Radiant Jasmin

The Meaning of Radiant Jasmin

2012-01-11T19:34:00.001-05:00

Radiant, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary 1. Emitting heat or light. 2.Consisting of or emitted as radiation: radiant heat. 3.a. Filled with light; bright. b. Glowing; beaming. See synonyms at bright.1. An object or point from which light or heat rays are emitted. 2 Astronomy. The apparent celestial origin of a meteoric shower. [Latin radians, present participle of radiare, to RADIATE. - radiantly adv. Bright - Synonyms a radiant object radiates light; figuratively the term applies to that which, like a smile, reveals inner light and warmth. The meaning of the name Jasmin is: Fragrant Flower or a climbing vine plant that has fragrant flowers.So for me, Radiant Jasmin means to shine light on the truth and to bring the heat to cold places, to heat it up, as on the dance floor and to shower a beautiful fragrance around the world! And for me to let my inner light shine fully :-) So there you have it! I had to post this because there are a few people who have a misconception as to what my name means. If you you happen to hear anyone say something along the lines of "she should act like this or like that because her name is Radiant, please send them this post to help them understand who I am, thanks!

My Dream June 18, 2010 - the Dark Staircase - Updated

2012-01-09T15:05:00.000-05:00

I first posted this in my Facebook profile and I have added an update at the end.****************************************************************************************My Dream June 18, 2010 - the Dark Staircase:That morning I dreamt that I was walking up a high flight of stairs that had no handrail, the stairwell was kind of dark and spooky. I was on my way to participate in some kind of art event, it was very important that I continue through this to get there.I kept trying not to look down, though out the corner of my eye I would see the lower levels, get a little dizzy & slow down. When I had climbing about 8 levels and had only a few more floors to go, I heard someone on the floor I was on. I opened the door, entered the hallway and met a young lady who was probably in her mid twenties, she was about my height, slender, of European descent and had straight light brown hair parted in the middle that reached to her shoulders.She asked where I was going, after I told her, she said I was very brave, she didn’t have the courage to go up that staircase and anyway, with the medium / discipline she works in she doesn’t need to go up there. I thanked her, turned to enter the stairwell again to continue my journey and then I woke up.Update:The synchronistic thing about this dream is I had a similar experience last year where I had to climb up the shell of a staircase in a new building that was being built in preparation for submitting an art consulting proposal. There were no walls at all, just steal rods, so when I looked down I could see all the way down! And it was a rainy day, so it was a little slippery. A few people on the walk through got dizzy when they tried to ascend and they decided to not to go up, but I remembered my dream and kept going. I felt very brave and happy that I pushed through my fear! We didn't get the art consulting contract for that building, but it was an amazing learning experience.

MATV Holiday Boutique

2011-12-09T12:23:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow from 12-4pm, I will have jewelry and small artwork for sale at the MATV Holiday Boutique and Artist Reception for Lucida Dassardo-Cooper. I also have gift certificates that can be redeemed for any of my artwork and classes, so your loved ones can pick out their favorite piece. So come and get your shopping completed and see beautiful art!The MATV Gallery atMalden Access TV145 Pleasant St.Malden, MA781-321-6400access@matv.orgwww.matv.org

Carving Printmaking Blocks

2011-11-08T17:37:00.004-05:00

I'm having a blast carving soft printing blocks! They are helping me to break through the "artists block" I've been having over the last few days. It's so relaxing and I can go very fast, it's very different from engraving metal and much easier on my wrists! :-)

I just finished one of tulips and I'm making some that have holiday themes for greeting cards. I'm post them for sale here and in my Etsy shop: radiantjasmin.etsy.com

Yes, the Happy New Year is backwards on purpose, it has to in reverse in order for it to print correctly. I will make some test prints with ink and see what areas need a little more carving to sharpen up the images.

I have a lot of Soft-Kut Printing Blocks, that's what have been carving (I can't find out who the manufacture is.) I have 1 each of the Speedball Speedy-Cut Carving Block and Speedy Carve Block that I will carve soon and I'll post my review of all the blocks when I'm done.

Sway

2011-10-14T15:49:00.001-04:00

This is one of my new series of ACEO's, they are miniature works of art. ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals". This artwork has one basic rule - they are 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches - the size of a trading card. I just completed several and will be posting them regularly!

Sway

Fabric, pigment ink, color pencil and paper collage

Dragonfly - In progress

2011-09-03T20:39:00.000-04:00

The first time I went out in my yard this morning the largest dragonfly I've ever seen flew by me, I saw it out the corner of my eye and it was so big, at first I thought it was a small bird! It was blue and it flew around my fence a few times and then flew away.

A few moments later, a smaller brown/beige dragon fly landed on the pine tree closest to my house, I walked over to get a good close look and to say hi. It flew around a little bit and kept coming back, landing on the same branch, which was a little above my head. It was looking at me too and it's mouth was moving, but it wasn't eating anything, I feel it was saying something to me, it was telling me to finish the dragonfly drawing that I started quite a while ago when another dragonfly landed on my sketchbook. Here is the starting sketch:

Writing My Submission to the Sex Crimes Against Black Girls Anthology

2011-09-01T12:09:00.000-04:00

Last night and early this morning I submitted my personal essay and two new comics I drew that break the taboo of talking about childhood sexual abuse (CSA) to the the Sex Crimes Against Black Girls Anthology. Go to the website to learn more about this project:

It has been quite an exploration for me, revealing a lot of my history as a childhood sexual abuse survivor and detailing my healing process. It is the first time I've written about it and at 19 pages (double spaced) it's the most I've ever written. I'm proud of myself! I got through it! I've spoken a lot publicly about it my CSA, but writing this much was a whole different process. I've had to give myself lots of self care, that's why I haven't posted anything here since early last month.

As I am planning to write an autobiography (in 2 parts) this was a good way for me to jump start that project, it's time for me to set a deadline for part 1.

I'm really enjoying drawing the comics. Drawing comics was one of my first art-forms as a little girl. There are a whole lot of ideas and themes for comics that are brewing for me. Be on the lookout, as I will be posting them as they come!

My husband Haji also submitted a personal essay to the anthology, from his point of view as a man loving a woman survivor of CSA. Now we patiently wait to see if we are selected.

Long-stemmed Hearts in Blue Vase

2011-08-05T19:18:00.000-04:00

Color pencil on paper

15" x 11"

A Collection of Hearts

2011-08-04T11:03:00.001-04:00

Color Pencil on paper

Work in Progress Update on A Collection of Hearts

2011-08-02T11:07:00.000-04:00

This is A Collection of Hearts (working title, as I may change it and give this one to another piece.)Color pencil on paper. I've thought about this imagery for a while and finally put it down on paper last night. Stay tuned for the completion!

At my wonderful wedding anniversary weekend away with Haji at the beautiful Rolling Ridge Retreat Center in North Andover, MA, I started the leaves and decided to outline the hearts in black, at first I tried indigo blue (which is becoming a fav outlining color for me!) for the outline, but it wasn't dark enough.

The start of the piece.

Starting a Blog

2011-07-29T11:54:00.000-04:00

This is a response to Leelee Ramsey's comment to me on Facebook.

"Jasmin I've also been interested in starting a blog :)
Any advice?"

Leelee, just Do it! But really, start with picking a provider. I like google's blogger that's what I have) as I have a gmaail account and it's linked to that, so
it makes it easy for me to use and I'm used to a lot of their formatting. I also like that I can see who is following me if they also have a blog on blogger.
I know other folks who like Wordpress, they say it's easy to convert their
blogs into a website.

What are you planning to blog about? Plan days and times to post regularly so you can build your following. Folks are so used to me posting in Facebook that I have to post other things that people will interest them in checking here.

It's taken me a while to get in the habit of posting and checking my comments

(I have it set for me to approve them) and this month I've made 7 posts, which
is pretty good and I still have a few more days this month to get in a few more!

I'm looking forward to reading and seeing your blog, Have fun!

A Collection of Hearts - Work in Progress

2011-07-28T10:50:00.000-04:00

Four Little Tulips

2011-07-19T19:31:00.001-04:00

Four Little Tulips

Watercolor pencil on paper

5"x7"

Lightning Bolts Along the Blue

2011-07-18T19:54:00.000-04:00

Lightning Bolts Along the Blue

Color pencil on paper

8"x10"

Iridescent Flower on Black

2011-07-16T19:12:00.000-04:00

Iridescent Flower on Black

Colored pencil on paper

8"x10"

Dance of the Colors

2011-07-12T17:15:00.001-04:00

Color pencil on paper

18" x 12"

How I Title My Artwork

2011-07-08T17:50:00.002-04:00

This post is to answer jewelry artist Traci Lilly's (of Imani Jewelry, www.imanijewelry.com ) comment on my Facebook page "where do u come up w/these titles? i love the title as much as the paintings...looking forward to tomorrows :)"

Thanks for asking Traci! To title my art, I look at and feel my paintings / drawings / jewelry & sculptures to see what they convey and have to say. Sometimes it's as easy as just referring to the main colors, shapes and imagery along with sequential numbering in a series, i.e: Red, Orange, Yellow & Green 4 Square # 1 , #2 etc. There are other paintings that I give a certain title because I see a particular image within the abstract formation, as in "The Red Talked to Me", where I see a small shape that looks like an open mouth.

Sometimes I can title them right away and other times I have to let them marinate for a while. I've just started using titles that are questions and adding exclamation points. At first I wasn't sure about using the question mark, but nothing else felt right, so I went with it!

I am also working on a series of one of a kind books on various substrates that I titled before I started assembling them!

As well, I now quickly jot down titles that catch my mind and ear as I go through my day and will create the paintings for them in the future. These can be sayings , a phrase and/or a part of a conversation I have with someone or one I overhear. I am still learning and working to refine this process as I grow.

Red, Orange, Yellow & Green 4 Square # 1

Acrylic on board

24"x 24"

The Red Talked to Me

Acrylic & mixed-media on canvas

24"x 18"

Spiraling into the Gold

Acrylic & paper on canvas

24"x 18"

Cherries Du Jour

2011-07-01T12:29:00.000-04:00

Cherries Du Jour

Watercolor pencil on paper

5"x 8"

Small Red & Orange Sunburst Flower

2011-06-18T15:23:00.000-04:00

Small Red & Orange Sunburst Flower

Watercolor pencil and pigment ink on paper

5"x 8"

Orange You Glad it's Juicy?

2011-06-17T12:57:00.000-04:00

Orange You Glad it's Juicy?

Color pencil on paper

10" x 8"

Great Grapefruit

2011-06-16T09:17:00.000-04:00

Great Grapefruit

Color pencil on paper

10" x 8"

It Looked So Pretty, She Had to Take a Whiff!

2011-06-14T13:16:00.000-04:00

It Looked So Pretty, She Had to Take a Whiff!

Watercolor pencil and pigment ink on paper

7" x 5"

Just A Drop of Lime, A Little Bit

2011-06-13T08:36:00.000-04:00

Just A Drop of Lime, A Little Bit

Color pencil on paper

10" x 8 "

Slow Approach of Night Over a Sunny Day

2011-06-12T15:55:00.000-04:00

Slow Approach of Night Over a Sunny Day

Watercolor pencil and ink pencil on paper

10" x 8"

Green W with a Rightside Lean

2011-06-11T20:35:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a little while since my last daily painting post, I've had challenges with the camera, thankfully that has been taken care of and I now have several paintings and drawings all photographed and ready to post!

Green W with a Rightside Lean

Color pencil on paper

10" x 8"

Radiant Jasmin - A Flower in Full Bloom. My new exhibit at Hancock 309 Gallery!

2011-05-27T13:13:00.000-04:00

The opening reception for my exhibit at the Hancock 309 Gallery is this Saturday, May 28th from 5-9pm. I'll be doing a small performance with Terry Orlando Jones around 7pm, we will read some of our spoken word poetry along with some percussion and make it funky!
I hope to see you there!

More Info:
Radiant Jasmin - A Flower in Full Bloom

The exhibit is on display from May 28th to June 22nd.

A Flower in Full Bloom is a solo exhibit of the visual art of Radiant Jasmin. She will show her new mixed-media floral paintings and her small series of daily paintings! You can follow the daily paintings as Radiant Jasmin posts them on her blog, radiantjasmin.blogspot.com

Along with these new works will be a selection of her paintings, collages, floral photographs on tile, drawings, and mosaics from the last 5 years.

Hancock 309 is a street level Gallery at the intersection of Hancock Street and Dorchester Ave.

Open from 12pm to 5pm most of the Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays of the exhibit and the Sunday of June 5th for the Dorchester Day Parade!

For more info, additional gallery hours and to schedule a private viewing, please call the gallery director
at 617-512-6775 and Radiant Jasmin at 617-319-9778, thank you!

Orange Tropical Flower on Blue

2011-05-19T19:31:00.000-04:00

Orange Tropical Flower on Blue

Color pencil on paper

11" x 8 1/2"

Life is About Understanding - Today's new Painting

2011-05-18T20:22:00.000-04:00

Life is About Understanding

Ink pencil on paper

9 1/2" x 7"

One Red Tulip

2011-05-04T10:57:00.000-04:00

Day 2 of my A Painting a Day Challenge!

One Red Tulip

Watercolor pencil and pigment ink on paper
7 in x 5 in

$85

Two May Tulips

2011-05-03T13:10:00.000-04:00

I have started on A Painting a Day Challenge!

This is my first one and it was completed on May 1, 2011.

Two May Tulips

Watercolor pencil and pigment ink on paper
10"x8"

$105

Domestic violence prevention Plate painting workshop at the National Governors Conference

2011-03-18T12:14:00.002-04:00

Last July I was invited to lead a workshop to raise funds for domestic violence prevention at the Annual National Governors Conference for the first spouses. The workshop was held at the Harvard University Faculty Club, in their beautiful light filled garden room, it was the perfect place for creating art in! Read more about the workshop after the photos.

Sorting through stencils and First Lady Diane Patrick painting her plate.

Speaking about my work with Art and Healing for domestic violence prevention.

Mrs. Patrick having fun painting her plate!

Me giving painting tips to former West Virginia First Lady Gayle Conelly Manchin.

Great shoes Mrs. Manchin!

Gayle Conelly Manchin with her completed plate, "These shoes are made for walking!"

Those skylights were wonderful, I want some in my next studio!

First Lady of Puerto Rico Lucé Vela with her plate.

The First Spouses and I with our plates!

Laura Van Zandt, Diane Patrick, Mary Lauby and Sue Else.

Massachusetts First Lady Diane Patrick has been an outspoken advocate in the Commonwealth’s ongoing effort to end domestic violence, and has been actively engaged with families, agencies and law enforcement to support victims and to identify and address the root causes of domestic abuse. Mrs. Patrick participated in a Plate Painting Project at REACH and was inspired to recreate a similar workshop here for the first spouses. There were 12 first spouses and they had a blast using their creativity for a good cause!

Leaders from local domestic violence prevention organizations spoke about their work: Mary Lauby, the Executive Director of Jane Doe Inc and Laura Van Zandt, Executive Director from REACH.

Sue Else, Executive Director from the National Network to End Domestic Violence spoke about where most of the plates are going. The National Network will have the plates available for auction online and all the money raised will be donated to an organization in each of the First Spouses states to be part of a fund raising effort for domestic violence prevention. Stay tuned for the opening of the auction!

Mrs. Patrick's plate was auctioned at The 2010 Annual Reach for the Stars...Transform a Life Auction Gala.

I will paint a plate for the 2011 Reach for the Stars Gala and will also have a plate painting workshop in 2011 to raise funds for local violence prevention organizations. Please contact me if you would like to paint a plate, thank you.

Black Mandala Flower

2011-03-13T18:03:00.000-04:00

Black Mandala Flower, acrylic on canvas, 12”x12”.

I painted this for the Discover Roxbury fundraiser - simply called The Black and White Party - taking place Friday, March 25, from 6pm-9pm in the atrium of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, 230 The Fenway, Boston, MA. This painting will be for sale there and all net proceeds from the party will support the 2011 Roxbury Open Studios, where I have exhibited for 5 years.

It took me a little to get going with this, as I usually use very bright colors (after all, my name is Radiant Jasmin :-) After an hour or so I really started to like the simplicity of using only 1 color. It certainly went faster than when I have to clean multiple brushes. I am now creating a small series of Black on White and White on Black paintings, stay tuned for photos of these and info on when they will be on exhibit!

Go to the Discover Roxbury site for more info on the event and to purchase a ticket. Hope to see you there!

www.discoverroxbury.org

I LOVE R & F Pigment Sticks!

2011-02-23T00:41:00.001-05:00

Just thinking about them makes my heart beat fast and I want to jump up and down, dance and Skip, skip, skip to my Lou! I'm a multi-media artist, this is the first time I've ever had a such an intense response to a visual art medium.

I am a member of an artists site, wwww.wetcanvas.com ,one of their forums is "The Oil Stick Party", I've been enjoying reading about other artists experiences with oil sticks by lots of other companies. This inspired me to get back to using them.

At the last studio I had before my current studio, one of the artists left 2 boxes of about 16 of the R & F sticks (almost all unopened) in her studio when she moved (the building had been sold and it was converted to apartments, so all of us artists had to relocate our studios, you know the scenario.) I thought they were oil pastels, which I was just starting to get into.

When I had settled into my new studio, I found out just how different they were. I went on to the R & F site, www.rfpaints.com, to learn about them and was shocked to see how much they cost! I was glad I had rescued them before they were thrown out by the renovation crew. She had also left some gessoed boards by Houston Art supply, so I tried them on those, I tried them on canvas board and stretched canvas too, but the gessoed board is my favorite surface for the R& F's because of how smooth it is.

I just tried them on clayboard last night, (that was also left by the same artist :-) they're good on that too. I just had big time fun smoothing them on with my pallet knife, my favorite tool to use with them, just playing with the pure colors and not at all getting into my often very well thought out geometric patterns. I go totally freestyle with them, except for one medium sized painting "Sun Flower", I'll post some photos of it soon.

Indaba Theatre of New England is soliciting performing and visual artists to audition for SWAN Day Performance

2011-01-24T18:49:00.000-05:00

In honor of Women’s History Month and SWAN Day /Supporting Women Artists Now Day

Indaba Theatre of New England is soliciting performing and visual
artists to audition for a performance to be presented on March 26, 2011

Directed by Donna Cotterell and Radiant Jasmin

Using spoken word poetry, song, dance, and paintings based on therapeutic, cathartic, and healing aspects for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

If you have a song, monologue, performance piece, a dance or visual art grounded
in healing the traumas of abuse, or would like to perform a piece that we have created, please come and show us your work.

We are also accepting stories to tell for this project, this can be at your comfort level (we can use your name or we can tell the stories anonymously. You may have poems that you would like us to read or I can come record your story.

Please pass this info on to anyone who may be interested, thanks!

Rehearsals and Auditions are at:

the Brockton Public Library Main Branch
304 Main Street, Brockton, MA

There will be 9 rehearsal days starting on Saturday Jan 28th from 1-3:30 PM
and a few on Tuesday evenings from 6-7:30 PM.

Rehearsals will be at the library and a few will be held around the corner from
the library, so anyone who can make it to the library will also be able to make
it there as well.

For more information and to register for an audition, please call: 774-240-0690

Funding provided by:

Massachusetts Cultural Council and Bay State Gas Company

Radiant Jasmin's Zazzle Shop

2009-12-12T03:31:00.002-05:00

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Rockland hosts annual regional exhibit at Wright Building

2009-12-04T11:19:00.000-05:00

A great article about the 4th floor artists open studios! My studio is highlighted.

Boston Faces Boston Places: Opening Reception 2009 Roxbury Open Studios - Museum of Fine Arts

2009-10-05T13:13:00.000-04:00

Boston Faces Boston Places: Opening Reception 2009 Roxbury Open Studios - Museum of Fine Arts