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Art is a very subjective thing. I don't box myself into any one
artistic style or description. I just create what makes me feel happy
and do whatever calls to me at the moment. I like to mix media and experiment with wimsical ways of joining them together. My subject matter usually pays homage to the hidden beauty in nature and to the places and experiences that I have encountered or imagined throughout my years growing up in rural New York State.

What is Mountain Fables? 

Mountain Fables is a frame of mind that I enter when I take my walks. There are many real and imagined
stories that I think about as I walk over a trail that is said to be an old road used in the early 1900's
or when I pass interestingly twisted tree trunks or a mossy pile of rocks
with an obvious "house hole" tunneling beneath them.
Like they always say ..... "If the trees and rocks could talk."

Jelani K. Asantewa

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BIOGRAPHY

Born November 10, 1955 Jelani K. Asantewa is a graduate of The Rochester Institute of Technology with a Bachelors Degree in Retailing. She grew up on and now lives on her families 180 acre non-working farm in rural upstate New York. Her childhood was spent sewing and playing. She made doll clothing and doll house furnishings as well as clothing for herself and an occational piece for her older sister. When she was not sewing or playing with her dolls she and neighborhood friends were busy riding bikes and playing games of make believe in the fields, woods and gullies which make up the farm. After school and days off the children spent countless hours pretending they were Native Americans and Settlers in early America having to survive off the land. Another favorite game was wild horses and wild dogs that roamed the open wilderness searching for food, shelter and recreation.

These games in which she and her friends saw the rural area as a resource for survival generated a respect and an aesthetic appreciation for the raw materials which grew abundantly and then changed with the seasons. There were glowing weeds baked and dried in the late fall sun, artistically twisted twigs and bark (fallen and live), field rocks cast off to make way for planting or haying, stones rubbed smooth by the rushing waters of a near by fishing stream and an occational bird feather laying wistfully on the ground. From an early age creating art using the beautiful artifacts she found on her walks was always an obsession.

Communing with nature on long walks through the woods and fields is a very relaxing activity which Jelani still enjoys. With each outing there are still many finds bought home. The inspiration of these beautiful treasures found on her walks has given birth to a growing variety of collections. Artistically some items stand alone, while others are incorporated with her lifelong love of sewing or with other forms of art. Creating art is a relaxing and joyful experience for Jelani, which is also the experience she hopes her art will bring to others.

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  ARTISTIC GOALS
  

  ****PERSONAL****
  " I really don't have one genre that I define my artwork by.
  But I do have one goal when I start to create -
  Be unconventional, mix, rescue and have fun!" 

  ****ARTWORK****
  To introduce people to a side of nature that they may not have seen or noticed.
  
  To bring out the beauty in and create art out of materials that are overlooked, scorned or misunderstood; specifically
  dried wild botanicals, discarded household castaways and old building materials.
  
  To create artwork: That represents and stays true to the aesthetics of it's origin. That is respectful of nature.
  That tells a story.
  And
  That is inspirational and joyful for others.