The Wright Inspiration

It's a little known fact that there is a Frank Lloyd Wright Home in Rockford.  I myself just found out of its existence in the last year. 

Built in 1949 for Mr & Mrs. Kenneth H. Laurent, and it is the only Wright house still occupied by its original owners. This one story Usonian style home was designed to be totally handicapped accessible, as Mr Laurent is wheelchair bound. 

The Laurents have been trying to sell their home for some time now and there is a growing interest in turning this piece of history into a house museum. Doc Slafkosky and Jerry Kortman, my pals at JR Kortman Center for Design have organized a group exhibition of FLW inspired work to bring attention to this treasure in our midst. 15 killer local artists, including moi will be exhibiting work for this show.  I have created 2 pieces.

Both of my pieces feature chairs that Wright designed for the Laurent House. These chairs were part of a lot of furniture auctioned off in June of 2011.  I used my usual paper and Bic pen approach.

“The Wright Inspiration: Art, Design, and the Laurent House” exhibition opens Friday, November 25th with a reception from 5 to 10pm in the Kortman Gallery. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend this. (Boo! Gallery openings at Kortman's are always a blast!) 


The show will run through the end of the year (I'm not sure exactly when it will come down) and can be viewed any time the store is open.  Store hours are Monday to Saturday, 10am – 6pm, and Sundays (in December) 1 – 5pm.

All of the work in the show is for sale. Art makes a great gift! Hope you can come out and support local artists and a local treasure.


Ta-Ta for now!

Jennifer Mullin Johansson

For 35 years, I was Jennifer Mullin. It was me, my family, my art. Before getting married this summer, I thought long and hard about keeping my name. It wasn't that I didn't want to take Matt's name......Jennifer Johansson has a nice ring to it! But, as many marrieds know, a name change is not an easy undertaking. Not only would I have to change my name on my bank accounts, credit cards and drivers license but I would have to rebrand myself as an artist.

People knew Jennifer Mullin as a mixed media artist. My blog, email, and etsy shoppe all carried my Mullin name. I worried that changing my name could hurt my brand recognition. Who is this Jennifer Johansson?

In the end, I knew that becoming a Johansson would mean a lot to Matt, who also recently changed his name. Matt's birth name is Johnson and he was tired of this ubiquitous, almost generic name. (He was one of 3 Matthew Johnsons at his former job!) This spring he decided to change his name back to its original Swedish spelling that his great-grandfather used when he emigrated to the U.S.  So now, I'm a Swede too!

I have slowly been changing things over to my new name.

Etsy just recently enabled a shop name change feature, so you can now find me at:
http://www.jenniferjohansson.etsy.com.

This blog address has also been changed.  Be sure to update your bookmarks with the new address: http://jennifermjohansson.blogspot.com.
(Note the "m" in between Jennifer and Johansson.)

My Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/ArtistJenniferJohansson

I wasn't able to secure a twitter handle in my new name so you can still find me here:
http://twitter.com/jennifermullin

My Flickr photostream address has remained the same:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenmullin/

Did I miss anything? So many different addresses! Someday I will secure my own domain name and simplify.

OK, time to get outside and enjoy this 70 degree November day.  Crazy!

Ta-Ta for now!

New Surroundings

Vintage map from Maral Sassoun's Flickr Photostream

Greetings from Southern Illinois! Just about 2 weeks ago, I quit my job, packed up all of our belongings in Rockford (up north, right on the border between Illinois and Wisconsin) and Matt and I moved 366 miles south to Carbondale. Though we are still in Illinois, it feels like a whole another world down here!

Carbondale is a truly southern town. Things move a little slower, you hear a lot of southern drawls and country music. That renowned sense of "southern hospitality" pervades and barbeque is big. Our local news comes from Paducah, Kentucky and Cape Girardeau, Missouri and the closest big cities are St. Louis, Missouri and Memphis, Tennessee.

Unlike our hometown, the locals here are proud to call Southern Illinois home. They tell Matt and I about their lakes, hiking trails, art, university,  schools, and wineries (YIPPEE!!!) We are excited to be here and explore our new home.

So why did we move to Southern Illinois? Matt's new job with the Illinois Education Association (teacher's union) brought us down south.  I am currently playing the role of "housewife" while I set up our new house and figure out what I am going to do with my life. Though I do miss my babies (students) at school, I don't know if I will go back to teaching. I would love to make art a full time gig. Maybe this is the time and place to do it!

Once we get the condo all done up, I'll share some pics of our new space.

More soon! Ta-ta for now.