Jeni Jobe with her entry for this year's Archies Bald Prize 2020 - a 2D Portrait of Chris and 3D Medicine man in Stoneware)
By Liane Arno
JENI Jobe and I first got to know each other in 2019 when she saw that I was wanting to put a book together about the Archies Bald Portrait Prize that she had been a part of.
Out of the blue I got a message from her asking if I would like some pro bono help putting it together. I was on the one hand reluctant to accept as I knew how much work it would involve but on the other hand thrilled as to do the Prize justice it needed a professional graphic artist to compile the book – but we had no funds as we were all volunteers and all the funds we raised went to the Cancer Council. She did the artists proud.
JENI Jobe and I first got to know each other in 2019 when she saw that I was wanting to put a book together about the Archies Bald Portrait Prize that she had been a part of.
Out of the blue I got a message from her asking if I would like some pro bono help putting it together. I was on the one hand reluctant to accept as I knew how much work it would involve but on the other hand thrilled as to do the Prize justice it needed a professional graphic artist to compile the book – but we had no funds as we were all volunteers and all the funds we raised went to the Cancer Council. She did the artists proud.
But I want to take you back in time. Think back to your earliest memory. How old were you? I swear I remember my sister being born when I was two years old – but my parents tell me that it didn’t happen the way I describe – so it can’t have been.
But in Jeni Jobe’s case there is no mistaking the clarity of her four-year-old self’s memory of fresh clay, her hand and fingers gently pushed into a square slab of clay at kindergarten. Local Phillip Island artist, potter and parent David Fincher had brought clay in to make hand prints for all the kids in his son’s class.
When she was in Grade 4 David came back again to work with the kids, and led the entire class through a stoneware clay lesson, Jeni made a little coiled pot. Not an ordinary coiled pot – this one came complete with pedestal and lid with its own rim to sit snugly in the opening. She has it to this day.
In year 7 their class took on the “blue eye, brown eye” experiment which at the age of 12 she felt was one of the most confronting things she had yet encountered.
But in Jeni Jobe’s case there is no mistaking the clarity of her four-year-old self’s memory of fresh clay, her hand and fingers gently pushed into a square slab of clay at kindergarten. Local Phillip Island artist, potter and parent David Fincher had brought clay in to make hand prints for all the kids in his son’s class.
When she was in Grade 4 David came back again to work with the kids, and led the entire class through a stoneware clay lesson, Jeni made a little coiled pot. Not an ordinary coiled pot – this one came complete with pedestal and lid with its own rim to sit snugly in the opening. She has it to this day.
In year 7 their class took on the “blue eye, brown eye” experiment which at the age of 12 she felt was one of the most confronting things she had yet encountered.
| Her class and community were predominantly white Anglo Saxon. The experience opened her eyes to the disempowerment of racism and she embraced the idea that there is only one race in race relations, namely the human race. A notion she holds firmly to this day. At Newhaven College in year 8 she recalls a defining moment where she got what was probably the best piece of advice that she had received so far, from visiting art teacher Fran Reith: “Don’t draw what you think a tree looks like; look at the tree and draw what you see.” |  Jeni Jobe's distinctive four-legged cups at ArtSpace. She writes: “All on the larger side they are perfect for hot tea as you can get both hands around the belly of the cup. Which is comforting when we are not supposed to be hugging anyone.” |
Jeni’s interests were in humanities and when she finished her 1989 VCE, her subjects were art, English, English literature and drama – only doing four subjects and not enough interest in the art history portion of assessment meant that she only passed by the skin of her teeth. She had taken on a life drawing unit at Box Hill TAFE to increase her chances of being accepted into a university but that turned out to be her undoing. The VCE assessors determined that it was not possible for someone her age to have amassed the diverse and prolific portfolio and decided the work was not all hers. Her opportunity to apply for university entrance was dashed when they retained her portfolio and made her plead her case in front of a panel. Yellow stickers had been put on her life-drawing work and she was only believed because of how upset she got about stickers being put on her artwork and the payment receipt she had for doing the Box Hill course. Unfortunately the damage was done and art school was put on hold.
Like many young adults on Phillip Island, Jeni made her way to Melbourne where she found employment in the hospitality industry. It was an easy move given that she had grown up within the family business at the Continental Hotel in Cowes. Her father had started off his time at the Continental scrubbing pots and she started her time at the age of seven collecting bath towels from the housemaids and taking them to the laundry. There can never be enough towels at a beachside motel. Her grandfather Harry Jobe’s philosophy was that in order to run a business well you need to know how to do every job.
Jeni became a mum when she was only 20. Continuing to work in hospitality was impossible as childcare was only available during the day. She enrolled in a secretarial course where she learned she really did not want to be a secretary – but along the way she learned how to touch type, which has proved a most useful skill.
However it was the arts that she craved to return to – and after arranging to meet with a department head for advice and applying for a face to face interview with her sketch book in hand she managed to get a place at Swinburne Prahran campus where she studied graphic design.
I asked Jeni what would have happened had the VCE not retained her portfolio and she had gone to uni as planned. She looks directly at me and says, “I would not have had my daughter and I would not be who I am today. I would not change a thing.”
In 2007 she met her partner Chris Carman and they soon welcomed the arrival of two children. “At this time of my life and having young children, it makes you reassess where and how you want to live. Compared to our home in overcrowded Melbourne, coming back to live near family in beautiful Bass Coast was the only way to go”.
In 2014 they sold up in Melbourne and came to San Remo to rent while they built their new home. Her brother David sited the house on the land and did the original home design with help from son Harry. Jeni took over the design adjusting the layout of rooms and cabinetry design using her graphics program Adobe Illustrator, working with well-regarded local home builders Ash & Jo Johnson. The finished home embraced strong versatile materials like Colorbond, plywood, reclaimed red clay bricks. It also included her cherished art studio.
Jeni is passionate about sustainability and community. She volunteers with Totally Renewable Phillip Island as they seek to help the Island become carbon neutral by 2030.
I asked her what makes a difference in these trying times. She says, “Well, we all just need to have a truckload of empathy.” Ain’t that the truth!
Jeni Jobe's ceramics can be seen at ArtSpace Wonthaggi - at least once it reopens or visit http://www.jenijobedesign.com.
Like many young adults on Phillip Island, Jeni made her way to Melbourne where she found employment in the hospitality industry. It was an easy move given that she had grown up within the family business at the Continental Hotel in Cowes. Her father had started off his time at the Continental scrubbing pots and she started her time at the age of seven collecting bath towels from the housemaids and taking them to the laundry. There can never be enough towels at a beachside motel. Her grandfather Harry Jobe’s philosophy was that in order to run a business well you need to know how to do every job.
Jeni became a mum when she was only 20. Continuing to work in hospitality was impossible as childcare was only available during the day. She enrolled in a secretarial course where she learned she really did not want to be a secretary – but along the way she learned how to touch type, which has proved a most useful skill.
However it was the arts that she craved to return to – and after arranging to meet with a department head for advice and applying for a face to face interview with her sketch book in hand she managed to get a place at Swinburne Prahran campus where she studied graphic design.
I asked Jeni what would have happened had the VCE not retained her portfolio and she had gone to uni as planned. She looks directly at me and says, “I would not have had my daughter and I would not be who I am today. I would not change a thing.”
In 2007 she met her partner Chris Carman and they soon welcomed the arrival of two children. “At this time of my life and having young children, it makes you reassess where and how you want to live. Compared to our home in overcrowded Melbourne, coming back to live near family in beautiful Bass Coast was the only way to go”.
In 2014 they sold up in Melbourne and came to San Remo to rent while they built their new home. Her brother David sited the house on the land and did the original home design with help from son Harry. Jeni took over the design adjusting the layout of rooms and cabinetry design using her graphics program Adobe Illustrator, working with well-regarded local home builders Ash & Jo Johnson. The finished home embraced strong versatile materials like Colorbond, plywood, reclaimed red clay bricks. It also included her cherished art studio.
Jeni is passionate about sustainability and community. She volunteers with Totally Renewable Phillip Island as they seek to help the Island become carbon neutral by 2030.
I asked her what makes a difference in these trying times. She says, “Well, we all just need to have a truckload of empathy.” Ain’t that the truth!
Jeni Jobe's ceramics can be seen at ArtSpace Wonthaggi - at least once it reopens or visit http://www.jenijobedesign.com.