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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Jeanne Tillman, who lives in the hills above Los Gatos, is the featured artist at Saratoga's Aegis Gallery.
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Artist lets nothing natural go to waste
The mountains where she lives provide inspiration
By Shari Kaplan
Because she lives high in the quiet, misty Santa Cruz Mountains, ensconced among tall trees with a view of the coast on clear days, it's no surprise Los Gatos artist Jeanne Tillman never runs short of inspiration.
Some of those inspirations, in the form of handmade paper sculptures and various home-loomed materials, are on display through Sept. 26 at Saratoga's Aegis Gallery, where Tillman is this month's featured artist.
Gallery visitors will be surprised by the colorful, intriguingly textured "leaves" that are actually detailed castings made from real leaves she finds around her property, such as sycamore, big-leaf maple, oak and even the imported fig. The exhibit also features delicate paper bowls and orbs, the latter suspended between twigs also harvested from the mountains, as well as shifu items she weaves on her low-tech wooden loom.
"I'm intrigued by the seasonal changes. The idea of creating autumn leaves from handmade paper evolved from these thoughts of both seasonal tides and the circles all things live through," she explains in her artist's statement.
The handcast paper items comprise recycled household papers, threads and ribbons, and natural elements such as leaves, flower petals, plant fibers and seeds. Tillman makes paper by collecting the plant materials only after the leaves have fallen or the plant or flower is spent. Among her favorites are bearded and wild iris. She "cooks" plant parts in hot water, pounds them or shreds them in a blender, collects the "soup" in a sieve and eventually lays out sheets of new paper to dry in the sun or in her garage.
"The majority of it is very relaxing. I can work out front making paper all day!" she says with a smile.
There was a time Tillman never suspected she'd live in a sprawling mountain abode, let alone be a featured artist. An Illinois native, she came to the Bay Area by chance--as young adults, she and a friend flipped a coin to see which big city they should move to: Chicago or San Francisco.
After settling in the Bay Area, Tillman pursued a bachelor's degree in radio and television at San Francisco State University. She chose this because she enjoyed writing, broadcasting work and people. However, something else also tugged at her creativity.
"Every time I walked through the art department, I'd always think, 'Gosh, I want to do that too!'" she recalls, adding that she was particularly impressed by the looms in certain art labs and the equally impressive weavings they churned out.
After her SFSU graduation, Tillman produced instructional videos and other projects for several years before realizing this was not what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Along the way, she also got married and moved to Santa Clara. After taking weaving classes at Mission College and delving into home paper-making, Tillman pursued graduate studies in studio arts at San Jose State University.
It wasn't until after her move to the Santa Cruz Mountains, some 11 or 12 years ago, that Tillman began exhibiting her works and making a name for herself. Her credits now include many local artists' guilds and galleries and shows at venues throughout the Bay Area.
Aegis Gallery is at 14531 Big Basin Way, Unit 2. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
