(WHITEWATER – October 13) The pastel work of Tatijana Jacenkiw is on display at the Cultural Arts Center gallery, 402 W. Main Street, Whitewater through October 25, 2020. In observance of Covid-19 safety precautions, the gallery is open Friday – Sunday, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., masks must be worn in the building at all times, and there is a maximum of 10 people allowed in the gallery at one time.
Tatijana Jacenkiw was born in Chicago and raised in a Ukrainian neighborhood. Abandoning her love of art in favor of a more practical profession, she attended the Illinois Institute of Technology where she received a degree in architecture. After starting her career in architecture, getting married, and raising a family, she decided to pursue a career as an artist in 2005. Tatijana began honing her skills by painting several days a week in the studio of Evanston portrait artist, Gay Riseborough. Subsequently, she took classes with Eleanor Spiess-Ferris and Jason Miklik, as well as attended workshops conducted by nationally recognized pastelists.
She is continually juried and has received awards in various international, national, and regional juried art shows. She has had several solo exhibitions in Illinois including the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago. She is president and a master signature member of the Chicago Pastel Painters, a signature member of the Pastel Society of America, and a member of the Master’s Circle of the International Association of Pastel Societies. She has had her work published and received recognition in the Pastel Journal, the American Artist, and the Ukrainian Word among other publications.
Tatijana’s desire to share the wonders of pastels with other artists and art lovers led to her dedicated involvement with the Chicago Pastel Painters. Since 2013, she has been teaching pastel classes. She is currently an instructor at the Art Center of Highland Park.
Tatijana’s Artist Statement: “I work almost exclusively in pastels. The abundance of available colors mesmerizes me, and their refractive quality intrigues me. I am constantly amazed and fascinated by the way one can mix colors through layering, strokes and cross hatching resulting in an iridescence, depth and complexity of color that is always different.
I strive to capture the essence of the subject, tell a story, and convey a mood, a feeling, or a moment in time. No matter how much I plan a painting, once I begin, it becomes an emotional and reactionary process. While I love to paint everything and anything, people move me the most. My emotional connection with the subject matter, my love for color, my nervous energy, and my technique result in paintings that are consistently unique and yet uniquely my own.”
Website:https://www.tatijana-jacenkiw.com/
The mission of the Whitewater Arts Alliance is to promote the visual and performing arts through an alliance of artists, individuals, educational resources, and organizations to promote creativity and diversity that will serve to educate and enrich the lives of the residents of the Whitewater community and surrounding areas.
