Making my art is a journey of self-discovery. Personal narratives develop when I create my work, as I make parallels to ancient mythologies, as well as beliefs about fate, destiny, and the meaning of dreams. I like to focus on engaging in the aesthetic experience as a relaxation technique as I work intuitively to create my art attempting to use the artistic experience as a way to cultivate my creativity and enjoy the feeling of being lost in the process.
I am not concerned with being realistic when I create artwork as much as I am with creating abstractions of what I see and what I want others to see; exaggerating colors to express emotions and evoke feelings in the viewers of my works. I combine other imagery to tell my stories, developing playful juxtapositions of colors and shapes within the works using the method of automatism. I draw with a variety of pens, markers, charcoal and pastels. I also paint with liquid watercolors on hand-made printmaking paper, which lends itself to an unpredictability I enjoy. I continue to pursue these art forms to express a brighter, playful side of my art. These endeavors keep my ideas fresh and spontaneous. Meanwhile, my hope is my work brings joy to others and its’ positivity inspires people to explore creating works of their own.
Act I of the Unruly Hair Portraits
Act II of the Unruly Hair Portraits
Act III of the Unruly Hair Portraits
Act IV of the Unruly Hair Portraits
Oval Portrait 2018
J. E. Crum is an artist who enjoys creating intensely vivid works using the method of automatism, in which the artist doesn’t always know how an artwork is going to turn out. As if from the artist’s subconscious, J.E. enjoys working intuitively to create art, and tends to draw inspiration from mythologies as personal narratives evolve from the abstractions. Crum focuses on engaging in the aesthetic experience of making art as a relaxation technique, to infer meaning from the art after being ‘lost’ in the process.
Crum also enjoys working full-time in a fast-paced career as an elementary art teacher in where the artist currently teaches nearly 1,000 children a week in a 50-mile radius in public schools of a rural locale, from ages four to eleven. J.E. holds a M.A. in Art Education and Research from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland; a B.S. in Art Education from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and also studied Art at Mississippi University for Women, in Columbus, Mississippi, as well as at The Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing in Aix-en-Provence, France.
J.E. has shown her work in various exhibitions throughout Pennsylvania in galleries, businesses and community art centers, as well as in other states across the US including Michigan, Colorado, and California. She has donated her art for charity events, such as to help the homeless and fund public school programs. Crum also curates art shows for her many students throughout school years to bring art enriching opportunities to children in the rural communities where she is an educator. J.E.’s favorite part about showing her work is how it can bring people together; she also believes in the power art possesses to bring happiness to the world.
Contact J.E. Crum if you have interest in her artworks. The artist has many original works of art available to exhibit and sell as well as Fine Art Giclee prints in various sizes.
You may use Crum’s website’s contact form if interested.
