About me : Jill Berry Blog

Mother’s Day

Posted on May 10, 2010 - Filed Under About me | 1 Comment

The day began with breakfast in bed. Coffee, toasted bagel with smoked salmon, capers, cream cheese and onion. Brilliant ripe strawberries and a vase of flowers from our garden. (One of the posies is a narcissus poeticus, which smells like heaven. Sydney reminded me that Narcissus ended up dead from loving his own self too [...]

Grace and Death

Posted on April 22, 2010 - Filed Under About me, Visual Inspiration, What I am up to | 3 Comments

On Tuesday night my friend Helen and I went to the artists’ sketch night at the Body World Exhibit in Denver. The museum was closed to the public, and we checked in at the desk in a nearly empty lobby. There was a visceral absence of the usual crowd, and it was eerie walking through [...]

Teacher Appreciation

Posted on April 21, 2010 - Filed Under About me | 1 Comment

Someone recently asked me who has influenced my artwork the most. The answer would be my mother. She encouraged me, always. As for teachers, there have been so many I cannot pinpoint one. Fortunately for me, I have had many opportunities to learn from fabulous teachers. Here are a few
Painting and drawing with [...]

This Week at My House

Posted on April 20, 2010 - Filed Under About me, What I am up to | Leave a Comment

This week has been fabulously textured. We have been cooking, and eating great food. I have actually left my house for social events, and made great headway on my book. The highlight of the week was connecting with the Hallberg Family. You can read that story here. You need to read the comments, towards the [...]

The Right Place at the Right Time

Posted on March 21, 2010 - Filed Under About me, What I am up to | 5 Comments

On Friday I was as spent as I ever remember being. Preparing to teach, vend, and leave my family and studio for ten days, then attending the services for Larissa. She was 18, a state champion pole vaulter, a sister, niece to my dear friend David, a flutist, daughter, dear friend and college student. It [...]

Lust for Letters

Posted on March 4, 2010 - Filed Under 2010 Workshops, About me, Creative Exercises | Leave a Comment

I love inventing alphabets. Quirky hobby, I know, but it is fun. This is a page in my journal of Mexico Letters, which were inspired by a book I have on Pre-Hispanic Stamp Designs.
This one was inspired by the work of Joan Miró. I did this in a workshop that I was not enjoying very [...]

Becoming an Artist

Posted on February 10, 2010 - Filed Under About me, Being an Artist, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

This gal, I call her Grammy, clearly lives in de Nile. Her epidermis had turned to leather, which she continued to bake daily. I drew her on the beach in Mexico a number of years ago, then came home and painted this. What I love about Grammy is that she reminds me that despite being [...]

Ta Ta till 2010!

Posted on December 17, 2009 - Filed Under About me | 1 Comment

This week I have run all over Colorado in the name of charity, Christmas, puppy delivery, school, Jr. Thespians and the US mail. I am fried. The house has been filled with children, and one set of them did this.
Two giggly ten-year-old boys dressing up the world’s most Zen puppy.
The puppy is with my dear [...]

I am Here

Posted on December 12, 2009 - Filed Under About me, My Work | 1 Comment

I am once again tinkering with maps, navigation and figuring out a precise mental GPS for my whereabouts.

This is a canvas, painted with plaster and stamped with metal letters. I painted it with sumi after it was dry, then sanded and scratched back some areas. Meanwhile, I painted and stamped art tissue, then collaged that [...]

School Vacation

Posted on November 29, 2009 - Filed Under About me | 4 Comments

The kids have been out of school for nine days. Here are some of the adventures we have had.
Tattoo parlor games, the day before the annual photo appointment. Sydney was very creative and careful, and Sam was so quiet I should have known something was going on. What was I thinking? Quiet in our house [...]