A: What has your journey to your current artistry been?
J: I majored in Illustration with a concentration in Serigraphy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. After graduation, I set up a silkscreen studio in my parent’s garage loft in northern NJ and began creating small hand pulled serigraph editions- working from photos I took. Once I moved up to NH, I didn’t have anywhere to set up for silk screening because the chemicals for cleaning are really bad and our house didn’t have a garage, so I switched to painting with acrylics in a little space out in our sunroom. That was when I went back to a tool that I had fallen in love with back in college. The palette knife.
A: You often use the palette knife as a tool for applying paint to canvas. What do you enjoy most about the look a palette knife adds to your work?
J: Using the palette knife lets me have more of a connection to the canvas and paint. It makes the paint feel differently to my hand and because of that, I handle it differently. It’s this different handling with the palette knife that I achieve a more textural and impressionistic style to all of my paintings.
A: What does your studio practice look like day-to-day?
J: I am painting in my studio at least once or twice a week but finish a painting typically in one or 2 sittings. I add in an extender to my paint to slow down the drying process a little so that I can work colors into each other from the beginning to the end of the painting. Sometimes when I finish a painting I bring it out to my kitchen and prop it up somewhere so that I look at it every time I walk into the room. When I step away from a piece for a little while, I can see more clearly where it may still need more work.
A: As someone who is involved in their community of artists and craftsmen, what do you find special about local artist communities?
J: I like that most are aware of each other to some extent. It’s not that large of an area that we haven’t at least heard of other area artists' names. And that there are so many opportunities to share your work in the area whether in a show at the Historical Society, on walls of local businesses and libraries, or in events like Art in the Park or ArtWalk.
A: Is this your first time participating in the Keene ArtWalk? If not, how many years have you
participated?
J: I have been a part of ArtWalk, I think, since we moved here in 1999 with maybe a year or 2 off scattered through that.
A: What are you most excited to display at this year’s Keene ArtWalk?
J: I also do a few craft shows throughout the year and sell my smaller pieces along with things like greeting cards with my painted images on them. And when I am between customers at those shows, I felt some of my images just to keep busy. They are something I can put down to help a customer and pick it back up again without paint drying on me, and I can keep creating. Lately I have been working on what I call “pairings”. I will paint an image and then I will felt that same image . It is a wonderful juxtaposition to see the same image created in 2 different mediums side by side. So that is what I am showing this year again. Felted and painted sets of creations.
A: What are your favorite tools to use in the studio?
J: My favorite shaped palette knife has got to be the diamond head- it’s like 3 tools in one! It allows me to do detailed work with the sharp tip, the flat edge lets me lay down and push a lot of paint across my canvas and the flat bottom lets me swirl and mush the paint around.
A: How do you practice self compassion as an artist in moments of burn out, block, or frustration?
J: I typically get burned out by late December because I have just been cranking out and selling art for 8 months. I allow myself permission to just be for a while, to walk away from it for a few months and recharge. I take time to enjoy the holidays and my family. I also devote more time to my other side gig (besides my paid job as a custom framer). I am a Therapy Dog Team with my golden retriever, Mackinley in the Cheshire County Area. She has quickly become the new sweetheart of SAU29. Her older sister, Haleigh, held that title for many years until she passed away last April. During my pause in painting, Mackinley and I go on a lot more visits to local elementary schools, high schools, Keene Middle School, KSC among others. It gives me peace and recharges my heart.
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