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Jessica Libor

~ Studio Journal

Jessica Libor

Tag Archives: fairy tales

My magical residency in Scotland: a new collection, and residency pictures!

24 Friday Mar 2023

Posted by Jessica Libor in art, Journeys, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

artist residency, fairy tale art, fairy tale artist, fairy tales, jessica libor, scotland

My magical Scotland residency: a new art collection and residency pictures!
At a glance:I have released a new collection of available works called Scottish Storybook: click here to browse! I describe my experience in my Scotland residency and share pictures from the experience. 
Browse my new works in the Scottish Storybook Collection!
With the works on paper I created at the Scotland residency
Photo by Arielle of the Woods
Photo among the Abbey ruins by Kelley Smith
“Scottish Stream,” pastel on paper, by Jessica Libor 2023
Creating “Blue Sunset”
At the castle
“Scottish Castle” by Jessica Libor 2023
Dear Friends,
     I just returned from the breathtaking and mysterious Scotland, where I experienced staying in a manor house from the 1700s on the property of a castle that was built around 1000 AD.   This would be the site where the Muses Escape held their residency. The castle has a  legend that states that Joan of Arc learned her sword fighting skills there, and with its fair share of ghost tales!  

It was a crucible of stretching myself beyond my comfort zone. Being in a foreign land is always challenging, but this time I was traveling far from any civilization in Scotland, three hours from the closest city!  First flying into Glasgow, I experienced the beautiful history of the city, which was also extremely old.

I loved the Gothic architecture and the dramatic history of the land. The Glasgow Cathedral was also an incredible highlight, with the stained glass being extremely unique!

On the drive to the residency with another artist, it was nothing but sheep, birds, and mountains for miles to see. Occasionally, we would pass a cottage or a castle. It was like walking into Brigadoon and was truly breathtaking!  Once at the residency, I met with 24 other talented female artists from all over the world.

Together, we would create and collaborate and gain inspiration from each other during the course of the week.  

Every morning, I would wake up and look out the old window and see the timeless Scottish sea just footsteps from the Manor House. Mountains surrounded the area, and wild flowers had started to bloom everywhere. Scotland has a climate similar to Pennsylvania, so it was chilly but with many signs of spring. The trees caught my eye everywhere I looked. Because the location was so close to the ocean, the trees were gnarled and knotted from the sea winds, and also everything was overgrown by a bright green moss. It truly looked like a illustration from an old fairytale book. I would not be surprised to see fairies and magical creatures that you only read of in books peeking out from the forest.  You could really feel the magic!

       While there, I created fourteen pieces. These are works on paper inspired directly by the landscape and sometimes the dreams that I had while I was there. I’m calling it my Scottish Storybook collection! You can browse what is available in this collection by clicking here.  If you have already purchased one of these pieces, I am packaging it up and it should be mailed to you next week!

Click here to browse the available works in my Scottish Storybook collection!

    I realized that I would not have the time to create lots of finished oil paintings in the short time that I was there, so I focused on really absorbing the enchanting atmosphere, learning as much about the culture as I possibly could, and experiencing a magical week with these other talented women. I also got lots of amazing reference photos and I’ll be creating work based around some of the experiences and places I went to while there!  I had some time to read while there as well, and delved heavily into the history of fairy tales and folk tales, which will be reflective in my next body of oil paintings moving forward.

In this post, I am attaching some of the photos that hopefully communicate some of the indescribable experiences I had while there.  

Thank you as always for your interest in my art career.  There is lots more brewing for the Spring, so I’ll talk to you soon!

With Creativity and Magic,

Jessica Libor
Visual Artist
www.jessicalibor.com


 
Creating “Scottish Stream” plein air
Portrait of me by Forest Fig
The making of “Spinning Gold”
“Moonlight on the Loch”, watercolor by Jessica Libor 2023
Magical dinner parties every night
At home among the ancient ruins
Quick, to the castle!
Glasgow University
Glasgow Cathedral
Enchanted landscapes
Teaching a drawing class while I was there
The manor house we stayed at
Dancing on the shores of the Loch
Creative mornings
Monument by the Loch
The Glasgow Botanical Gardens

Spring in the Studio

06 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by Jessica Libor in art, fashion, In My Studio, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

art, circus performers, contemporary artists, contemporary realism, creative life, creative living, emerging artist, empowering women, fairy tales, female artist, figurative art, figurative realism, french woman, horse art, oil painting, pennsylvania academy of the fine arts, philadelphia artists, spring, spring art

It’s my favorite time of year! For a brief window of time during the Spring, the heavenly cherry blossoms visit and can be seen all over the landscape. This painting here, “Discovery,” was inspired by the cherry blossom trees around Fairmount Park, as a setting for the famed equestrian Terese Renz, who was the first female to own her own circus.  Read her full story here…you must see the amazing original photos from her time period with her horses.  Original and prints available on my website! Click here to browse.  Enjoy the Spring… April showers bring May flowers, my dears… ❤️

Get a similar look to my outfit with this skirt and top, or with this adorable dress.

Tell me, where is your favorite place to see cherry blossoms in the Spring?

xo, Jessica

www.jessicalibor.com

How Environment Shapes Creative Work

28 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Jessica Libor in Inspiration, Journeys, lifestyle, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

arch street press, artist inspiration, artist lifestyle, charles perrault, edgar allen poe, excess of being, fairy tales, gaugin, hemmingway, lera auerbach, paris, sleeping beauty, social entrepreneurship, social innovation, Versailles

christianbirmingham1

Art by Christian Birmingham

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a castle. In that castle was a king and queen who had one daughter, Aurora…

What kind of story do you expect to hear when the story begins, “Once upon a time…?” It might include royalty, knights, dragons, a princess and some magic.

christianbirmingham

Art by Christian Birmingham

But what about the author of this story? What was his life like that inspired him to write such a tale?

christian birmingham 3

Art by Christian Birmingham

The original origin of this fairy tale was written by a man named Charles Perrault, and called “The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood.” Mr. Perrault lived from 1628 to 1703 and was an author and influential literary figure in Paris at the time. He was instrumental in the construction of the Louvre, designed a guidebook for the gardens of Versailles, and served as a secretary of state. In his upbringing , he attended the best schools, and was born into a wealthy family. One can only imagine that his surroundings: rubbing shoulders with kings, queens, princesses and the explosion of creativity that was alive in Paris at the time inspired him to write such a classic, enduring tale.

Charles.Perrault

Charles Perrault, author of the first version of Sleeping Beauty

I want to introduce the idea of place and environment, and what our environment has to do with what we create as artists, writers, and creators. The author of Sleeping Beauty was influenced by gardens perhaps because of his heavy involvement with designing the gardens of Versailles—if you recall, the palace in Sleeping Beauty is overgrown by a garden overrun—of the happenings of royalty because of his familiarity with queens and kings—and with a romantic tale because of the extreme romanticism prevalent in the art and literature of the time. He let his life’s experiences seep into his writings, and created a new genre in literature derived from oral folktales, the fairy tale.

Ernest Hemmingway is famous for his blunt, bold and strong writing style, something that was developed from his years working as a newspaper writer—and the topics he wrote about: wars, violence, desolation– from his time serving in World War 1. These were all parts of Hemmingway’s environment and life that became part of his stories and legacy.

ernest-hemingway-in-milan-1918

Ernest Hemmingway

Paul Gaugin was an artist originally from Paris but because of family ties in Peru, spent much of his childhood there. He returned to France for his young adult life, but grew disheartened by the “conventional and artificial” life there. He desired something more free, more natural, so he ended up moving to Tahiti towards the end of his career to create his vision of the life he wanted. Because of his bravery and experimentation with color, his work laid the foundation for the Primitive movement in art and a return to the pastoral. However, if Gaugin had not spent his formative years in exotic Peru, would he have had the same hunger, and made the same decisions?

Paul_Gauguin_071

Paul Gaugin

Edgar Allen Poe grew up as the child of two stage actors and struggled with tragedy in his early life, his father abandoning the family and mother dying the year after. He was taken in by a kindly family in Virginia, and had a brief career in the military before devoting his life to writing and literature. His wife died of tuberculosis shortly after he married her, and he seemingly never recovered. Truly, it was a life filled with tragedy, but Poe turned that tragedy into art, creating haunting pieces of literature that laid the foundation for the developing genres of mystery, horror and science fiction.

Original book published "The Raven" by Poe
Original book published “The Raven” by Poe
raven

But the elements that made him who he was—the artistic temperament of both of his parents, the tragedy and pain he felt, the Southern Gothic atmosphere of Richmond, Virginia…they all were part of his environment that helped create the person he became and the work he made.

There are many more countless examples, but pretty much any artist or creator that you can think of has been strongly influenced by their environment, whether they like to admit it or not. Our experiences help form who we are, as much as the choices that we make amidst those experiences. In graduate school, I began dissecting the kinds of paintings and imagery that I used again and again in my work. I returned again and again to imaged of people lying under trees—picnicking, sleeping, climbing the trees. I realized that some of my best memories from childhood were playing underneath the trees in our pear and apple orchard in the backyard, reading books, picnicking, making forts, playing, These experiences had embedded themselves in my mind so vividly that they kept coming to the surface in my art.  Do you have imagery, sounds or themes that keep coming up in your own creative work?  They may be worth examining to see where they may be coming from, even if you cannot pinppoint the origin of influence.  As Lera Auerbach states in her book Excess of Being, “Explainable doesn’t mean imaginary.”

5 The Reading, oil and gold leaf on board, 16"x20", Jessica Libor 2013

The Reading, by Jessica Libor, oil and gold leaf on panel

Some of us have memories and have experienced environments that we would rather not dwell on. To that I say, art is some of the most cathartic ways of dealing with bad past experiences, and who knows but your creation may help someone who has been through the same thing? It may be the catalyst someone needs to change.

Another thing to consider is, that if environment truly does shape who we are, then we have the power to choose our environment. What kind of art do you want to make? What kind of book do you want to write? What kind of music do you want to play?

Then, put yourself in an environment that supports that idea. Like the painter Paul Gaugin moved to the islands, you can move to somewhere more inspiring, even if it is temporary. I have a friend who lived in Philadelphia for a long time, and worked as a graphic designer. She made artwork here and there. This year, she bought a cabin in the mountains and moved there, still supporting herself part time with graphic design work, but has made an explosion of paintings that stem from the environment that she now lives in: the deep woods, the stars, the pathways and forest animals.

But what you digest in you mind also becomes part of your environment. So in addition to thinking about where inspires you, think of what. What kind of paintings leave you in awe? What kind of books? And music? Listen only to the best, learn from the best, surround yourself by what you truly admire, and your own skill will slowly but surely (yet sometimes quickly!) rise to the level you have set for it.

In my own life, I noticed that as I move into a new house and set up my studio, kitchen, bedroom, and living room, a new environment produces new ideas. A more organized studio begets a more organized mind. A beautiful place makes me want to create something that lives up to its surroundings.

May your art be true and a singing expression of your soul, wherever that place may be.

 

Article by Jessica Libor

Christian Birmingham’s World of Fantasty

09 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by Jessica Libor in Artist Profiles, Inspiration

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

beautiful art, beautiful paintings of women, christian birmingham, fairy tales, fine art, great illustrators, illustration, inpsiration, jessica libor, light effects in art, pastel art, the little mermaid art, thumbelina art, working with pasels

Christian Birmingham is an illustrator whose work I have long admired.  His talent is obvious in the way he combines color, composition, atmosphere and drama in all of his work, to bring you into a world of fantasy and make it believable.  He has illustrated classic fairy tales such as the Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty,, the Snow Queen, and many others.  Although not technically ‘classical fine art’, I find myself very inspired by Birmingham’s work, all done in pastels.  Enjoy!

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