Jocelyn Vache

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Towards Better Versions Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! Can you teach an old dog new tricks? …what about an old artist – asking for a friend ;)? Here’s another installment on my struggle with cognitive dissonance and the practice of when you know better do better. (Thanks again for the prompt, Maya Angelou.) So I paint with soy milk and forage and grow my own pigment and fiber (and...

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Verbalizing the Visual Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! A picture is worth a thousand words, but how do we find the words? I don’t know about you, but there are some things I prefer to express visually. Words can be tricky, although they are sometimes essential in order to convey context and intention. Continually updating the artist statement and bio on my website and for applications...

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Work Surface Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! Why is the floor so inviting? In many situations, even when there are chairs and couches available, I find myself gravitating (no pun intended) to the floor. It’s easier to spread things out to work on, play with children, and pet your cat or dog. Do you do this? The floor is emotionally (and literally) grounding. For street painting...

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Curating a Vibe Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! Do you remember the first playlist you made? I do. Mine was on an iPod shuffle for my 3-mile running loop around a pond in the town where I lived at the time. The first song was moderate, then the next few were fast, the one for the steep incline was uplifting, and the last one brought me closure. I loved the journey it led me on. This...

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Brookline & Brooklyn Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! Sometimes we travel overseas to visit a renowned museum. Other times we find a local gem perfectly aligned to our next artistic exploration. This month I was amazed by the contents of a renovated carriage house in Brookline, MA which houses the International Paper Museum. It’s at the original location of the Carriage House Paper...

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Providence in Providence Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! What are you doing on Friday, May 8th from 5-7pm? I’ll be in Providence at the opening for my first ever solo show. It’s in a beautiful space at a gallery attached to a church. Normally solo shows are planned years in advance (I have one next summer, for example), but here’s the back story of how this one just kind of happened....

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth What Doesn't Bend Breaks Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! About a week ago, I was in Zoom with an international veganic farming group. We were asked to share where we were and the current conditions. It was grey and seasonably warm as I looked out my window at the grass-exposed path to our hoophouse. There, the reclaimed juice bottles with winter sown seeds were poking out of the...

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Color Baggage Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! Every painting has its unique color palette. Have you ever stopped to think about how items not found in nature get their color? Everything bears color, from our clothes to our walls, to tile, kitchen gadgets, trains, toys, book covers, and so much more. Pigments and dyes can have a number of different characteristics - natural or synthetic,...

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Trying To Do Better Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! In a conversation over lunch with a dear family member, I was reminded of the quote of which I’ve encountered a few variations, but is broadly attributed to Maya Angelou. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Cognitive dissonance is a baked-in feature of human nature. We hold certain values...

Jocelyn Vache | art + earth Newer-Bigger-Better-Faster vs. Enough Hello Kindred Spirit! Thank you again for having subscribed to my monthly newsletter. It’s so nice to connect! Yes, I sell the art I make, but I hope no one buys any of it on Black Friday. There are conflicting reports about how this infamous day after Thanksgiving got its name. Its alternate name, Buy Nothing Day, was coined by artist Ted Dave. I learned about it from Adbusters in college in the 90's. The magazine raises...