J.A. Grier

About the Artist

Artist Bios for J.A. Grier:  Creative Writing and Paper Art Creative Writing:  J.A. Grier is a fiction writer and poet whose work is closely informed by her formal background in planetary science and astronomy education.  More than three dozen of Dr. Grier's poems and stories have appeared in venues such as Mad Scientist Journal, Eternal Haunted Summer, Eye to the Telescope, Liquid Imagination, Mirror Dance and an anthology of the Maryland Writer's Association entitled "Life In Me Like Grass On Fire - Love Poems."  Other writing credits include the textbook "The Inner Planets" published by Greenwood Press.  Dr. Grier teaches workshops in poetry, and has served on panels and offered presentations at conventions including BaltiCon and the Tucson Science Fiction Convention.  She is currently seeking homes for two speculative novels, as well as finishing a book of childhood horror poetry.  She is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, and the Horror Writers Association.  She produces a host of tweets under @grierja on Twitter, and she contemplates various astronomy facts and speculative fictions on her blog and website at http://jagrier.com Paper Art:  J.A. Grier has been creating quilled paper art since childhood.  As both a scientist and an artist, Dr. Grier is especially interested in telling the stories that come from that nexus point.  Using the delicate and precise forms of paper quilling, she seeks to depict natural objects with a balance of scientific accuracy and emotional resonance.  Her award-winning "Spiral Moon" piece was selected the 2016 "Art of Planetary Science" exhibition, held in Pasadena, CA.  Dr. Grier's current work reflects on the nature of ice and snow, exploring the nature of the crystal structure in concert with its lacy beauty.  She is a member of the North American Quilling Guild and the Quilling Guild (UK).  Dr. Grier teaches workshops at all quilling experience levels for children and adults.  Follow her tweets under @grierja on Twitter, and view works-in-progress on her blog at http://storiesstonesandspirals.blogspot.com

Artist's Statement

Quilling is an historical art and craft form that takes simple two-dimensional paper and explodes it outwards through shape and color. I explore how quilling communicates both the literal detail of an object, like a scientific illustration, and the emotional expression of a form, like an impressionist painting. The balance between these aspects is where I find the interest, beauty, and tension. It is in this place that I find and express the stories of the objects around us through lacy paper art.