some fish i drew.

these were attempts at drawing scientifically and I failed in a spectacular way. But I still really like the drawings. Maybe I'll use them in my dream project. A JANE RYDER FIELD GUIDE! coming to you this whenever the fuck i get around to it.

DEATH RIDES A HORSE

A fun little ditty.

wooley rhino.

here's a drawing i made a few months ago. it's inspired by mega fauna.

a new painting!

Title: Happy Hunting Ground. 30 X 43, gouache on paper, 2016.

PRINTS NOW AVAILABLE!

WOO HOO! I've got prints! Email me or let me know if you're into anything. Here is a small smattering of what's available. Go on my website to see what else is available www.janeryder.com (some of these images are slightly cropped). Message me on facebook or gmail to make a deal.

Images seen below are 20 bucks plus shipping...mini prints (no bigger than 12.5 as it's widest or tallest dimension), editions of 30.

The fox in the bottom right is 50 plus shipping and the image is slightly cropped.

artist statement for Her Ungulating Earth.

Being totally honest about who we are isn't easy. It's never been easy for me to write artist statements that convey the full breadth of why I create something.  I tried this time...here's my artist statement.

Her Undulating Earth: Recent work by Jane Ryder

The gouache paintings of Her Undulating Earth are meditative creations. Each piece is a deep reflection of who I am and how I express my breadth of emotions.  It’s hard for me to allow an audience to understand my work as anything other than creative interpretations of a Midwestern landscape. I’m over that now. I’m ready to come out and tell my audience that sometimes I’m very sad.  My life is made up of bursts of extreme happiness followed by periods of neutral grey. I’ve learned to not fear those grey moments because they make me who I am. The grey moments encourage me to seek beauty by creating beauty.

Her Undulating Earth is inspired by the complexities of the natural world and the complexities of the human brain and soul.  The paintings were born from a desire to connect with nature and to connect with the feelings I’d prefer to ignore.  It is homage to the symbiosis within our universe and a manifestation of my spirit.

This show is dedicated to Mary Ruth Ginn and Judith Covington

also, NEW WORK!!!!!

 All of these are available as limited edition archival prints. They look great. Email me if you want to get some prices for all DAT holiday shopping you're going to have to do eventually.

Sepulcher. 22 X 26, gouache on paper, 2015.

The Kingfisher's Bone Tree. 12 X 20, gouache on paper, 2015.

Soybean and Sunflower Scene. 17 X 22, gouache on paper, 2015.

ARTDOSE.

I got published in ArtDose, a Wisconsin based art guide.  You can check out the link at http://artdoseartguide.com/vol-xi-online/

NEW WEBBY!!!!

I'm proud to announce the birth of my updated website!  Many thanks to Bruce and Carolyn for helping me make it happen.  go check it out.  www.janeryder.com

DO IT! GO LOOK AT IT NOW!

My Duck Themed Painting.

I was recently invited to show my work in a show called Ducks (at Minotaur Projects in LA).  Here's a youtube link to the promo, it's pretty fun...Howard the Duck makes an appearance.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQvg7QeTkqw

I had a good time making this piece. 

"Duck Spittle"  11 X 15, gouache on paper.  2015.

sorry for the cell phone quality image but this is the new work in progress.

hey, guys.  I've probably lost all of my followers COZ I SUCK AT BLOGGING!  I can thank instagram for that, it's just so damn easy and convenient to microblog.

This is the new painting I'm working on.  I have a solo show at the Silverwood Gallery in St. Anthony, Minnesota this August...I have a lot of work to do but I'm plugging along steadily. 

This piece is not finished and not titled. 22 X 30.  gouache on paper.

my newest work!

"Between the Mammoth's Tusks." 22 X 22, gouache on paper.

"Crepuscular." 10 X 21, gouache on paper.

"Down Low and in the Garden (dedicated to my friends Ann and Christian)" 22 X 22, gouache on paper

just a li'l doodle from last night.

This t-shirt design is starting to fuck with me.  I like this idea better than my last idea.  So, I'll probably mess with this image for a few hours today.  I like the playfulness of the composition and I like squirrels (duh).  I'll keep you posted as the design progresses.

A few pen and inks.

I have to come up with a t-shirt design for a print exchang (more pics once the due date arrives).  Lots of brainstorming....here are a few doodles.  All pen and ink.

The Postcard Collective, Summer 2013.

I decided to Google myself and realized I forgot to mention this excellent postcard exchange I was involved with last summer (RUN ON SENTENCE!!!).  Here's the link if you wanna see what everyone made.  See if you can find mine, I dare you.

http://www.postcardcollective.org/past-exchanges/#/summer-2013/

The Seventeen Year Cicada and how a bug can make me yearn for my childhood.

It is loud outside. Like, louder than I would expect a plague of horny cicadas to be. Loud like an army of maracas rattling in the trees. There are so many cicadas it's almost biblical. I have always been completely fascinated by these noisy creatures, here's why.

1. They have the coolest larval stage ever (i have no idea if that is the correct term to use for a cicada before it becomes a winged creature...nymph stage, maybe?). They live in the ground for 17 years and when they emerge they look like little clawed tanks. They remind me of the bugs from the movie Starship Troopers.  Enjoy this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAJLWSg5PIY

2. Our dog, Mudd, looks hilarious when he chases them. My first dog, Ryder (*pours a 40 on the curb* I miss you!), loved to eat them. It was also hilarious. The sound of a toothless cocker spaniel gumming crunchy bugs is a sound not to be missed.  Side note: cicadas are not poisonous, a dog can totally eat them...just not too many coz their exoskeletons are hard to digest.

3.  My first cicada experience was at the Brookfield zoo.  It was hot when the plague peaked and the zoo was a madhouse.  Cicadas everywhere, screaming/freaked out kids running in circles/stomping bugs, stressed out parents and camp counselors everywhere.  A madhouse.  I didn't even care about the gorilla house or the lions.  I just wanted to count cicadas.  It was the first time I felt awestruck by something.

4.  Those red eyes?  So excellent.  And some of the other kinds have cool camouflaged backs.  Damn, do these things look cool.

5.  The shells are interesting and I always regret not collecting them for something art related.  sigh.

6.  When I was little the kids on the block would play a cicada related game.  If you saw one that looked dead you would dare your friend to pick it up.  If it was dead the game was over and if it wasn't dead the sudden BUUUUZZZZZZZZ was enough to make a kid shit their pants.  It was a fun game.  Kind of like kiddie-russian roulette.

omg.  how embarrassing.  you can still see the arrow from my screenshot.  too lazy to crop today.  sorry!

the 17 year cicadas are small.  whirlybird tree seed for scale.

A cicada that recently emerged from it's shell.  man, they are completely fascinating.

I've always enjoyed these creatures.  Yesterday I spent five minutes staring at a tree just so I could watch the swarm buzz and fly through the branches....there were so many of them.  The sound was deafening and the visuals were awesome.  

Ecovisions. A show at the McLean art center.

I was recently invited me to participate in an exhibition called Ecovisions at the Mclean Art Center in Bloomington, Illinois.  They decided to use my painting on the promotional material....yay!  Here's a fancy screenshot and here's the website http://www.mcac.wildapricot.org/About

I plan on attending the opening in September. 

My New Studio at the Oskaloosa Art Center.

Big weekend, people.  I moved into my new studio and I'm so happy.  I've already started transferring a new drawing onto 400 lb watercolor and should be ready to paint in a couple days.  Life is good even though I'm sort of cranky today.  Yay!  Cranky!

 As always, thanks for all the support, blog readers.  You guys are the best.

Thank you, 27th Annual McNesse Works on Paper.

I sad to say goodbye to this piece recently but I'm happy to see it go to a good home in Louisiana.  Thank you to the 27th Annual McNeese Works on Paper Exhibition for giving me an opportunity to show and sell my work at the Abercrombie Gallery.

Fresh Paint, Studio Visit interview.

Good morning to all you fine people. I was recently asked to be a part of the Studio Visit portion of the Fresh Paint blog.  Check it out.

 Here's the link: http://www.freshpaintmagazine.com/2/post/2014/05/jane-ryder.html