Phyllis Jarvinen - About the Artist

Phyllis Jarvinen

About the Artist

Solo Shows:

Always Already Made: Landscape of the Tessentee in pinhole photographs, artist's books, and prints. March 23-27, 2010. Master's of Fine Arts Thesis exhibition at the Fine Art Museum, Fine and Performing Arts Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723.
Watershed - close to home - Feb - Mar 2010, opening Feb. 20, 2010 at Spring Street Cafe in Sylva, NC. Benefit for Land Trust for the Little Tennessee
Pilgrimage to the Dark Star and Other Works – February/March 2008, at Swain County Center for the Arts in February and March 2008, opening February 17, 2008.
Stream of Consciousness April - May 2007, paintings and drawings inspired by Kephart Prong, a stream in the Smokies at Nantahala Outdoor Center Relia’s Garden Restaurant.
Stream: Connotations, April 2006 at Street Café in Sylva, NC.

Selected Group Shows:

Scope: The North Carolina Landscape, juror Jonathan Stuhlman - curator of American Art at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, June 4-24, 2010.

By invitation – response to George Masa show, curator Martin DeWitt, museum director at the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum, August 23 – October 14, 2009.

A Female Dialogue – In support of the Vagina Monologues – Western Carolina University’s Fine and Performing Art Center’s Atrium, group exhibit Feb. 9-13, 2009.

Fragile Earth: Reflections on the Environment – Juried by Martin DeWitt, museum director; group show at Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum, July 13- August 15, 2008.

Participated in community art show at Swain County Center for the Arts, 2010 2008, 2007, 2006.

Group exhibit (rotating pieces from 2004-2007) juried by Debra Mills at Everett Street Café and Gallery in Bryson City, NC.

Metropolitan Art Market 2005 – Flea market juried by Nancy Jean for local and emerging artists in the Twin Cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Watercolors done on extended trips to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area, shown in a 1989 Group Exhibition of Staff Artists at Nantahala Outdoor Center

Awards:

· 2009 Winner Fine and Performing Arts Category in 17^th Annual Graduate Research Symposium at Western Carolina University – Graduate Student Paper competition: “Giotto’s Genius and How He Used Facial Expression to Connect Emotionally With Viewers”.

· Oil and Water Don’t Mix, Second Place Painting Prize in 2004 WCU Student Art Exhibition juried by Dian Magie, Executive Director, UNC Center for Craft Creativity and Design and Brad Thomas, Director and Curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College

· Dogwood in the Smokies watercolor, Second Place Prize in a 1989 juried emerging artists show in Bryson City, NC.

Classes and publications:

2010 Presenter in Fine and Performing Arts Category in 18^th Annual Graduate Research Symposium at Western Carolina University – Graduate Student Paper competition and PowerPoint presentation to discuss paper: “Sally Mann: Artistic Practices”.

MFA Fall 2009 Artist Talk Series at Western Carolina University, power point presentation on pinhole photographs and artist's books, October 29, 2009.

Presented demonstration Reading Water and Painting Transparent Water at the Blue Ridge Watermedia Society annual meeting on Sept. 11, 2007 in Haywood County, NC.

Developed class in Reading Water for the Visual Artist offered through Southwestern Community College continuing education program Fall 2006. Gave the presentation to Swain County Center for the Arts member meeting September 2006.

Featured in article, Stream of Consciousness – Therapist’s Paintings Explore Water as Metaphor for Life by Teresa Killian, in Summer 2007 issue of The Magazine of Western Carolina University.

Drawing published in LIMINAL 2005 – University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Student Fine Art publication Reclining Nude II, charcoal.

Drawing published in NOMAD 2004 – WCU Student Fine Art publication River, pen and ink repeating border design.

Drawing published in NOMAD 2003 – WCU Student Fine Art publication Nude, charcoal figure drawing.

Galleries:

The Bascom - A Center for the Visual Arts in Highlands, NC carries handmade books with prints and cards.

· City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC carries cards.

· The Cottage Craftsman, Bryson City, NC carries cards.

· The Oaks Gallery in Dillsboro, NC carries cards.

Mission Statement:
To support causes I believe in by using images I create to help raise other’s awareness of my favorite organizations. To be present....

My causes and some favorite organizations include:
KIDS Place, a nationally accredited Children's Advocacy Center in Franklin, NC where I work as a therapist with children who have been abused and neglected and their families.

WATR, The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River is a grassroots organization working to improve water quality and habitat of the Tuckasegee River . Look them up at www.watr.org or contact them at info@watrnc.org or at P.O. Box 2593, Bryson City, NC 28713. This organization protects the watershed of most of my water works that you see on my website.

The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee at www.ltlt.org, is dedicated to conserving the waters, forests, farms, and heritage of the Upper Little Tennessee and Hiwassee River Valleys . I hope to do a series involving the beautiful Little Tennessee River .

The Chattooga Conservancy at www.chattoogariver.org, is a grassroots organization that formed in 1991 through the shared vision of a group of citizens who began contesting the Forest Service`s intensive logging and road-building program in the Chattooga watershed`s national forests. One of my dream projects is to do a series based on the incredible rock and water formations of the Chattooga. Lots of potholes and boulders in this riverbed.

P.A.W.S. (Placing Animals Within Society) is a volunteer driven, non-profit organization which seeks to eliminate companion animal suffering through population control, public education and ensuring that all animals are sheltered. You may contact them at PO Box 1814 Bryson City, NC 28713. I have donated cards printed from drawings of pets – mine and others: Penny, Bruno, Uma, Momo, Bastian, Kaytee are all hard at work earning money for the sheltering and welfare of other pets.

ARF (Jackson County Humane Society at www.a-r-f.org) is an all-volunteer, 501(c)3 non-profit corporation composed of a small group of volunteers who rescue animals from the shelter, the roads, and the community and keep them in their own homes. Penny and Bruno cards have been used for a few years now to say ‘thank-you’ for helping and to raise money.