Free Radical Fiber Arts

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Free Radical Fiber Arts

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Fiber-integrated oil paintings and dimensional fiber art rooted in animal provenance. Each fiber holds a memory.

Using fibers from animals I have raised & known, I create work where fiber becomes part of the structure, emerging from the painted surface. Working with fibers from animals I have raised and known, including Suri alpaca, Teeswater wool, and mohair, I create work where fiber becomes part of the structure, emerging from the painted surface.

10/15/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗲.

𝘙𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 changes depending on where you’re standing.

From straight on, you may notice the blues, the pattern, and the movement first. But when light hits the dimensional fiber, it casts its own shadows onto the wall and the surface begins to change.

That shifting relationship between the artwork, the light, and the space around it is one of the things I love most about working this way.

I don’t want a piece to give you everything in one glance. 💜

𝘙𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴
Fiber-Integrated Oil Painting

10/14/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗮𝘀𝗵𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲.

I brought 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨 along on our weekend trip so I could keep working on the Suri alpaca moon while we were away.

At this stage, I’m building the moon with pale Suri fiber over its wool base, gradually covering what will eventually disappear underneath.

I love these in-between stages, when you can still see both the construction and what the piece is becoming.

Apparently my version of traveling light now includes alpaca fiber, needle and thread. 😂💜

10/12/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲, 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗬 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆. 😂

My birthday is October 12, and when I was very young, Columbus Day was celebrated on the actual date.

So naturally, I assumed the school holiday had something to do with me.

It was a little disappointing when the holiday observance moved to create a long weekend. That's when I discovered that the calendar had not, in fact, been organized around my birthday. 😂

But this year October 12 falls on the Monday holiday again.

So after all these years, I’m choosing to believe little-kid Jennifer had it right the first time! 💜 Happy birthday to me!

10/11/2026

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲, 𝗜 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗯𝘂𝗿’𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗯𝘂𝗿.

Wilbur was a Teeswater sheep, with the long, lustrous locks I used in 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴.

He lived with my Katahdin hair sheep, and this photo from my flock shows just how different those coats can be. The Teeswater grows those wonderful long curls, while the Katahdin has a much straighter, hair-like coat.

Every now and then, one of those Katahdin hairs turns up tucked among Wilbur’s locks.

I could carefully remove every one.

Usually, I don’t.

Because to me, provenance isn’t just knowing that a material is “wool.” It’s knowing something about the animal who grew it, where he lived, and even who was sharing the pasture with him.

Those tiny irregularities are part of the material’s history.

And I rather like that some of that history gets to remain in the artwork. 💜

𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴

10/10/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗻. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝘁.

It’s the wool base waiting for the next step.

This piece is still in progress, and the moon will eventually become dimensional with Suri alpaca fiber added over that surface.

I like this stage because you can still see the construction underneath what the finished piece will become. The painted atmosphere, the fabric landscape, and that very definite circle are all there, but the material that will change the moon completely hasn’t arrived yet.

Sometimes the most interesting moment is the one just before a piece becomes what I had in mind. 💜

10/09/2026

𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗺.

She picked up a cicada on one of our walks and just kept going with it buzzing away in her mouth. 😂

I’ve spent a lot of my life noticing animals doing things that are funny, surprising, peculiar, or very specifically them.

Long before animals started appearing so often in my artwork, I think I was already collecting those little observations.

Sometimes they become part of a painting.

Sometimes they just become a story about a basset hound carrying a buzzing cicada down the street! 😂💜

10/08/2026

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝗽.

𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 went home with the winner of my LOOK CLOSER giveaway, and she sent me this photo of it settled into her space.

I love seeing it there, not isolated against a studio wall, but becoming part of a place she already loves, tucked into a collection of meaningful objects with the lake just outside.

That feels important to me.

Artwork changes a little once it leaves the studio. The light is different. The objects around it are different. You pass it at different angles throughout the day.

And with a piece like this, even the fiber changes depending on where you're standing. From the front it reads as part of the image. From the side, you suddenly realize how far it actually moves out from the surface.

That's part of what I hope happens when one of my pieces finds its place. It doesn't give you everything in a single glance. There's still something to notice later. 💜

𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩
Fiber-Integrated Oil Painting

10/07/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲.

That was one of the clearest things I noticed at the Hyde Park Square Art Show on Sunday.

People would be walking past, catch sight of one of them, stop, and come closer. Sometimes they brought someone else back with them. The horse did that too.

And then something interesting happened.

The first reaction was often to the color, the dimensional fiber, or simply trying to figure out what they were looking at.

But once people stayed a little longer, the conversations shifted.

Over the weekend, one person told me, “I like art that is meaningful.”

Another said, “Sometimes artwork reminds you of people you love, and that’s how your booth makes me feel.”

Those comments have stayed with me.

Because that movement, from noticing something unusual to finding something personally meaningful in it, is exactly what I hope can happen with my work.

Sometimes the fiber is what makes someone stop.

But the story, memory, or connection may be what makes them stay. 💜

𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲?

10/06/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.

Up close, you might first notice the painted trees.

Then the view changes.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝘆𝗮𝗿𝗻.

They're individual locks of Suri alpaca fiber, and these are especially fine cria pencil locks, the naturally pencil-like spirals of fiber from a young alpaca.

Not every cria grows fiber this way, and these particular locks can only exist before the first shearing. Once those original cria tips are cut, they can never grow quite like this again.

I can dye and arrange the fiber, but that structure came from the animal who grew it..

And as the fiber moves out from the painted surface, the artwork changes depending on where you're standing and how the light reaches it.

That's one of the things I love about bringing these materials together. 💜

𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲
𝘍𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳-𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘖𝘪𝘭 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 | 8" x 10" including mat | Available

10/03/2026

Day two of my four-art-events-in-three-days experiment. 😂

Today is one I’m especially happy to be part of.

I’m at Gettin’ Artsy for Wildlife in Glendale today, with art, artists, and a cause that matters enormously to me: helping support local wildlife rehabilitation.

Animals have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve raised them, cared for them, watched them closely, talked to them (yes, including the fish 😂), and increasingly found them making their way into my artwork.

So bringing my work to an event that also helps animals feels like a particularly good fit. 💜

I’m here until 3 pm today.

And then, because apparently I really did commit to this schedule, I’ll head back to Studio 176 at Essex Studios from 6–10 tonight for the second night of the Art Walk. 😂

If you’re out and about in Cincinnati today, come say hi!

Address

2511 Essex Place
Morning View, KY
45206

Telephone

+18594622344

Website

http://jennifermyka.com/

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