Photo by new owners below: "Vortex 1" in the background, hanging in its new home in Chicago. Purchased from Artspace 8 Gallery at the "Fragmented" exhibition. View more artworks from the "Vortex" series here: Vortex

"Vortex 1" used U.S. postage stamps and resin on canvas 16" x 16" 2017

For Memorial Day, the most important of holidays.
"Home of the Brave"used U.S. postage stamps and resin on canvas 36" x 60" 2018 at Artspace 8 Gallery, Chicago.
And some pics from yesterday's parade in Chicago -the future brave of our country.

"Light's Return" used U.S. postage stamps and resin on canvas 36" x 60" or 60" x 36" 2018

Friday, May 18, 2018, 6-10 pm
Cornelia Arts Building
1800 W. Cornelia, Chicago, IL
www.corneliaartsbuilding.com

A very nice afternoon spent with Chicago artists Michelle Stone and Darrell Roberts at the current Alex Katz exhibition at Gray Warehouse (Richard Gray Gallery), Chicago. I have never been a big follower of his work, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of his true bravery and integrity when viewing these new stunning and minimal pieces. In particular, “Road 2” seemed to vibrate on the wall like some sort of secret treasure hanging in a perfectly lit cathedral. I also enjoyed photographing Michelle and Darrell taking in the experience of these new enchanted pieces in the equally magical setting of the new gallery space.

Road 2, Oil on linen 120 x 96 inches 2017

I had a wonderful time Monday morning with the Garden Club of Evanston. I presented a lecture on photography and submissions to photo competitions, as well as reviewing and critiquing some of the members own photographs. We finished with my thoughts on what makes a great and truly compelling photograph.

photos by Evanston garden Club member Erica Granchalek

In the studio: at work on "Meaningful Adjacencies," one of three pieces commissioned through Blue Gallery, Kansas City, MO for a local hospital renovation.

A recent interview by ARTSPACE 8 gallery, Chicago.

AS8-Where were you born and raised? Did you go to college?
I was born in 1968 and raised in Skokie, Illinois. I went to Niles North High School in Skokie and graduated in 1986. I then went to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and earned a BA degree in 1990. Later, I completed the Certificate Program at the Chicago Photography Center.
 
AS8-When did you start creating art?
 My father was a painter and sculpture and always had a home studio. I literally lived with art, and art supplies, since I was born and started drawing at a very early age. From drawing, I progressed to painting and collage. Both of my parents always showed great interest and support in my art.
 
AS8-Have you had another relevant career that wasn’t in the art industry?
Currently, I teach photography. In addition, for about 20 years, I owned and ran a very successful Traditional Karate School, or dojo, in the Wilmette, Illinois. I closed the dojo permanently several years ago to concentrate on my art and photography full time.
 
AS8-Who is your most influential artist (and who do you admire)?
My father was the most influential artist in my life because he exposed me to art, and the making of artworks, at a very young age and through most of my formative years.
As far as more contemporary painters and mixed media artists, Frank Stella, Agnes Martin and Gerhard Richter, are all artist I admire for very many reasons. In the realm of photography, I am inspired by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Dorthea Lange and others of the California group of the 1930-40s.

AS8-What compels you to create what you do? What are your artistic inspirations?
When I was young, my mother took me to a press proofing for a printed product advertisement. Looking into the glass loop, I was amazed to see that the seemingly solid colors were actually tiny individual dots. Sometime later, while visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, I encountered Georges Seurat’s, A Sunday on LA Grande Jatte, and was introduced to the technique of pointillism.  Most of my mixed media work is based on this idea of using many similar objects to create an interconnected whole greater than the sum of its parts.
 
AS8-When did you know you wanted art to be your career? How did you get started in the art field? When did you start getting exhibited and where?
I never consciously decided to make art my career or life’s work.  My father was my first inspiration. He was a sculptor and a painter. From the age of four or five, I remember working on sketches with him, particularly of faces and my own left hand, and spending lots of time in his studio, which was always in our home. My interest grew from there. I had my first one person show in Chicago in 2000-2001 at a very established River North gallery. The show did very well as far as sales and the critical response. That experience essentially launched my career and gave me the confidence and motivation to take it to the next level.
 
AS8-Who buys your art if you know?
It is really quite a range, with no demographic or type of sale coming out ahead. However, I consistently do well with corporate sales and commissions. For example, in the last year or so, I have had my work placed in two hospitals, five corporate headquarters and several banks.
 
AS8-hat differentiates you from the rest of people who do what you do? Why should people care about your artwork?
My unusual mediums (currently thousands of used postage stamps) and the universal ideas behind what I do are my differentiators. I often use, or reuse, materials outside their normal context and that can be acquired in large quantities. This allows me freedom from overthinking the materials or the process, which is one at a time construction with great repetition. Currently, I am using cancelled postage stamps as my primary medium.
When you view a piece you must ask: Where did they originate? Who sent them? What letters did they carry? Each used and canceled postage stamp has a hidden history of its own. Each small stamp represents this unknown story and the expanded web that it was once connected to. My artwork touches on both the individual and the collective, on both the original sender of each correspondence and the society as a whole.
 
AS8-What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on an ongoing series of geometric abstractions using thousands of used postage stamps and resin as my medium. I have been working on this series for about ten years now. I am influenced by Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious and the interconnectedness of the universe and its correspondence to several schools of eastern thought and mysticism. The postage stamp pattern fields are my interpretation and reinvention of mandalas, or meditative microcosms.

AS8-How does your mood affect your work?
Usually, my creative process is simple: I get myself to the studio regardless of how I’m feeling or any lack of motivation. I get right to work. I don’t wait for the right mood or inspiration. Inspiration comes from the work itself and inspiration (the muses) only respects a strong work ethic and perseverance. Inspiration shows up for those who cut through the resistance and just do it. There is no other way if you are serious about your work and career.
Having made that strong statement on self-discipline, sometimes specific studio work is just not possible that day, for a variety of reasons. Fortunately, I usually split the week up in terms of 70/30. The 70% is the actual making of the work and the 30% is the PR, communicating with galleries, updating website and social media, documenting new work, etc. I call it the “back office” work. So on the days were one type of work is not possible; I shift gears and take care of the other, equally important part.

In the studio: at work on an architecturally based corporate commission for a Chicago real estate firm, Spring 2016

We had a great turnout for the dual openings of the "Fragmented" and "Resilient" Exhibitions at ARTSPACE 8 in Chicago. The highlights of the night were Fidel Rodriguez's stunning new "Flag" piece (first image shot  by Fidel R., courtesy of Artspace 8) and seeing some old artist friends. If you could not attend the openings, please stop by the gallery during your next downtown/magnificent mile outing and see the shows and all the other amazing artwork the gallery exhibits. I shot the last image of the old church being framed by the modern high-rise on the way to the opening. I'm always looking...

ARTSPACE 8
900 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
312.241.160

A recent beautiful install for the University of Kansas Hospital Collection compliments of the amazing Blue Gallery, Kansas City, MO.

Installation images: "Meaningful Adjacencies" 60" x 60" 2017, "Inward Journey" 48" x 36" 2017 and "Transcend" 48" x 36" 2017.

"Stillness" used U.S. postage stamps and resin on canvas 30" x 60" 2017
at Blue Gallery, Kansas City, MO

I was honored to be one of three judges last Saturday for the 63rd annual Deer Path Art League Art Fair for 2017. I met Pam Payton, Chairperson, and Michael Brown, Art Fair Organizer, and two other judges at the Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest at 9:00 AM to go through hundreds of submissions. I was pleasantly surprised to experience the use of the ZAPPlication jury system that worked seamlessly and made the process super-organized and efficient. We finished by noon and all had a great lunch together, getting to know each another and each of our work better. I reserved most of the day for the jury process and since we finished earlier than planned, I decided to make use of the time and location and explore the surrounding area with my Canon camera. Below is a quick cell phone shot of the ZAPPlication jury system as it was set-up and some additional photograph while exploring in and around Lake Forest and Waukegan, IL.

This week and next, I am working on several pieces at once, with easels set up in various places in the studio and a table for small works, as well. Shown here in progress is “De La Sol 2,” based on a piece by Sol LeWitt entitled “Brush Strokes in Four Directions” from 1994. My original "De La Sol," sold by Simon Breitbard Gallery in San Fransisco, is shown below.

"De La Sol" used U.S. postage stamps and resin on cradled wood panel 44" x 44" 2015

I had a great visit delivering new work to Water Street Gallery in Douglas, Michigan. I spent an amazing afternoon with Maryjo Lemanski (Owner/Director) and Steve Mottram (Assistant Director), and then later hiked around the Saugatuck Harbor Nature Area and Oval Beach with my camera. In all my years of visiting this town, I never knew this beautiful and secluded beach existed.

Maryjo and Steve organizing the new artwork.

New work from my 8" x 8" (Vortex Series) at Water Street Gallery.

Two of my 24" x 6" pieces on wood panels hanging next to an amazing paper piece by Krista Reuter. Two pyramids resting in front of "Radial Flux" hanging behind them.

Selection from my "Shaped" series at Water Street Gallery.

Moments in light and time from the secluded and empty Oval Beach, Saugatuck, MI

Please join me this Sunday, February 12, at Firecat Projects gallery in Chicago. For those of you who missed the official opening of "Synchronicity," or have been meaning to see the exhibition or want to come back again, I will be at the gallery hosting this special Sunday open gallery time. I look forward to seeing you there.

Special Open Gallery Event at Firecat Projects
Sunday, February 12, 2017 from 11:00am-3:00pm
2124 N Damen Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
My cell phone: 773-206-2824
My email: jordandscott@sbcglobal.net

A great turnout for Opening Night at Firecat Projects in Chicago for the "Synchronicity" exhibition. Photos: with fellow artist Darren Jones and Michele Jahelka, Curator, and Stan Klein, Gallery Director.
Exhibition dates: January 27-February 18, 2017

I am always pleased to finish another in my series of American flag pieces. I produced my first flag about 15 years ago and it featured a Warhol-esk color pallet of purple, green and brown. Since then, I have mostly utilized the standard color scheme of red, white and blue. This piece will be going to ARTSPACE 8 Gallery in Chicago.

About this piece:

• "Old Glory" used U.S. postage stamps and resin on canvas 36" x 60" 2016
  
• Made from approximately 7,500 used U.S. postage stamps
  
• The blue field of the flag is made from U.S. 1973, 10 cent, "Jefferson Memorial" issues
• The stars and white stripes are made from U.S. 1961, 5 cent "50 Star Flag" issues
• The red stripes are made from U.S. 1922, 2 cent "Washington" issues

Details

"Old Glory" in process in my Ravenswood studio at the Cornelia Arts Building, Chicago.
December/January 2016/17

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings!
Wishing you the best in 2017,
Jordan Scott

It's been an exciting fall in 2016. I have a new exhibition of photographs, The Artist Studio, at The Art Center in Highland Park Art, IL. This ongoing series explores artist’s studios in a new and interesting (and hopefully aesthetically pleasing) way. I also have work included in a beautiful exhibit at Blue Gallery in Kansas City, MO.  And last, I am pleased to have new gallery representation with Water Street Gallery in Douglas, MI.

Selected Images.

Above left: "Summer Vortex," "Threshold," "Echoes" and "Synchronicities"
Above right: "Traces of Light" and "Shimmer" at Blue Gallery in Kansas City, MO

Water Street Gallery, Douglas, MI
Top row: selections from the "Vortex" series (each 16" x 16")
Bottom: "Awakened," "Body Currents" and "Dark Matter" (each 6" x 24")