Unforgotten
A convergence of time where I feel like myself again.
June 24, 2025
“The story of this piece starts with the story of Margie - a weird and uncomfortable step back in time. It seems like such a sweet innocent first date. Why do I find it disturbing? Is it the ‘smile for me’ attitude? Is it the stalker behavior? Life Savers 5 cents.”
~ Studio Journal
How did I get from a vintage magazine page that compelled me to add a note to my studio journal to the ghostly garden, above?
“Unforgotten I” - A homecoming
This piece feels like a coming home, a welcome party for everything I love about making art. I’ve missed this feeling lately. The last time I probably truly enjoyed this sense of artistic belonging was when I was working on my “i am” series of vibrant nature-wildlife themed paintings from 2015-2016.
At that time, I was also experimenting with multiple ideas and techniques and using them to express a deep affinity for the natural world.
10 years later, I’ve certainly veered into new artistic territory, but it finally feels like all the hard work I’ve been doing to understand my pivots and motivations, develop my processes, and let my imagination take whatever path it needed is coming together in new and interesting unexpected ways.
Margie
And while Margie started as a main character in this piece, she has become one of many little stories that work together in support of a larger ecosystem. (In the first phase of this piece, she is still visible, as seen below in the upper center of this detail, captured here as a part of a postcard series that I plan to use for creating a complementary handmade book.)
“Unforgotten I” Before & After
Phase I - This was the longest period of progression. I slowly built up layers of vintage materials onto a gessoboard as I found materials that compelled me to continue. Part of my process was to make sure I had several layers because I knew I wanted to sand or scrape them away at some point in the process. I felt this was necessary as a means to physically show the erosion of time.
Phase II - At this point I wanted to push the layers into the background and start developing a new vegetative layer to represent a future showing the survival of species despite our human clutter. I added a light layer of watercolor gesso and pencil linework to delineate flowers and plants familiar to me.
Phase III - This was by far the scariest jump with this piece. I didn’t originally envision going in this direction, but I was suddenly inspired to let the vegetation take on a ghostly appearance by silhouetting it within an ink background.
Phase IV - Finally, I wanted to adjust the composition while also returning to my original concept - scraping and gouging into the layers of collage. I ended up using a knife to carve out more botanical shapes. It didn’t work quite like I expected, but it worked how this piece needed, which I appreciated. It gave me ideas for the next iteration of this process.
In representing time this way, I found the hours I put into developing this piece to be a necessary part of the story. Not only did it take time to develop as it waited patiently in my studio for each moment of inspiration, but it was certainly also influenced by a range of work over the last 10 years.
Convergence of Influences
So what led to this piece being made? Why does it feel so harmonious to me? And why do I see it as a fixed point in my artistic journey?
I think the answer lies in how various studio interests came together.
Vintage Collage
Collecting and using vintage materials has become second nature after my initiation into this world via an unexpected cleansing of my childhood home and the myriad of ephemera contained within. This experience manifested in my art practice in a variety of ways - from my Collage O experiment, which led to 200 mini collages (so far), to creating a fiber arts installation with Of the Mind.
Botanical Patterns
I love using botanical shapes in my work, both for my personal connection to and joy in interacting with nature, and for the beautiful organic patterning they naturally create - as evidenced in my 2017 book “Expressions of Color and Pattern”. My techniques for representing these elements in “Unforgotten I” are explicitly influenced by my work with reverse glass, stamp-making, and gelatin plate printing. I am also enjoying the benefits of creating 100 botanical drawings last year to help me expand my knowledge of foliage and flowers (with a couple critters included), while building up my practical drawing and watercolor skills - skills which I thoroughly enjoyed bringing into this piece!
Texture and Substance
I was once asked long ago by a very wise artist friend, “What do you love about painting?” My immediate response actually surprised me and has stuck with me many years later - “I love the buttery texture of paint.” In these unexpected words, I was expressing my love of texture, movement, and spontaneity. When I paint, whether with large body movements on a large canvas or with precious small strokes on a little block of wood, I love how a rich, buttery paint moves across a canvas in a dance only I know. And while I dance less often with the heavy body paints of my early career, it’s that texture and density that bring my attention to an art piece time and time again. I am intrigued by the unexpected elements of a piece that reveal layers of history and depth that worry not about the scene or subject. It’s why I don’t care if you see my brushstrokes, preferring my paint to be full of energy and depth in its application, leaving unexpected marks, drips, and ridges. I want to see the making of the art alongside the final piece.
Story
Finally, I keep coming back to the story each piece tells. Whether it’s through the materials being used, the subject matter or references, color and design, or accompanying poetry or text - I love to experience the fullness of an art piece in whatever way an artist (or viewer, bringing their own ideas and responses to a piece) sees fit. In this particular piece, “Unforgotten I”, I want to invite beauty and discomfort into a conversation. What will our human existence leave for future generations? How will the planet respond? What ghosts will we leave in our past, and which will continue to haunt us? How do we balance the delicate and the substantial? Where do we find lightness in the dark?
What’s Next
As I welcome and appreciate the convergence of all my past experiences into a new approach to my art, I also continue to ponder the stories represented in my dialogue with this piece. At the same time, I’m also looking for new ways to share this experience and invite conversation while honoring the history layered into the work - perhaps in that handmade book of postcards with a glimpse of Margie that I mentioned at the beginning…
Until then, my next piece will be an attempt at the same process, but on a larger scale. Hopefully, now that I have a vision for the work, it won’t take me 8 months to finish the next one! But even if it does, I’m happy to have a moment to feel like my most authentic and creative self again, like that young and enthusiastic painter simply appreciating a stroke of buttery paint.
~ Jennifer
Reproductions of this art are available direct from Jennifer’s studio store at JenniferLommers.com/store and via FineArtAmerica at JenniferLommersArt.com
Look for this Original art, and others in the series, to be available both online and in-person starting the weekend of the 4th annual Northside Open Studios Tour, April 18-19.
Jennifer, this was a timely piece for me, and thanks to Joshua Robinson for guiding me here. As always you inspire.
Beautiful piece!!!!