Jenny Kahn — painter
Restoration Resident — April 2006
I came to A Studio in the Woods not knowing what to expect. Everyone, it seemed; knew of the Carmichicaels forest retreat but me. A real city girl, I had never spent much time in the country. But since Katrina turned my life upside down, I‚d learned to embrace adventure. I was very enthusiastic about beginning a series of paintings about New Orleans and after six months in Texas, I was looking forward to being around the city again.
I had been forewarned that the woods had been damaged. My first assessment was that with all of the fallen trees, it looked like the rest of New Orleans; ruined. On a walk through with the botanist, Dave Baker, I learned that this particular kind of forest has evolved to survive hurricanes and flooding. Far from being ruined, creation was happening everywhere and at breakneck speed. Suddenly exposed to the sun, new trees were shooting up so fast you could practically watch them grow. All of the surviving trees lost their foliage. Now fully exposed to the light they were sprouting leaves from head to toe! They looked like a new breed of tree: leaf poles.
I was very moved to think that this kind of growth and regeneration was possible in my own life. In fact, there is a chance for all of us to weather this storm and evolve into something stronger and better. This felt very empowering and inspirational.
Sure enough, while there I did complete a study for the piece I had in the back of mind for months. I also did some landscape drawings that is highly uncharacteristic for me. They were simple pieces, which reflected the acceptance and hope I had begun to feel.
Thank you, Mother Nature.
Biography
Jenny Kahn was born and raised in New Orleans. She studied painting at the Gerritt Reitveld Academie in Amsterdam and The Pennsylvania Academy of fine Arts in Philadelphia. She has exhibited in New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans and elsewhere. Jenny was living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina swept through the city. She lost her home, her studio and much of her work. She evacuated to San Antonio with her husband and their two cats. They plan to relocate to the San Francisco Bay area by fall of 2006. You can see more of Jenny's work on her website: jennykahn.com. She is currently represented by the Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans.
