Makers at Home is an Instagram series from The Frye Art Museum Store, giving us a peek into the lives and routines of some of our favorite designers stocked by the Store during this unusual time of isolation.
Multifaceted artist Jennifer Ament is a painter, printmaker, and muralist. You can find some of her striking linocut and gold leaf prints in the Store. Her mural in Capitol Hill bar la dive is a stunner! Jen gave us an honest glimpse into her West Seattle home and studio. Head to her Instagram @jenniferament and her website to find more about her work.
Here are her thoughts for Makers at Home, originally shared April 21, 2020:
Being home right now has had its ups and downs for sure. Initially, I thought I would take the opportunity to create, experiment, and be motivated to go to my studio everyday. Instead, I have been organizing things in my house that have been neglected for years. The 53,000 photos on my computer, the piles of old magazines that I have been holding onto, the clothes I haven’t worn in 8 years, cleaning out the food cabinet that has had that sticky honey stain for a year, all of the things that have been eating at me to finish.
For the first time in years, I have no deadlines, no future jobs, and no income. I have had countless projects cancelled and had my first solo show at Zinc gallery close right as it opened. I had a big mural job cancelled, which I was relying on to hold me over for months, and to pay much of my studio rent. The financial and emotional impact this has had on our family, and so many others, is so scary. The lingering question of when the quarantine will be over, and the question of what the future holds, pulsates in the back of my mind.
Will people be buying art? What will happen to concerts? How can we be squeezed onto planes with our heads less than a foot away from each other? Will my favorite record store, favorite restaurant, favorite art gallery still be here? Will all that’s left be Ruth Chris Steakhouses and Cheesecake Factories? While I can’t control any of that, I use what control I have to escape and calm myself by getting things in order at home.
I hope we realize how isolated we have all become, even before this happened, and that this forced isolation has made us long for, and appreciate, real-life social connection. I hope so many can get the help they need.
