Instant Elixir Cures All!

Welcome to Instant Elixir, a (hopefully) regular account of the goings on in and around the surrealist studio of me, Jen Fries.

I’ve been building collages and constructions for nearly 30 years. I make art about and out of the way people relate to their world. I like to twist and tweak and challenge those relationships. Blur the boundaries between inner and outer worlds, between creativity and commerce, decoration and function, art and literature, etc., etc., etc.

Now I’ve decided to launch a Big New Experiment -- an artisan publishing company specializing in books of art, books as art, artists’ books. Also, stationery, games, and other things a publishing company might produce, especially a surrealist one. The goal is to promote a new way to bring art to the public by merging the methods of art and literature.

I have a list of book projects in development, about $75.00 in start-up capital, and the worst global recession of my life in which to work. Optimism!

With two or three posts per week (hopefully), Instant Elixir will give progress reports on the Big New Experiment, and cover other projects, such as:

• new artworks, exhibitions, and even the blog itself
• how-to’s of book binding, collage, construction, etc.
• surrealist issues in storytelling, games, lifestyles
• commentary on books, art, society, and the profession
• interesting things, people, and happenings
• interactions, conversations, maybe even arguments in response to your remarks, suggestions, objections, etc.

I hope this blog will amuse readers interested in surrealism, in books, in starting a small business, in being a professional artist in today’s world, or in looking at life through a prism of questions. Don’t hold back -- speak, question, criticize! Leave comments or email me. Encourage or predict disaster.

Maybe the Big New Experiment will go nowhere. Maybe it will crash and burn spectacularly. Maybe I’ll actually end up making something out of it.

Come along to see what happens.