Forest Floor Talk

 

AJ Slide Lecture NWTAG
Jendrzejewski talks to members of the Northwest Territory Art Guild in September about details in his painted mural relief at Clark’s Crossing.

On August 17, at the invitation Sara Frenz of the Northwest Territory Art Guild, Andrew Jendrzejewski gave a talk to fellow artists and guests about the painted relief mural recently finished for the main Sixth Street entrance of Clark’s Crossing. He talked about the inspiration and design for the mural, the process of proposing the mural, technical considerations, constraints and opportunities and the long process of building the three dimensional structure of the mural.

Measuring eight by sixteen feet, the work sits at the back of a convex platform originally built for display of Lincoln High School trophies. The platform is set against a concave wall. The relief was built to match the curve of the wall. The curve presented Jendrzejewski interesting problems both physically and visually in the building of the relief structure. The painting surface is composed of carved Styrofoam with a polymer-based cement coating. Special tools were purchased and adapted to carve the Styrofoam. The relief was made in separate panels framed and fastened together with steel straps to follow the curve of the wall and allow the work to be disassembled in the future without being destroyed. Gesso primer and acrylic paint were used, which are fine artist materials similar to oil paint.

The resulting work is a forest scene, developed as a three-dimensional relief, carved, coated with cement and painted. It was based on an 8 X 8 inch carved wood relief extrapolated from to provide a rectangular composition for the mural. The composition suggests a visual pathway through a deep forest.

Jendrzejewski expresses his appreciation for the opportunity given to him by architect Andy Myszak, the supervision and patience of Duane Miller of Flaherty and Collins Properties in Indianapolis and his spouse Vickie, and the chance to explain the process to members of the Art Guild. Thank you!