Talking with Journey to Joy’s Jen Ahern
It is a bright sunny morning in Connecticut as I speak with artist Jen on the phone. She is at home in North Carolina, and throughout our conversation I can hear the delightful babbles of a toddler in the background. Jen is helping a friend with childcare. When I ask what they are playing, Jen warmly tells me that playing means getting out the art supplies: “For me, art is truly play and brings me joy. It allows me to communicate things that I have a hard time communicating a lot of the time.” Jen’s passion for her art, her faith, and for lifting up all those around her is palpable both over the phone and on her canvases.
(left) Jen Ahern, Ad Gaudium Founder and artist.
Jen has four paintings of stunning sky-scapes on exhibit at the Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex, North Carolina, as part of an exhibition called “A Light Approach.” On the exhibit label beside her paintings at the Halle, Jen is described as an artist who “reveals hidden beauty, and at times, sorrow.”
I asked Jen about this contrast, whether the bright and dark skies were intentionally done to show beauty and light, but also sorrow. “I wasn’t necessarily trying to show sorrow but I very rarely paint pictures of skies that don’t have some sort of dark clouds in them. Somehow the dark clouds and the bright sun or the colors, call to me.”
It is the difficult moments, the sorrowful and frustrating, that allow deeper appreciation of moments of joy. “Where the light and dark come together is usually the focal point in a painting. I used to not like the grays, and the browns, and the darker colors because I wanted the space to be bright and light but I realized that without the dark you don’t experience the light in the same way. That is something painting has really helped me appreciate, that the dark times help to experience the light. Without the sorrows, we don’t appreciate and don’t see the contrast. There is something kind of mysterious in that the dark is part of our life brings about the lightest parts.” Although it sounds almost counterintuitive, it is the dark that allows us to more fully see the light in both art and life. Although I might not be an artist, I have learned this lesson in my own life. Following loss and sadness, clouds imbued with golden sunshine become richer in their beauty.
Jen began teaching art quite by accident. While helping at her sons’ school, she would bring a sketchbook and a small tin of travel paints. The children were intrigued and Jen began to paint with them. Painting was a way to play with the children. Jen has since taught art to elementary, middle and high school classes. “It’s always been a passion to share that love of creating art. Get in there and play. There are rules in art but they are rules to be broken. I love being able to tell kids, do it however you want to do it. Unlike all these other places where you can be wrong, it’s art. Here is the project, but if you want to try it in a different way, play. Here are the materials. Explore.”
Even this morning while watching a two-year old, Jen is still teaching and exploring. They work simultaneously. The little one sketches on small note cards in pink, green and pencil, drawing a person and other figures. Jen sketches Mary nursing Jesus, having been called to this image on the morning of the feast day of Our Lady of La Leche. In just one morning, play becomes beauty, prayer infuses art and a conversation with an artist brightens the day.
“A Light Approach” is on view at the Halle Cultural Arts Center, in Apex, North Carolina through November 16th.