J.E. Crum is a fantasy artist who enjoys creating intensely vivid works using the method of automatism, in which the artist doesn’t always know how an artwork is going to turn out. As if from the artist’s subconscious, J.E. enjoys working intuitively to create art, and tends to draw inspiration from mythologies as personal narratives evolve from the abstractions. Crum focuses on engaging in the aesthetic experience of making art as a relaxation technique, to infer meaning from the art after being ‘lost’ in the process. Crum’s latest works are paintings which were created during a two month stay in the summer of 2018 on the remote island of Taveuni, Fiji where J.E. could embrace the quality of solitude on a remote beach and embrace the tranquility of the ocean while making her new works. Crum also enjoys working full-time in a fast-paced career as an elementary art teacher where the artist currently teaches nearly 1,000 children a week in a 50-mile radius in public schools of a rural locale, from ages four to eleven. The artist holds a M.A. in Art Education and Research from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland; a B.S. in Art Education from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and also studied Art at Mississippi University for Women, in Columbus, Mississippi, as well as studied at The Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing in Aix-en-Provence, France. J.E. has shown her work in various solo and group exhibitions throughout central Pennsylvania, in: galleries, businesses and community art centers, as well as in cities including Los Angeles and Detroit. She has donated her art for charity events, such as to help the homeless. Crum also curates art shows for her many students throughout the school year to bring enriching art exhibition opportunities to children in the rural communities where she is an educator.
https://www.zhibit.org/jecrum
