FROM THE ARTIST: JEN LAKE

Welcome to Juice — a pop up gallery located in the SOFO (SOuth of FOurteenth) neighborhood of Traverse City, Michigan. Juice is tucked inside Brand Tonic, a creative design studio with an urban loft feel and northern Michigan attitude. (Think casual-cool.) It’s just steps away from TC Whiskey and Right Brain Brewery, and right along the Boardman River Trail. You could say good vibes are happening in this neighborhood.

As owner of Brand Tonic, I spend my days designing brands and helping organizations tell their stories through creativity and intention. I love graphic design and everything that goes with it — typography, writing, photography and original ideas. My BFA in design from Bowling Green State University started me on my career path in branding, but I’ve always wanted to get back to other fine arts — to step away from the computer and create with my hands again.

So here I am, years later, pulling out my old brushes and dusting off some old skills. I started a year ago with a palette knife, tubes of paint and a small canvas. And today, I am refining my abstract style and jumping into larger canvases with color and energy.

I don’t paint with a picture in my mind, but only with a feeling and a focus on color. I blend my colors on the canvas and add layer after layer to create depth. For me, painting is meditative and all about the process of creating and changing. Unlike my design work, which is focused and purposeful, my paintings are free and uncalculated. Painting allows my creative JUICEs to flow. (Hence, the name.)

Browse my work, stop by to see the paintings in person (by appointment only right now), ask about a commissioned work and support the artists around you.

Cheers,

Jen & Juice