RJ Molyneux
Lily Excursions
About the Art:
After earning her Master's of Art in Art Education from the prestigious
School of the Art Institute of Chicago,
Rj, a Colorado native, tired of walking through Chicago's Concrete Jungle,
set out on an adventure,
allowing her to return to nature in a very intimate way.
She and her dog bicycled 825 miles from their home along
Chicago's Lakeshore Drive to the border of Colorado,
towing a bicycle trailer loaded with a few camping supplies,
her camera equipment, her computer, and her art supplies.
Oh, and her 90 pound, 11 year old dog
when she grew tired of running along beside her.
They played in the wildflowers along America's historic Lincoln Highway, photographing them, sketching them,
and blogging throughout their six week adventure.
The featured canvases are the culmination of their epic journey,
a celebration of movement and natural sustainability,
sprinkled with good old fashioned hospitality. The works assimilate the
interactive nature between photo, sketch, location and experience,
reflecting the kindness of the people that helped shape their expedition.
Each piece is dedicated to those they encountered along the way
who generously helped them on their journey.
Fascinated by the phenomenological interplay between
art, viewer, creator and object, Rj strives to incorporate
motion and narrative continuity through the flow of a continuous color wash
used as the backdrop for each of the floral pieces.
Each canvas features a bit of the trip,
pieces of litter they picked up along the way,
reminders of the delicate balance between
earth and humanity.
About the Artist:
Rj perceives life to be an adventure, an exciting excursion
through whatever course her life may take.
After graduating summa cum laude, With Distinction
in both Humanities and English
from the University of Colorado at Boulder,
she launched a ten-year long career teaching
Art History, Art Foundations, Humanities, Photography,
English Literature, and English Composition at
Lamar Community College in Southeastern Colorado.
While attending SAIC,
she researched how educators could incorporate
local public art into their classroom curriculum.
After her epic adventure returning to
Colorado from Chicago,
she continued researching how people interact with public art in cities including
Washington DC, New York, Nashville and Albuquerque.
She recently sustained a
Traumatic Brain Injury,
sending her along an excursion in which she has,
in addition to physical, speech, visual and biofeedback therapies,
used her art as rehabilitative therapy.
In addition to sustaining profound damage to all but her right temporal lobe
(the creative sphere of one's brain),
she lost partial use of the right side of her body.
Her pastels and charcoals document the first six months of her recovery,
while the acrylics in the featured 24 canvas series
reflect her continuing journey toward recovery.
Professional Portfolio:
https://saic.digication.com/Molyneux-Roberta_Jean_Molyneux_Davis-Education_Portfolio/Profile//
Login