Friday Letters

  • by Jennifer Davey
    Jennifer Davey | Morning | 1.26.2024
    Jennifer Davey | Morning | 1.26.2024

    This week I picked up a book half finished from last year, Fires in the Dark, Healing the Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison. And I wondered why I had ever put it down. This is an extraordinary meditation on moving through the depths of pain, sorrow and the difficulties of being human. Jamison scans the history of the Western mind, pulling wisdom from scholars and healers through the ages. She also shares her personal journey healing from manic depression, making the book real and approachable. As she walked me through the canyons of her own sorrow, I appreciated her honesty and vulnerability in recognizing the courage and stamina it takes to first face and then heal pain and mental suffering.

    And then I turned the page.

  • by Jennifer Davey
    Jennifer Davey, Daily Drawing 4.15.2020, oil pastel on paper
    Jennifer Davey, Daily Drawing 4.15.2020, oil pastel on paper
    Today I am reflecting on communication and the power of words. Talking and writing. Two forms of communication that are so interwoven into our daily existence that it is easy to overlook just how powerful they are in creating our worlds. In my experience, talking, particularly speaking directly from the heart, is something that has not come easily to me. Even simple things like calling a stranger to ask for information or asking more questions at the doctor’s office to clarify a diagnosis, or asking for help in any form is something that I have resisted most of my life. That somehow I should have already known the answer or figured it out or not had the right to belong to whatever world words required of me to interact with the situation at hand. And these are basic levels of communication, stuff that has a pretty low level of risk. Add to that mix speaking to loved ones about things that are close to my heart and I have found a myriad of ways over the course of my life to avoid such endeavors.
  • by Jennifer Davey
    Jennifer Davey, Painting Poem, oil and chalk on board, 2023
    Jennifer Davey, Painting Poem, oil and chalk on board, 2023
    As I scanned through images for this week’s letter, this painting study I created last year at about this time spoke to me. I was drawn to the muted, quiet colors and shapes. An internal landscape of steadiness. It is a small study, but one that feels deserving of further exploration and expansion. It speaks of cultivating inner quiet. Maybe it is a return to the Pacific Northwest and its diffuse light that has pulled me inward again. A desire to grow inner peace as the world continues to become over-heated and embroiled in conflict.
  • by Jennifer Davey
    Jennifer Davey, Water Sky, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches
    Jennifer Davey, Water Sky, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches
    I am in Colorado this week spending time with my parents. As I was sorting through images to select for this week’s letter, I was drawn to this painting created just before we left Colorado and moved to Washington. What strikes me about it now is how it captures the colors and mood of the weather most days here in the PNW. As I think of the start of the year, I am suddenly intrigued to consider geography and navigation as reference points to chart a path for 2024. Usually I am obsessed with creating goals. But this painting got me thinking about geography instead and how location and our surroundings dramatically impact who we are and what we become.
  • by Jennifer Davey
    Jennifer Davey, In Full Bloom, oil and pencil on panel, 10 x 10 inches, 2023
    Jennifer Davey, In Full Bloom, oil and pencil on panel, 10 x 10 inches, 2023

    Beauty and loss

     

    Death is a mystery that we walk towards. A contract of being human, our life is defined by the two bookends, our birth and our death. And that is a beautiful contract.

  • by Jennifer Davey
    small abstract painting with all over composition in blues
    Jennifer Davey, In the Garden, oil on panel, 6 x 8 inches, 2023

    It has been good to pause. In the last few weeks, I feel shifts moving within me that are generative. Stepping back from a number of things, including Friday Letters, has opened up space for me to observe and discern what I need to cultivate and what I need to let go of. I have listened to Krista Tippet’s interview with John O’Donohue multiple times. His words continue to impact me, nourishing my soul and providing an unexpected north star to my thinking. I have included a link to the talk at the bottom of the letter if you didn’t get a chance to listen last time. Of all of the poetics that sung out of O’Donohue’s mouth, this phrase - “Beauty as calling” - has stuck with me the most.

  • by Jennifer Davey
    Friday Letters | Edition 161

    At the bookstore, I ran into a lovely customer in Poulsbo from Arizona for the weekend to photograph a wedding. Right after the store opened, he came in and asked for a recommendation for a place to grab breakfast or a coffee. Later in the day, he returned to ask if we had the following book:

    Anam Cara, A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donohue

  • by Jennifer Davey
    On Wednesday, a customer purchased A Philosophy of Walking. As I was ringing out her purchase she said “walking saved my life.” I wish I would have asked her more about that powerful statement. But yesterday, I understood a glimpse of what she meant. Walking put me in the rhythm of reality. It centered me and it heightened my awareness of the world. Drawing does the same for me. They are both tools that are right there, ready for me to use at anytime.
  • by Jennifer Davey
    Friday Letters | Edition 159
    Summer is at its peak here in Washington. The rose bush I nervously cut back in April has bloomed an abundant number of gorgeous pink and orange flowers. Small pears appear on the tree we mistakenly thought was apple. Everything is a verdant green, despite the drying heat and sunny skies. The temperature is hot but stable. There is a sense of fullness to the long days. The sky begins to shift towards a pale blue as early as 4 a.m. and the last vestiges of light remain until after 10 p.m.
  • Friday Letters | Edition 158

    Place in the Digital Age
    by Jennifer Davey
    Midnight Sky
    Midnight Sky

    It is 3:30am. I am awake. My thoughts of sensibly writing this letter in the morning are surrendered to the night. It is so still. So quiet. There is magic in this time. As I wander downstairs to settle into writing, I am inspired to take a photo of the view outside. I am surprised by the snapshot, that somehow it captured the stars along with the night sky. When I look up at the split of a starry sky held between the dense tall trees, my perspective is cracked open. Wonder of the world that exists when all are asleep.

  • Friday Letters | Edition 155

    The purpose of painting
    by Jennifer Davey
    Jennifer Davey, Love Letter, acrylic and pencil, 30 x 30 inches, 2023
    Jennifer Davey, Love Letter, acrylic and pencil, 30 x 30 inches, 2023

    What is art about?  Why do paintings matter?  These are questions I ask myself daily, so as to be ever clear about the purpose of my craft and the worthiness of my devotion.  Today I was reading Joseph Campbell's Goddesses, Mysteries of the Feminine Divine and in his typical clear and illuminated way, he explained exactly what painting and art is all about.  In the history of humans, image making is core to our essence.  We have made images in a multitude of forms, often representing deities. What is the function of this image making?  Of this deity representation?  

  • by Jennifer Davey
    studio view - Discernment - Jennifer Davey 2023
    studio view - Discernment - Jennifer Davey 2023

    Hello,

    How are each of you?

    Discernment: the ability to judge well

    Discernment: (Christian context) perception in the absence of judgment with a view to obtaining spiritual guidance and understanding.

  • by Jennifer Davey
    Friday Letters | Edition 153

    Hello,

     

    How are each of you?

     

    Last week I sent a bit of a mystery with my 3-2-1 format of three colors, 2 words, 1 question. This week I'd like to fill in the details!

     

     

  • by Jennifer Davey
    small abstract all over composition oil painting, vibrant green, blue and pink strokes with two navy diagonal lines in lower left corner. Also spots of yellow.
    Interruption in Green, Jennifer Davey, oil and chalk on wood panel, 6 x 8 inches, 2023
  • by Jennifer Davey
    No30 5.2.23 Fast Fashion, Jennifer Davey
    No30 5.2.23 Fast Fashion, Jennifer Davey

    Hello,
    How are each of you?

    Well, I missed last Friday. Sometimes things just do not come together...but I am back again this week for letter #150! It’s hard to believe!

    The last letter opened with a story of the relentless rain. In an about face, this week has been filled with sunshine and an abundance of flowers, a direct result of afore mentioned rain. 

     

  • by Jennifer Davey
    Jennifer Davey | Water | 2010 | 48 x 48 inches | private collection
    Jennifer Davey | Water | 2010 | 48 x 48 inches | private collection
    How are each of you? What a change we have experienced in such a short amount of time! This letter is to reach out and provide some general updates from my studio as well as a bit of inspiration to hopefully keep your spirits up during this time.

    This is the first edition in a series of "Friday Letters." It comes from a PDF I downloaded yesterday from Jamie Varon about how to work from home. She mentioned that she has been sending out Friday Letters as a regular practice for many years and I loved the idea. So here is your first letter, from me to you! If you want the work from home survival guide, the download link is below!