Jennifer Hathaway
Medford, NJ
63 yrs old. Paintings in 27 US states, 6 Euro countries, China, S.Africa, Australia, & Japan. Studied w/ 2 masters, did work for famous rock bands. Lived hard.
Message
b. 1960
Left home at 17.
Married 1981. Two children, b. 1983, 1986. Divorced 1993 [33].
Began occasionally selling artwork as a young person, didn't take it seriously until 1989 [29].
Design and graphics work for the Grateful Dead, The Band, and many others 1989-1991.
Studied formal composition, color theory, human form, etc on scholarship w/ Nicholas Buhalis, Kingston School of Art, 1991-92.*
Studied classical painting w/ Bert Hasen, New York School of Visual Art, 1994 [a friend sent me]. He told me, "Stop taking classes. You're an artist. Go paint." So I did.
Self education lifelong. I have a hungry brain. AS degree 1998, Vassar ET program 1998.
Painted street scenes, landscapes, portraits, etc, [mostly pleine aire] in the Hudson Valley and NYC for about ten years.
Showed/sold/won small awards at numerous small shows throughout the Hudson Valley and in a few other places [NJ, IA, PA, St Paulet FR].
Member of various arts associations, collectives, and coops over the years.
⦁ Created/curated a system of offsites in New Paltz, created a series of street art shows [with live music and over 500 artists over five dates], helped to set up the very first "Taste of New Paltz", and "Kingston Area Artists" shows, always showed with young galleries and coops when asked, and made it a priority to build up the arts scene in the Hudson Valley over many years.
⦁ Currently member of the WAA [London UK].
⦁ Showed/sold at the ArtExpo at the Javitz Center, NYC, 1999-2000 [?ish].
⦁ Showed/sold at the Ambassador Whitney Gallery, Chelsea, NYC, 2000.
⦁ Bitten by Lyme tick while prepping for AWG show, became disabled w/ fibromyalgia. Continued painting, didn't bother with showing/promoting much. Sold via internet, mostly.
Work is in private collections in 27 US states, 6 European countries, S. Africa, China, Japan, and Australia.
Many commissioned pieces over the years.
Several 'series' of works in recent years include:
⦁ The Cow Series [landscapes in Kansas][2010-2016]. [+/- 15 finished pieces]
⦁ The Walkabout Series [paintings made/conceived during a period of several months of camping all over the eastern half of the US in the winter/early spring of 2016]. [+/- 10 finished pieces]
⦁ The Standing Rock Series [still in process][conceived in 2016, only studies done to date].
⦁ Monsters & Follies [aka the Wyrd Series] 2021-23 [+/- 25 finished pieces]
In addition to making art all my life, I have also done all manner of "Day Jobs": waitressing, cooking, teaching kids in drug rehabs, at-risk programs and lockdown [PINs] schools, doing high end interior finish work, gardening, running a Chamber of Commerce, running a contracting biz, running the office at a farm equipment plant, translating [French], helping to refit the Pisces VI Deep Submergence Vehicle [which is one of the deepest diving submarines to date], and several other gigs over many years. Some peoples' pasts are checkered. Mine's plaid.
Current web portfolio [working on it]: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/jennifer-hathaway
FB [more comprehensive]: https://www.facebook.com/jenhathawayart
IG [mostly works in progress]: https://www.instagram.com/haethwy/
Statement
I don't like writing these. My good friend recommended I do the following, and she's right. I asked JD for permission, first, and he graciously granted it.
The song "Diamonds", by Mercury Rev, was written by my good friend Jonathan Donahue after a conversation we'd had about the nature of gifts.
It's one of my favorite songs by them [there are many]. Please give it a listen sometime.
<<Look how the sun, captured by the rain
Glimmers and falls, and lands in golden balls
Like a bracelet hung, from a spider's web
For me to show to you, like gifts
That you won't forget
For as long as you live
See how the rain, captured by the leaves
Shimmers and falls, and lives on in diamond balls
Like a necklace hung, over limb and branch
For me to show to you, like gifts
That you won't forget
For as long as you live
Watch how the stars, captured by the sky
Appear to die, before our eyes and live on, in other ways
Well tonite they're mine, for me to show
For me to shower you, like gifts
That you won't forget
For as long as you live
And you will always have
For I will always give them
To you>>
To me, most gifts are valuable as objects that invoke memories of the giver and feelings we have for the people in our lives.
My artwork is intended to be something like that sort of a gift. I hope that it brings you joy and happy memories.