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.

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

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. 

Related Articles:

Check out the other artwork I have produced 

Check out my handmade paper art 

See the Tree House Series

What it’s Like to Be Vermont Studio Center Alumni

Being a Vermont Studio Center Alumni is a part of joining an online community. I attended the Vermont Studio Center art residency in Johnson, Vermont in November, 2017. I stayed at the artist residency for two weeks. I follow them on instagram and I am a part of a private Facebook group similar to the Women’s Studio Workshop residency -which you can read about here! Vermont Studio Center Alumni have been recognized for tons of achievements as the Vermont Studio Center is a top residency known globally.

Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont

Although I am grateful for the experience at Vermont Studio Center and to be a Vermont Studio Center Alumni I don’t think I would go back to this artist residency. As an artist, I like to travel to new places to see how place impacts my work. Vermont Studio Center is a more pricey artist residency as the fee does include your food. Since I am a paper maker the Vermont Studio Center is less appealing as they do not have a paper making studio.

For anyone who has not been or is needing a quiet space to work I would recommend this residency as I was very productive and got a lot done. Everyone is friendly and there are options to sing karaoke or enjoy a campfire while you are there too! 

While I was there, I worked on some projects for my thesis exhibition that happened in February, 2018 at Concordia University. I had a large studio with a window and a couple of tables. I worked on pieces that later became projects in my exhibition including:

• Patched

• Piled Up

• What is and What Was

• Precariously Perched

What I Worked on at Vermont Studio Center

Piled Up installation tested out at the Vermont Studio Center

While being at the Vermont Studio Center residency I worked on altering books for my project What is and What Was. I used the leftover cut-outs to make Piled Up. I tested out the installation for Piled Up on a shelf that was in my studio. I later built a shelf for my exhibition display in my thesis show at Concordia University. 

With my series Patched that is still an ongoing series I arranged photographs of Patched into patched quilt formations. After the residency, I sewed them on my sewing machine. I worked with plaster casts of leaves during my Vermont Studio Center residency. I took advantage of the beautiful scenery in Vermont (it is very easy to be inspired) and I took more photos for my series Patched. 

I enjoyed having a lot of wall space so that I could test out Precariously Perched. In this piece I balance twisted thin strands of maps on straight pins and nails. You can see more of Precariously Perched here! 

Accommodations at Vermont Studio Center

I stayed in a room by myself and had a shared bathroom. There was a few other people living in the house I was staying at. I had a separate key to my bedroom so I felt very secure while living there. At the residency all of your meals are provided in the dining hall. The food is really good and there are a lot of options. All of the food is made by the chef. Having your meals provided is nice during an artist residency because then you don’t lose time cooking, getting groceries or doing dishes and you can have more time devoted to making art. 

Again, I don’t think I would go back to this artist residency although I am grateful for the experience at Vermont Studio Center and to be a Vermont Studio Center Alumni. Experiencing new places to make art is important for me and having access to materials like a paper making studio is also extremely important.

Winter view out my studio window at the Vermont Studio Center

With that being said Vermont Studio Center is a great relaxing and quiet place to work. The beauty of Vermont is incredible and I had such a productive two weeks! 

Patched installation I worked at while at the Vermont Studio Center

Patched installation for my thesis exhibition at Concordia University inspired by being at the Vermont Studio Center

How to Become a Vermont Studio Center Alumni

Here is more information about how to apply to Vermont Studio Center so you can become a Vermont Studio Center Alumni - one day too! 

https://vermontstudiocenter.org 

https://vermontstudiocenter.org/residenciesinfo 

Precariously Perched installation tested out at the Vermont Studio Center

Related Articles 

Women’s Studio Workshop -artist residency

If you are mom you can check out this motherhood residency: http://www.artistresidencyinmotherhood.com/how-it-started 

Here is another great website to help you find the right artist residency for you! https://resartis.org/covid-19-updates/

Stay connected with me by following along on social media -click on one of the icons below!

Precariously Perched installation part of my thesis exhibition at Concordia University inspired by my work at Vermont Studio Center

Conceal - Art Installation by Jackie Partridge

Conceal is a project that was inspired my a previous work Trapped this work is from 2017 by artist Jackie Partridge.  In the installation below I use the same hand dyed and hand embroidered dishcloth quilt from Trapped. The dishcloth quilt is made to resemble an aerial view of farmlands. Farming runs in my family as both sets of grandparents and great-grandparents owned farms. I grew up in Wellesley, Ontario, a small town surrounded by farmlands. I watched the land over time develop into subdivision after subdivision. This artwork became symbolic for concealing or covering, protecting and hiding the land. The dishcloths are dyed with inks and acrylic fluids with bright colours of greens, browns, yellows, oranges and pinks to represent the colours and beauty of farm fields. I really wanted to highlight the beauty and vibrancy of the landscape.

I am interested in quilts and fibre art because when I grew up I had 8 grandmothers including great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers. So the craft of embroidery and sewing are very important to my family heritage. 

With my art practice I often reuse elements and photograph different artwork outside to change and transform the context of the work itself. I see my art evolving and transforming through time similar to how the landscape is in a constant state of change.

This quilt inspired artwork is draped over rocks at my grandmother’s house in Kinmount, ON. Their property is a special place where I enjoy spending my summer. I find being in nature to be a very inspiring place for my work and me as an artist. Photographed by me in summer 2017.

I see the quilt as a symbol of protection, warmth and comfort. Like most quilts are. 

You can see my current art practice here!

Shop for handmade art -here

Follow me on social media @jackiepartridge_ to see current artwork and to hear about upcoming art exhibitions. 

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