Jeannie Fierce - Mixed Media
Arcata Artisan since 2009
Having grown up in San Francisco, my teen years were irreversibly influenced by the volcanic explosion of the art, music and politics of the time which erupted in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
As my artistic skills developed, exploration and experimentation included everything from drawing and painting through jewelry, batik and sculpture.
In 1970, with $10 in my pocket I moved to Arcata, enrolling at HSU as an Art major. It was at this point that I became enthralled with fiber arts. I began spinning and dyeing wool from my parents’ sheep. This led me to my first cottage industry, hand crocheted hats and apparel which I named “Jeannie’s Beannies”.
From there I moved into the lost art of felting and from one day to the next I began a new business “Bon Ton Designs”, creating hand felted hats, scarves and wool wall “paintings”. My previous experience as a painter gave only a hint of what it would be like to lift your paint right off the canvas and move it around. This is the kind of freedom felting allows.
The journey back to more traditional art forms was accelerated by the strenuous physicality of the hand felting process. I now find myself moving between drawing, painting, felting, mosaics and most recently hand cast painted cement leaves exhibited as “Artfelt Dezigns”.
My hands cannot be stilled. From an early age I began building, cutting, gluing, painting and creating. My love of line, texture and color has continued throughout my artistic journey. No matter the medium, my art is whimsical and always recognizable.