Friends of artmilk say ...
Jena, I need to tell you how constantly inspiring I find you as a woman, a teacher and fellow artist. Your accumulated knowledge and articulation in this vast subject ART!!! amazes me, and the generous spirit with which you share the wonder of it with us all is staggering. Your professionalism is to be admired. I feel so fortunate to have you as my teacher and mentor. Your gift of teaching greatly influences all your students. I marvel at how my view of art, culture, and society has deepened and developed though your tutoring. I could not have imagined all this when I started out at art classes years ago just wanting to paint a picture that I could hang on my wall and not be embarrassed about. Your influence and continuing encouragement has lead me from my role as a former school teacher, to a full-on mother and part-time employee into a new identity as an artist, (this is as my children grow into independent young adults, giving me something very special and fulfilling for "me".) Menopause won't be the change for me ...THIS has been the change!! Your skilled yet gently persuasive, and may I say clever way of helping us develop our skills and ideas, encouraging us to be brave enough to act on them and to encourage us to form support networks for each other as artists is very much appreciated. The opportunity I have of attending your studio class is something I value highly. Soooooo ... big big thank you for everything. Pamela
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Jena taught me how to say the "A" word about myself in public, (artist!! as in I am an artist) and now I have found I am able to say it to complete strangers. Leslie Guidance, inspiration, information, challenge, fun and mischief ? Steven Champeron
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Artmilk is Jena Mafe ... Wise beyond words. Meridith
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After a long break from being in the habit of art-making, Jena helped me to renew my self-belief as an artist. Jena continues to guide me as I re-educate myself in the visual arts and find my own place within it. Thank you! Laney
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Every now and then you meet someone who inspires your life makes you reach for higher goals and helps make everything make sense. I was lost before I began working with Jena. I knew I wanted to be creative but I did not know how or what I wanted to do, with Jenas help I was able to focus in on my passions as she says and develop them into art works that reflects who I am. I have now gone on to exhibit and sell !!! my work and am now setting higher goals for myself, in terms of exhibiting overseas. I feel like Im home in myself now. I am an ARTIST. Thank you. Nichole Stein
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Jena's unique way of working with us all as individuals, focusing on each of our areas of interest was inspiring to watch shes a ball of passion and enthusiasm for art so creative how she teaches wow! Christine Spieling
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Jenas style of teaching and the clarity she offers around creating an art practice made me able to push on with my art goals and I was able to start making finished and focused work after only a very short time. With Jenas help I especially learnt how to research and !juice up! my practice so that I could get things flowing ? I now think, work and act like an artist, that is I make ART!! ... thank you very much. Jacinta Woodward
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I am on the other side, and I don't remember how I got there. If you want to go somewhere with your art practice and don't know where to start. Start with Jena. With her gentle push, words of encouragement, inspiring outlook on life, passion for art and experience, she will steer you in the direction you want to go with out you realizing it. Jena makes it all flow so naturally. Majena has the gift of getting the best out of her students to elicit their own artistic contributions. Claudia Douglas
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I met Jena at the first art class I enrolled in - my first since I was at school many years earlier! Her encouragement and support was just what I needed as a raw beginner. The course provided me with basic skills and experience with different media, but Jena also gave me the confidence to explore my own directions and to continue with my interest in art. Jena used reproductions of the work of established artists to inspire us in class, and the shoe box I now have which contains my collection of postcard reproductions from galleries all over the world came into being as a result of that first class! Sandra
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I learned a huge amount about the possibilities of various media I'd never considered as art materials before. And the demonstrations were invaluable, to show me how the materials worked and how I could work with them to exploit their characteristics. Plenty of time for play too - this is an invaluable part of Jena's workshops that's at the heart of her philosophy as a teacher. Wendy You know how common it is to hear the exclamation: "oh my God!" Well I sometimes said that to myself in your classes. It wasn't from shock but from gratitude. As a man in my 70s recently attending life-drawing workshops, I found myself in your classes. Over three semesters I grew, and was enabled to grow by you and my classmates, till I could actually say aloud "I am an artist" and even come to believe it. VIVA LA JENA ! VIVA LA ARTMILK ! Tony OBrien
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Jena had really done her homework before the Altered Books Workshop - she had various altered books to demonstrate, and a great range of ideas for us to play with. The workshop was just the right mix of shared information and demonstration sessions, and time for each participant to play and explore individually. Jena was enormously supportive and encouraging. There was an air of justified celebration at the end of the workshop, when we shared our very diverse product. Wendy
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I would like to say how nurturing Jena is with students and how well she listens and interprets what they endeavoring to express, she encourages students to try and think about possibilities and to working with ideas in an exciting way. Jena teachers from an openness to a wide range of approaches that each student might have to their work and she is able to very effectively and subtly guide students to where they are wanting to go reaching their goals. Roxanne
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Jena has the ability to engender confidence and inspire us to go further with our art expression than we thought possible. She has the sensitivity and insight to move us from under confidence to the feeling that each person does really have something very worthwhile to express and that each individual is unique and "precious". After a while we begin to believe it, believe in ourselves as artists and take our practice seriously. Then she takes us to the next step- keeping our enthusiasm "juiced up", so we move forward with our art and don't let ourselves get side tracked - keeping us true to ourselves. Then there's all the practical help like understanding the history of art and where we fit into this world. I could go on and on ... Monica
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Being taught by Majena was a great privilege. Her commitment to quality, progressive, current lessons was very appreciated. Her emphasis on very contemporary artists and her focus on web based self promotion was something that was very beneficial. Juliette
Majena is full of helpful advice, knowledge and enthusiasm and I have never learned this much in one semester. If only she was permanently a member of the painting faculty. Mark
Majena has pushed me to explore new directions in my painting practice, and my work is a thousand times (!!!!) better for it. Danielle
Having Majena Mafe as an instructor has been an amazing experience. Majena is a kind, wonderful, and strong woman whose main purpose is to inspire and motivate her students. Her teaching and advice has impacted my deeply as an artist and as a person. Not only has she helped to direct my art practice but also helped me to think outside the box for useful information, and has helped guide me through the art world.
Majena definitely inspired my practice to become something completely different and more in line with what I was truly passionate about … she challenged my thought process and introduced me to new ways of perceiving art as a practice and how I should be using it within my own realm of desire and ambition!
Majena is one of few people who has taught me, how to conduct research specific to my own personal ideas, interests, ideologies, etc. After having a class with her, I have learned how to inject multiple ideas and multiple points of view into my work, and have them working as intended to most audiences and specific audiences.
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Majena Mafe ... from day one she has put a lot of time and effort into preparing presentations, slides, videos, interviews ... for us to watch and take part in. She has been an incredibly interesting and inspiring teacher by opening up the classroom for numerous discussion and encouraging us wholeheartedly within our own individual ventures. I value the time that I got to spend with her and would take another class from her without hesitation. June
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I would love to forward my input regarding having Majena as a teacher. From my experience she has been an asset. She has provided very insightful and encouraging approaches to my practice and to my peers. She really wants us all to succeed at what we do and looks for ways to guide us in our individual practices. Her approach is very consistent both individually and in a group setting. She also stresses the importance of proceeding professionally. She has been a wealth of knowledge in not only the professional aspects, but also in the artistic and personal aspects to just being a better person and artist. I am very thankful to have had the privilege of having her class this term. She has been very direct yet encouraging for me. She expects full effort which is essential to making it in any business. I have a great deal of respect for her and her opinion. Thank you. Paulette
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Jena is encouraging in the sense that she sees us all as valuable artists and tries to lay out what we can do with our art after college, as well tries to put us into an international context. Overall I would say it was good to have another view of the art world, it has made me realize a lot of things about my own work and the work around me. Deb
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Attending artmilk mentoring was extremely beneficial to me. Majena was very insightful, knowledgeable and knew how to bring the best out of me. She helped to give me confidence and was able to help me expand on my concepts and practice. Majena seemed to know what to say and when to say it. Her experience of being a professional artist and an instructor shone through. I was honored and know that what she taught me, will stay with me for a lifetime. Donna