April 24 - 25, 29 - 30
May 1 - 2, 6 - 9
Just Off Broadway Theatre
3051 Central
Penn Valley Park
Kansas City, MO 64141

I have been missing in action from this blog but for good reason!! I am in a musical and I have been rehearsing for about 8 weeks. Finally, opening night is tomorrow and I am nervous but I know it will be a success! We have an amazing staff and cast that have taught me so much...considering it is my first time acting, I had alot to learn. We have 10 performances lined up over the next 3 weekends. Please join us on our "trip" back to 1968!

Tickets can be purchased at www.mindseyetheatrekc.com .

peace and love,

jori louise

Kansas City as Subject Matter...

I recently had the opportunity to judge a juried art exhibition for the first time. My dear friend and mentor, Holly, and I took a day trip to St. Joseph, MO to judge the show at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art. It was a lovely day filled with driving, talking, viewing art and blackberry cobbler with ice cream :)

On this trip I picked up a book that is a retrospective of Wilbur Niewald, a familiar painter to Kansas City, but somehow I have managed to live here for 9 years and never hear of him. This is surprising considering that I graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute, as did he, and he was also a professor in the painting department for 43 years! Niewald is known for his cityscapes and landscapes, which depict hills and urban vistas familiar to many Kansas City area residents. Since the 1970s, he has created landscapes, portraits and still-life paintings directly from observation. I was specifically drawn to the painting shown below ( Kansas City, View of the River 2007 by Wilbur Niewald ) because if you look closely, in the far distance there are some grain silos.

I see those exact grain silos up close almost everyday right outside the windows of Songbird Cafe! I work at the cafe but it is also my favorite hangout, primarily because it is owned by my best friend, Courtney but it does serve the best coffee in town.

To view these beautiful silos up close yourself and enjoy some coffee at the cafe...Join us this Friday, the 13th, from 7-9 for the showing of photographs by Hannah Huffman. Songbird Cafe is located at 1315 Fairfax Trfwy, KCK 66115. We are also open weekdays from 7ish to about 3 :)

Hope to see you Friday! Until next time...

peace and love.

jori

Almost Christmas...

Oh my! I certainly have been absent for a while since my show. It was a much needed break after long, hard days of work, sleeping in studio and eating Ramen. Now I have been getting plenty of rest and eating real food :)

Just two days til Christmas! I am in Atlanta with my family and thoroughly enjoying the company. I am anxious to get to work at studio. I have so many ideas floating around in my head and I am terrible at documenting them. So they eventually float away if I don't put them to use.

I started a new painting, a self portrait... I am a bit uneasy about venturing into this subject matter but every artist goes there eventually and I figure now is a better time than ever! I will post the finished piece as soon as it's done. I haven't decided if it will have tiles. I think I need to work on my painting skills...I want my paintings to be able to stand alone as successful pieces and then the tile work would just be an added bonus to make my work stand apart from others.

I also have been commissioned to tile a fireplace in Kansas City, KS. It is a freestanding fireplace that has a very retro feel to it...very cool! (similar to the one below) I will be tiling the wall behind it.

















It should be finished near the end of January!

That's all for now...once I am back in the swing of things in studio I will post lots of pictures and keep you updated on all the happenings. FYI: we have a studio available for rent at J.Bird! Please let me know if you are interested or if you know anyone who may be. Thanks.

Happy Holidays,
jori

My First Solo Exhibition

Copyright 2008 by Jori Cheville Hebert. All Rights Reserved.

Sneak peek...

Broken Sticks and Stones, 49X49, ceramic, acrylic, wood, 2008

This is the first piece that I finished for the show. It is on display at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center now to help bring attention to my upcoming solo show in November.

My dad, Jon, was visiting this last weekend to help out around the studio. He stayed for four days and I must say he has quite the precision tile cutting skills :) Thanks dad...love you.

If you would like to receive information about my show and events at J.Bird Studios please email me at joric.hebert@gmail.com .

I have three weeks until my show opens...there is much work to be done!

Until next time...

jori :)

J. Bird Studios presents...

. suspension and pause .

illuminated porcelain installations

by Cara Long

October 10 - November 7

You're Invited!

Opening Reception: Friday, October 10 6-9pm

*catering by Nosh

J.Bird Studios

516 Kansas Avenue

Kansas City, KS 66105

913.207.1971

joric.hebert@gmail.com

Grinder's West

I was chosen, along with about 20 other local Kansas City artists, to create original artwork to be used as tables for Grinder's West Restaurant. I finally finished mine this last Friday and it was great to see what other artists had created. Some of the tables are interactive! You can visit www.myspace.com/grinderskc to find out more (they have awesome food, full bar, and a concert venue. What more could you ask for!?)

Here are some pics of the table in progress and finished. I chose to do a mixed media painting with ceramic tiles attached.

Now it is time to focus ALL my attention on my upcoming solo show at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center.

Have a great week :)

jori