One Fort Worth artist, Jan Riggins, is a woman who can create beautiful images no matter the medium or style. Whether it’s watercolors or chalk; in two dimensions or three; on the ground, on canvas, on a wall, or on the body, Jan creates beautiful and wondrous things.

photo credit: Jan Riggins

When I met Jan, she was kind enough to give me a tour of her home gallery. The first thing I noticed were the watercolors. The walls were lined with portraits of animals, drawn with a level of realism and detail that I did not know was possible from watercolors. Among the animals were lions, zebras, birds, and more, all strikingly beautiful. Jan explained to me just how intensive the process was to create these works of art. Each one took weeks of meticulous work and an almost pathological attention to detail. Water coloring was Jan’s preferred medium for the longest time, but that began to change a few years ago.

Jan did not set out to become an artist. Growing up in Norman, Oklahoma, Jan was a talented clarinetist, competing throughout high school and college. Her mother and grandmother were visual artists, and those art genes and the love of creating are strong. While working in a “real job,” she realized that she had to do something, anything, to let her creative side free. Her interest in chalk art began during the Covid shutdown in March of 2020, when Jan and her daughter began to use their driveway as their canvas. Intrigued with the possibilities of this new medium, Jan dove headfirst into the world of three-dimensional chalk art.

photo credit: Jan Riggins

Chalk is a very different medium from watercolors, and making the works seem three dimensional just adds more challenges, but Jan adapted wonderfully. Luckily for her, there is a thriving, although comparatively small, chalk art community that was willing to help her out. Chalk art typically is showcased in chalk art festivals, and Jan has been to many of those, travelling to places like Atlanta, Minnesota, and Michigan to “perform.” I say “perform” because there is a definite element of performance to it. Part of the fun of chalk festivals is to watch the artists create their art. Artists are expected to interact with the crowd, answering questions and showing the crowd how the art is made. This can be helpful especially in the case of three-dimensional chalk art, which is a long and difficult process from planning to completion.

Most artists at chalk art festivals content themselves with creating two-dimensional art. They don’t want the headaches associated with three-dimensional chalk art. Three-dimensional chalk art requires a huge amount of preparatory work before the festival even begins with no guarantee the final image will work, making it a risky choice when you only have a weekend to create a piece of work that is, in the end, completely transitory. There is no starting over when it comes to three-dimensional chalk art.

photo credit: Jan Riggins

A three-dimensional art piece is only as good as its preparation. Typically, the artist meticulously plans the piece on a grid. Each square of the grid represents a square foot of pavement, with the grid acting as a map for the artist. Creating the grid is one of the hardest parts of the whole project. The artist must stretch and contort their image in just the right way to achieve the three-dimensional effect, making the image look very strange in two-dimensions. After the grid is completed, the artist follows the map, recreating the image on the ground. It is intensive, backbreaking work, often taking a full weekend to complete an image.

Once the piece is finished, it can be fully enjoyed by the crowd, but to get full effect, it must be viewed in the right manner. Three-dimensional art depends on perspective. There is one perfect place to stand to experience the three-dimensional effect, and it really helps to view the art through the lens of a camera, which will capture the work forever. Chalk is temporary. That, however, is one of the things that make chalk art festivals so fun. You get to be one of the few people who can see the art in person as it was meant to be seen. You get to watch the artists as they create their art before it gets washed away. The journey is more important than the destination.

photo credit: Jan Riggins

Chalk art is not the only temporary art Jan makes. She has recently started experimenting with body art. Using peoples’ hands as a canvas, Jan uses the skin’s texture and the shadows created by the bones and sinews to create paintings of nature and animals, which has always been her preferred subject matter. The works are temporary like the chalk, but photography allows them to stick around forever.

Jan Riggins is truly gifted artist. Whether her canvas is the ground, the body, or actual canvas does not matter. She utilizes all of them to full effect, and the results are beautiful no matter what. Those art genes. They’re strong.

Eric Zukoski is a senior at the University of Texas. He is interning with Madeworthy.

The post Finding Beauty in the Temporary first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Photo courtesy of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden

David Rogers is an artist who, for the past twenty-five years, has been traveling to botanical centers across America to display what he calls his “big bugs.” They’re giant statues of various insects and arachnids made from natural materials. Rogers uses whole trees, cut green saplings, dry branches, and other forest materials to construct his bugs. The bugs are placed all throughout the gardens, and guests can view all of them with standard garden admission.

A special kick-off event for the exhibit was held on March 10^th. It was a lovely party in the garden complete with a jazz trio, complementary food and drink, and speeches by David Rogers and CEO/President of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Patrick Newman. Newman worked at the Salt Lake City Botanic Gardens and the Austin Botanic Gardens before accepting his current position at the Fort Worth Garden. He talked about how he accepted both of his previous jobs right after the Salt Lake City gardens finished hosting the Big Bugs exhibit for the second time. This is the first time in his career that he has a chance to host the exhibit himself.

Photo courtesy of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden

David Rogers then gave a speech. He briefly talked about his background and his art before thanking his wife who is also his artistic partner. He said that the idea behind the exhibit is that insects outnumber us one million to one and that they are the “hidden gardeners” that are the ones truly responsible for maintaining the gardens. They do not get the credit they deserve because they are often hidden from view. Thus came the idea to increase their size dramatically and sprinkle them throughout botanical gardens all across America. Many botanical gardens have hosted the exhibit, often multiple times, over the last twenty-five years. However, this is the first time the Fort Worth Botanic Garden has hosted the exhibit.

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is also home to the Japanese Garden featuring koi-filled pools, sculpted hillsides, crafted stonework, and dramatic waterfalls. There is also the iconic rose garden with a beautiful array of flower beds everywhere you look. You can spend the whole day out in a beautiful natural environment, taking breaks to check out the café and gift shop. It really is a spectacular place to visit, and, until June 12^th, the landscape will be dotted with gigantic Bug statues to remind you of the millions of tiny, underappreciated workers that make all this possible.

Eric Zukoski is a senior at the University of Texas. He is interning with Madeworthy.

The post Appreciating the Little Workers in a BIG Way first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Consider Madeworthy. What started out as a community group on Facebook grew into a magazine that is an important resource for Fort Worth. I spoke with the magazine’s publisher, Victoria Wise, and editor, Lee Virden Geurkink, to ask them about the relationship between preparation, adaptability, and success.

What was your college major and what drew you to it?

Lee Virden Geurkink: I was a history major. Specifically, early medieval British history.

Victoria Wise: I was a failed pre-med major who quickly shifted to studying film and photography. They were my hobbies in high school and somehow made sense for what I may want to do with my future.

What did you plan on doing after graduation?

LVG: I thought I would be a history professor.

VW: After graduation I quickly realized I did not want a career in film. I worked hourly jobs until I found my passion.

How did your plans change after graduation? What do you think caused these changes?

LVG: Once I was in graduate school, I realized I could never be a professor. Professors have homework, and I never did homework. The realization came with maturity or from an understanding of my strengths and weaknesses.

VW: I wish I had known that I would be an entrepreneur. It would have served me well to take some business courses. I started my first business in 1999. I had already been making jewelry and selling it to stores in high school and college. I went all in and bought supplies, created line sheets, and sold my jewelry at the Dallas World Trade Center.

How did you know that the path that led to what you’re doing today was worth following?  Was it a certainty or more a leap of faith?

LVG: Honestly, I had no idea that answering a call for blog writers would lead to a job writing for and editing a magazine. But that’s what happens when you work with Victoria – she makes you realize you can do more than you ever thought possible!

VW: I followed my passion, worked really hard at anything I wanted to achieve, and believed it would work out… Malcolm Gladwell wrote that entrepreneurs are delusional about their goal-setting and risk-taking. Ask any of us, we just charge ahead without consideration of failure.

How important is your choice of major to success after college? What factors determine success besides major?

LVG: Most people today think my major was frivolous in the extreme. However, I learned to read critically, to write coherently, to research, to think. Granted, I don’t use my in-depth knowledge of the Venerable Bede or early West Anglo Saxon saint cults of the 11^th century all that often, but I use the skills I acquired in college every day.

VW: These are things that keep me up at night when I think about my children. I have to say, I am less concerned about what they major in and more concerned about all the extras you layer on. Which organizations do you join, what sports do you play, what jobs do you take while getting your education? I plan on helping my son launch his first business in his 9^th grade year so that when he graduates high school, he can either continue it or experience his first exit. It will give him more expertise than some of the classes he’s required to take.

Do you think it’s better to specialize and commit to a path early or to generalize and leave as many paths open as possible?

LVG: I’m a firm believer in the liberal arts model of college. Take a lot of different courses. Follow your interests. You’ll figure out what your strengths are. Let’s face it, you have the rest of your life to be an adult. Use your time in college to grow up.

VW: If you have it in your heart to commit – then commit. If you are wavering between many things you think you’d like to pursue, then keep those paths open. My dad knew from a very young age he wanted to be a doctor. In medical school he switched from pediatrics to radiology, so I think even if you do commit, you can still make changes based on new opportunities.

There is no guarantee of success. Prepare as best you can but be flexible and take chances. Learning to recognize and seize new opportunities makes all the difference.

Eric Zukoski is a senior at the University of Texas. He is interning with Madeworthy.

The post Building a Flexible Future first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.