Ink & Essence

“Jack has been working exclusively with an ink made from the husk of butternuts, a material readily available in Northern New England. Intimately involved in the process of creating the inks by gathering the nuts, separating the husks, grinding, boiling, and filtering them to produce the inks, he is taken with their qualities of smooth wetness, subtle tone, and quiet grace. Describing painting as meditation in action, he enjoys exploring space through the subtle use of simple forms that utilize the inks’ tonal variation and earth-like saturation. Despite the subtleties of forms composed in elegant schemes, the paintings pack the distilled emotional densities of dwarf stars. “My work is what it is, nothing more, nothing less.” summarizes the artist, leaving us to ponder his timeless contemporary work, a reduction to ink and essence.”

—Kóan Jeff Baysa, 2003


Seize the Brush

walnut ink on paper
38×28 cm
2010


From A Mark to A Square

walnut ink on paper
76×56 cm
2005
private collection


Language of Abstraction

walnut ink on paper
76×56 cm
2004
private collection


Circulus

walnut ink on paper
112×76 cm
2004
private collection


Calligraphic Comparison

walnut ink on paper
76×56 cm
2005
private collection


Calligraphic Comparison

walnut ink on paper
76×56 cm
2003
private collection


Mind Slivers

walnut ink on paper
76×56 cm
2007
Vitamin W exhibit, City Without Walls


Needlographies

walnut ink on paper
76×56 cm
2007


Ink Fountain

walnut ink, marble, steel, walnut wood and pump
dimensions variable
2003