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| About the Artist -- Frank Jensen |
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I had always been interested in art and liked to compare the literature of a period to the art of the accompanying time when possible, but it was the unusual influences of Southeast High School that stirred me to try my hand so to speak. Southeast had excellent art teachers – Don Weddle was center stage. Among the contemporary artists that graduated from Southeast at this time are painter David Salle and sculptor Tom Otterness. In 1977-78 my parents died and at the farm auction I bought several junk pieces of old horse-drawn machinery. All my life I had admired the embossed designs in the cast iron that the manufacturers used then. Was that not fairly close to art? I had to do something with my purchases, so I tried the found art avenue. Gradually, I got away from the found art because often the pieces didn’t seem to fit the sculpture that I had in mind. In 1986 I purchased “the Hill” with its barn and trailer house so I could have a place to work without disturbing neighbors. Now and gradually, my teaching experiences directed me to do literary subjects. Most high school anthologies of literature have excellent pictures of art that follows the chronology of the literature. I have been fortunate enough to have my sculpture of William Carlos Williams’ “Red Wheelbarrow” pictured in two American literature anthologies: Literature: American Literature, McDougal Little, 2008, p.829 and Literature: The Reader’s Choice, American Literature, Glencoe, 2000, p. 613. What are the odds of a high school English teacher having pictures of his sculpture in a book for him to teach from? Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion talks about English majors being a little bit different. In my case, people tell me that a little different is an understatement. I had a couple of shows; one at the Erman B. White Gallery of Art in El Dorado, Kansas and another at the Wichita Center for the Arts in Wichita. That was enough – most of the sculptures are too big and heavy to be portable. Furthermore, I didn’t want to sell anything; I wanted to keep them to show on the Hill. Somewhere in this piece I must mention two people who were extremely helpful – Cliff Stone of El Dorado and Babs Mellor of Wichita. Thanks. One day I will be finished watching the colorful sunrises and sunsets from the Hill. For the Hill’s future, people have suggested several possibilities:
A combination of all four of these suggestions would probably work best. P.S. If I have mentioned anyone in this bio, who would rather not be, let me know. I don’t want to discomfort you. I will remove your name.
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© 2001 to 2008 Franklin L. Jensen All Rights Reserved. All Original Works Property of Franklin L. Jensen |
I was
born in the summer of 1933 in Admire, Kansas and grew up on a series
of small farms in the Flint Hills of Kansas. I attended one-room country schools, the last of
which closed the year that I graduated from eighth grade. I went to
Admire High School which also closed the year I was graduated.
Kansas State Teachers College (now called Emporia State University)
accepted my enrollment without realizing that I might be a threat to
their existence. I was married at nineteen and am still married to
the same woman – our family is the center of the world. I went into
the United States Army at twenty and was never sent overseas, but
spent most of my time at Fort Sill protecting southern Oklahoma from
the North Koreans. (All evidence is that I was highly successful.) I
graduated with a B.S. in English in 1956 and went into teaching to
make my fortune – I guess it depends on where you start from. I
taught at Derby High School for six years and received my M.A. from
Emporia State in 1962. My master thesis was about Mark Twain. It was
published and can still be found in libraries today, but don’t
bother to look it up; you will not be impressed. Then I taught
English at Wichita High School Southeast for twenty-eight years.
