Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/595716
I'm this New York intellectual and don't know anything about living in the country. But it's almost as if the story needed to be told by somebody with New York training so it would- n't look like Western art. It needed to be told in a way so people who have the ability to protect wildlife will buy my art and see what I see and protect them." For awhile, Rosen split time between New York and the horse ranch, and then two days before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, she sold her New York loft and used the money to purchase a ranch down the road from the one she had been bor- rowing. "When I first came here, it was so quiet at night," she recalls. "There were no cars, and I heard this sound and it was like, 'Oh shit! Somebody is breaking in!' I felt like Jerry Lewis in a Zen monastery. Like, 'Oh my GAWD!' And then I realized the sound was my heartbeat! I mean, who would hear your heartbeat in New York?" Rosen's inspiration comes from as diverse sources as Leonardo da Vinci, Egyptian funer- ar y ar t, Asian calligraphy and Renaissance drawing techniques. When asked how all her insight and syn- chronicities inform her work, she answers, "I think it is my work. I start with drawing from observation. I'm a Leonardo da Vinci kind of gal. The drawing starts to bring up these forms that I think are almost abstract. When you look at a hawk posted on a telephone pole, you are not sure if it's a hawk or a transformer. It's that moment when you recognize a Great Blue Heron is not a stick in the ground. Drawing gets you to the essence of form." Rosen studied animal and human anatomy and glass blowing techniques from experts (though she leaves the actual glass blowing to others) in order to create sculptural forms, from horse hooves to still-lifes reminiscent of artist Giorgio Morandi, to birds made of glass and crystal mixed with limestone and other materi- als, that have made her famous. Locally, her work is available at the Chris Winfield Gallery in Carmel. "She captures an essence of the birds," Winfield says. "The glass is wonderful and translucent and she often puts it on boulders. There's a primitive response to nature that goes way back to the first carvings." Rosen pictures the beautiful proportions of birds posted on branches like monks or the Virgin Mary. "My studio is like a cathedral," she says. "I firm- ly believe in God and I really feel nature is God's cathedral. I very much wish for my work to remind people of a still- ness and a quiet in themselves. Too much art tells us about the bad news first. After 40 years in New York, I know the bad news. I want work that can lead us to the possibility of good news. And there is good news." Jane Rosen's sculptures, paintings and prints are available at the Winfield Gallery, located on Dolores between Ocean and 7th in Carmel. 831/624-3369 or visit www.winfieldgallery.com. 174 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 5 Left: "Cave Bird," hand-blown pigmented glass and beau maniere limestone. Right: "Hawk and Buddhi," casein, conte, mixed media. 'I was looking up at a redtail hawk and I heard a voice as clear as day: "Stay here and tell your story." '