Jeannie Friedman

"I am a mixed media artist. My current series of paintings references the significance of female friendship in the lives of women and girls. I am inspired by how everyday moments—women walking together, shopping together; girls racing in the wind, girls holding hands—are the intangible threads woven together to create the strong fabric of friendship.

I collect black and white photos of ordinary women and ordinary girls doing ordinary things, usually in pairs. The photos are most likely from the 1950s, the era in which I grew up. I begin each painting by cropping into a small portion of a photo. My aim is to identify and extract one detail in the image that reveals the essence of the relationship captured in the photograph. I believe that by focusing on an evocative detail, we can often imagine, or at least infer, the much larger “whole.”  What is happening? Who are the people? What is their relationship to one another?

Next, I make a rough pencil drawing of the detail on my canvas, often filling the whole space. I then apply paint and attach fabric scraps and paper to transform the original black and white detail into a color composition that becomes more abstract but never loses the figures. The people are always present.

I never include the faces of the women or girls in my painting. Nor do I show specific places with recognizable buildings or landscapes. I’m much more interested in conveying the universal human connection that emanates from the sometimes subtle, sometimes bold gestures the selected detail: arms linked or legs running—in fun, not fear; with joy, exhilaration, or in quiet sharing— without specific clues from facial expressions or other details of identity.

My paintings are meant to draw on inference and intuition to manifest the whole and to evoke memory while employing the artistic skills of composition, color and imaginative use of materials—the same skills that visual artists strive to master to effectively create art. The subject matter is the impetus for the work but my main objective, first and foremost, is to produce a great painting— and one that also references the richness and importance of female friendship.

To that end, there’s a framed quote hanging in my studio that simply states, 'I wouldn’t have made it through the tough times without my girlfriends.' "

2 Girls Dancing
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
30 x 30 in
Courtesy of the artist 
$4,500
Purchase

 2 Girls Holding Hands
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
48 x 24 in 
Courtesy of the artist
$6,000
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2 Girls Running
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
30 x 40 in
Courtesy of the artist
$4,500
Purchase

3 at the Beach
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
24 x 36 in
Courtesy of the artist
$4,500
Purchase

Three Women Shopping (Tres Mujeres de Compras)
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
30 x 48 in
Courtesy of the artist
$5,500
Purchase

Attitude
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
30 x 30 in
Courtesy of the artist 
$4,500
Purchase