work.
“More or less I hoping my art speaks for itself.”
Anyone interested in her works can contact hervia Facebook or email at jewel.squared@gmail.com
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
