Small Paper Houses

I started creating small paper houses in 2016, calling this series Tree Houses. The small paper houses has been an ongoing series of photographs where I place the paper houses in parts of the natural environment like woodpecker holes, on stumps and between leaves. To learn more about the series of small paper houses, keep reading! 

Much of my current practice involves working outdoors as my studio and using paper to add or transform an area of a landscape that is close to me and I have spent time with. I see both the process of making the work and documenting the work in a photograph as the artwork.

 

In the Tree Houses series, I create miniature brown paper houses and place them in the landscape as tiny villages on tree stumps and in nooks and crannies of the natural environment. The houses are varied in size. After placing them, I take a photograph and remove the house to place it in a new location next time.  This series signifies the idea that home can be made where you make it and the importance of valuing the natural environment as a home. The small paper houses create miniature worlds or communities within the photo that is taken. 

I like taking the paper houses with me on hikes and walks to be able to capture new photos to add in the series. I would like to create a book of the small paper houses in the future.

small paper houses


You can take a look at some of the small paper houses series in the images below. 

small paper houses
small paper houses

This series of Tree Houses has been featured in:

  • Art Promenade (Photograph of Treehouses), City of Waterloo Public Art Installation in 2022

  • State of Becoming, Button Factory Arts, Waterloo, ON in 2017

  • Tree House (select photograph) Tiny Spoon (Issue 10) in 2023






To connect with me, please click on any of the icons below! Leave a comment below letting me know which photo you love from the series. 







2022 Year in Review


2022 is coming to end and it is time to look back and reflect on the year. Here is my 2022 year in review for my art! A lot has happened this year and I want to share it with you. This is a great time for you to reflect on your favourite memories of 2022 too! 



My Art Goals for 2022

Post consistently to social media (5x a week to instagram, 3-4x to facebook, every day to Pinterest, twice a month to my email list, blog post 3-4x a month, YouTube 2x a month), TikTok weekly 

Social media takes time. I recently started a tiktok - Jackie Partridge Art.  I would like to try paid ads this year.


I decided to switch to posting to YouTube once a month this year as it is a ton of work and I am working full time as a teacher. I am still starting with tiktok -you can find me on -Jackie Partridge Art. I would like to do more next year.


Update: I did pretty well with this. Lots of life changes prevented me from posting as consistent as I would have liked to.

Excited to announce we are expecting our first child in May 2023!

2022 year in review Jackie Partridge


Apply to art calls twice a month - I want to have more exhibitions this year!

I have been getting more exhibitions and artist grants since I have been consistently applying to art application calls.

I did well at applying to exhibitions and art calls and usually applied to 4 or so per month. As a result I had a lot more exhibitions this year! 

I had a few big exhibitions this year and a couple of grants from Pat the Dog Theatre Company and Ontario Arts Council.

Spend time in nature for inspiration- I find this really helps with my art practice.

Once a month Gordie and I made it a habit of hiking, campinging or walking outside. I’ve taken lots of photos that I have shared on Instagram

We didn’t go outside hiking or camping as much as I wanted to but when we did we had a lot of fun. 


Make consistent art sales- I would love my art to be my main source of income. I would like to match my current teaching income before the end of 2022. These are my current streams of revenue:

  • Art grants/awards and artist fees

  • Art workshops and coaching 

  • Selling art teaching resources on Teachers Pay Teachers

  • Selling my original art 

  • Selling my cyanotype prints on Society6

 

I did a lot better at making consistent sales with my art. I still have a ways to go but I am getting there and enjoying the journey! 

My sales on my Teachers Pay Teachers have really improved. I did two holiday art markets that were successful and sold more art online this year!

Set boundaries for teaching for more work life balance- no work on Friday nights and Saturdays, no emails past 5pm, no marking on the weekend. No working camps.

This past summer I worked the month of July at a day camp at my school. I was very intentional not to start working on school stuff until the end of August so that I could have a break from school. Make art during school breaks- I plan on not working at camps this year so that I have more time to focus on my art and business. 


I did well not working at camps this year which gave me more time to work on my art and I’m so happy with the progress I have made! I also did well not working on school stuff outside of school hours.


Make art each month- I want to get back to making art each month. It is something that I put off like exercising. I want to be able to prioritize both.  - I have done better at this!

2022 Goals 

  • Exercise 2x a week - rough in the winter but got better in the spring and for the rest of the year 

  • Match my teaching salary in my art income

  • Purchase a Home 

  • ✅Have 5 exhibitions or publications - Kitchener Public Library two person exhibition, Cambridge Art Gallery Show.21, Art Comp in London, ON, Forest Spaces- Contact Photo Festival in Toronto, Moving Forward, Three Sisters Cultural Centre, St. Jacob’s, ON, INPRINT Exhibition, Button Factory Arts, Waterloo, ON.


  • Grow my mailing list by 500 people 

  • Grow my YouTube to 500 subscribers 

  • Have 200 products in my TPT store  - this was a hard goal - I later changed it to 100 because that was more realistic - haha ✅


2022 Year in Review 

Overall, 2022 was a great year. I worked as a teacher teaching my grade 5s who I had in Grade 4 and then I had some of them in my grade 4,5,6 class. I learned a lot about Montessori education from work. I took business courses and read a lot of business books.



Thank you so much for following on this journey. I appreciate you being here and supporting me along the way.



Here Are Some FREE Ways To Support Me (If You Aren’t Doing Them Already)



Lastly, I would appreciate it if you like something I post to like, comment or share to help me to reach more people! 


Related Articles:

Shop Fine Art 

Shop Botanical Prints 

Art Goals for 2022


I Want to Be an Artist

I want to be an artist and I have wanted to be an artist ever since I was in Kindergarten. I came home with piles of crafts and colouring sheets that were plastered on my bedroom door as a kid. Wanting to be an artist doesn’t just have to be a dream!



If you want to go to art school - check out my art portfolio coaching -to help you make an art portfolio application that stands out and gets accepted!

I have always loved creating. I have always felt a spark while creating and known I wanted to be an artist. 

Jackie Partridge I want to be an artist

I know I am an artist. I went to school and did my undergrad in painting and drawing at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay - you can read about that here. 


I also did my Master of Fine Arts at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. I am educated and trained to be an artist. When I make art I feel like I am an artist. 




Right now, I am not doing art on a full time basis. It’s hard because I love teaching and I enjoy it and I’m a great teacher and love my students. Most days I don’t feel fulfilled. 




But when I’m making art, writing about art or posting my art on social media, I feel so much happier. I am in a transition where my husband and I are trying to buy a house, to decide where we want to live and find work that we enjoy and that is meaningful to us. 

jackie partridge - i want to be an artist

As a teacher and artist I know I can work anywhere. That’s one of the reasons I want to be an artist.


As we prepare for this transition of me working as a teacher to switching to teaching part time after I have a baby - here is how I am preparing:


  • I am drafting and planning content. In the summer I filmed and my husband edited 12 youtube painting tutorials that could be released on my YouTube painting channel one per month- so that I have consistent content coming out. 

  • I also do this with the blogs that I have created so that I write 4-5 months of blogs and schedule them out ahead of time.

  • I started creating items that were easy to sell online and that are digital items that don’t need to be shipped like art teaching resources on Teachers Pay Teachers or my prints that are printed and shipped by Society6

  • I have spent a lot of time reading business books and taking courses to prepare myself for running a business on a full time basis

  • Lastly, I have spent a lot of time thinking and journaling about what I want my life to look like. Which is why I know I want to be an artist full time and not just on the evenings and weekends! 


How can you help me with this hopeful transition? You can share my work to your friends - here is the link to my shop you can share.


Download my FREE guide for preparing an art portfolio for school

 On the top of the page there is a form for people to join my mailing list. I would love for you to encourage people to sign up for that. As a treat they will receive a 15% discount code and lots of helpful and inspiring tips! 

Patched by Jackie Partridge

Patched by Jackie Partridge has been an ongoing installation and photography project since 2017 where map paper (made from maps of places I have been to) is embedded into trees where the bark naturally peels away as an act of offering or mending.

Watch the Patched Installation

Patched by Jackie Partridge, map paper on a tree art installation

I have done these installations in various places I have lived and travelled including:

  • Rosendale, New York

  • Johnson, Vermont

  • Waterloo Region

  • Kinmount

  • Huntsville

  • Gravenhurst 

Recent Patched Installations

Patched is installed in Regency Park in Waterloo, ON for the month of July, 2021.

You can see more about this project funded by the City of Waterloo and Create Waterloo - here!

With this funding I also created free seed starter kits - you can see the instructions for the kits- here.

Here is a photo from the installation:

Patched, Jackie Partridge, handmade map paper on tree


In 2018, I was awarded a grant from the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund to create my book Patched which included nature poems about trees and my series of Patched as coloured photographs.

You can purchase Patched by Jackie Partridge - by clicking on the product or heading to my shop!

In the summer of 2019, I created a large-scale installation of Patched on a tree on my grandmother’s property in Kinmount, ON.


Patched by Jackie Partridge Video of Installation (Sped Up):



I created a large sheet of map paper on a vacuum table that sucks out the water from the pulp on my artist residency in 2018 and the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York. I then used a spray bottle of water to dampen the paper and turn it back into to pulp to apply it onto the tree.


To see more from the project click here!


Connect with me on social media by clicking one of the icons below! 


On my instagram @jackiepartridge_ I share photos from this series that can be found searching the hashtag #patchedproject.

Patched, Jackie Partridge, outdoor photography art installation

Winding Road- Art Installation by Jackie Partridge

Winding Road -art installation from 2016 completed in Montreal by artist Jackie Partridge. Here is an art installation from my archive. Winding Road is an art installation from 2016. It is made from Mylar, ink, and thread. It measures 18’x 3.’ I made this work while completing my MFA at Concordia university in Montreal, QC.

I loved using ink and seeing how it pooled to dry making interesting overlapping line drawings. This artwork was inspired by driving along the countryside and looking out the window. This work later turned into an art book - you can see that here!

I chose to paint and draw on a frosted mylar because I like how it looks foggy and isn’t fully transparent. It has a really nice effect when it is backlit with lights in an art exhibition. 

I later turned these paintings into Fielding Through and Field of Green. For the work Fielding Through I sewed some of these pieces together using white thread and my sewing machine to create an accordion style book that was able to stretch and pull a part. For Field of Green some of the larger pieces were hung on the wall behind the sheet curtain of painted fabric. 

As an artist, I often rework my artwork to add to it or to morph it into new artwork or installations. I like that art is able to change and evolve over time. By taking a look at my current artwork below you will be able to see some similarities between pieces as art is inspired by previous pieces.

To see my current art practice -click here!

Winding Road ink on mylar installation by Jackie Partridge

Winding Road ink on mylar installation by Jackie Partridge

Detail of Winding Road by Jackie Partridge

Detail of Winding Road by Jackie Partridge

Related Articles and Artwork

Fielding Through - inspired by this piece

Field of Green -inspired by this piece

See my current art here!

Check out my shop here!

To see current artwork follow me on social media - by clicking one of the icons below!

Printmaking Today -Article Feature for Patched

Patched is a project by Jackie Partridge that has been an ongoing photography series since 2018. My work Patched is ongoing and features nature photography and paper making. I have patched trees in a variety of places that I have lived and spent time in such as; Waterloo Region, Montreal, New York, Vermont, Kinmount, Bracebridge, Huntsville and more. Where I add map paper pulp onto trees where the bark has naturally peeled away. I see the act of patching trees as a form of mending the tree in a poetic way. The work is meditative and calming as I spent lots of time hiking and being in the forests. Forest Bathing is an act of surrounding yourself with nature and being present with the moment. 


Recently my work Patched was featured in Printmaking Today. Chrystal Cherniwchan wrote a beautiful write up about my work Patched. Check it out below!

Poetic Mending Article with a picture of Patched, handmade map paper embedded on a tree

Let’s Connect

You can see more of my work from the series Patched here! Patched is an ongoing series of photography which I update on my instagram @jackiepartridge_  

you can search the hashtag #patchedproject to see more from this series on Instagram.

Patched Books

You can purchase a hardcover copy of the book Patched that was published in 2018 in my shop. The books are supported by the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund grant I was awarded in 2018. The books are 38 pages and contain a mixture of poems inspired by nature and trees as well as coloured photos of Patched and the process. There is also a PDF Ebook version of Patched available in my shop.

Patched Exhibitions

Connect with me on social media to learn about upcoming exhibitions for Patched - and search the #patchedproject hashtag on Instagram to see more of the project!  Click one of the icons below to follow me on social media!

Fielding Through- Painted Drawing with Ink by Jackie Partridge

Fielding Through by Jackie Partridge

22’x12,”  ink and acrylic fluids on Mylar, 2016

Fielding Through is an accordion style book that stretches out creating a long continuous 22' field. Each drawing of the field is painted abstractly with coloured ink and fluid acrylics by Golden. The work was inspired by my hometown Wellesley, ON and the continuous views of farmlands that blur as the car drives past all the fields.

This artwork is inspired by my family heritage of farming. Both of my grandparents were farmers and my mom’s parents owned a family century owned farm. This piece highlights the beauty of the landscape and how expansive it is. I chose bright and vibrant colours to highlight the beauty. Fields, nature and landscapes are common inspiration for my artwork and art installations.

I love using Golden Acrylic Fluids because there is less of a water concentration and it is more of a pure pigment so the colours are a lot more bright and vibrant. I started painting with inks on sheer, transparent fabric during my undergraduate degree at Lakehead University. I started painting on mylar which is a transparent plastic type paper during my Master of Fine Arts degree at Concordia University. I like the way the colours dry and layer on top of each other creating rings of colour and interesting lines. Since the mylar paper is transparent you can also see layers of the coloured washes from the previous pages in the book. 

This piece is inspired by my work Field of Green, which is a large painted field on sheer white fabric with painted fields on large sheets of mylar that are pinned to the wall. The fabric drapes away from the wall. 


Follow me on Instagram @jackiepartridge_ to see my current artwork. 

Check out my art shop to purchase my art here!

Fielding Through, ink drawing on frosted mylar by Jackie Partridge

To see current work -check it out here! Follow me on Social Media by clicking on one of the icons below to stay connected!

Ink Drawing on mylar paper by Jackie Partridge
Fielding Through, Ink drawing on mylar, abstract design by Jackie Partridge