In the Studio with Jessie Marie

I met Jessie about 4 years when we were working together at a decorative arts studio in Santa Monica, CA.  I was a part of the team that hired her. 
Day in and day out we painted, created, initially I would teach her the techniques of the studio and as we continued to work together she began teaching me.  That's one of the brilliant aspects about collaboration, there's this inherent fusion involved.

I remember being stunned by Jess's work from the first time I saw it.  Bold, beautiful, insecure, sensual...it was as if she could tap into the inner most part of herself and put it out there for the world to see through her subjects.  She transcended the technique to the point that with it she was able to reveal secreted moments seamlessly.

Water

I was fortunate to collaborate and work side by side on a commissioned rococo oil painting with her. 

Here is a short interview with Jessie Marie...

Fur

Q:   What’s your name and what do you do? 

~  My name is Jessie Marie and I surf, paint, and play music. 

Q:   Do you specialize in a certain technique/style within your medium?

 ~  I specialize in oil paints and also in realism. Although I have been developing a distaste for representational art. With the exception of landscapes.  


Q:  What drew you to being an artist?
~  I learned how to draw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in grade school to get the other kids to pay attention and to like me. I just kept going from there.

Q:  Did you study formally, apprentice or are you self-taught?
~  I studied with my grandpa Chet Collom and then I went to Art Center College of Design in 2004.

Allison

Q:  Do you have a favorite teacher that influenced your artistic endeavors and what was it about them that affected you?
~  Michael Hussar was my painting teacher during my Art Center experience. What I liked most about him is he didn’t teach me, he inspired me.

Q:  What is your favorite aspect/point of creation?

~  That would be near completion. Just before I sign something when the piece is completed but still mine. I think that is why I don’t finish a lot of my paintings. And maybe that is better because I always end up liking those the most.

Q:  What aspect of the creative process challenges you the most?
~  Finishing something I started. And also the time it takes to finish an oil painting in the way that I work. There is no instant gratification of completion. No one praising the work. Just long isolated hours inside with paint and brushes. I love being outside. So I have been gravitating toward landscapes more. But even then I feel like I don’t want to try to paint the beautiful things that I see. I just simply like looking at them for a moment and then moving on.   

Home

Q:  Was there a specific moment in your artistic career that changed your path (good or bad)?
~  When I left Art Center. I didn’t paint for three years after that. I think I felt mildly disgusted with myself for wanting to be the best painter in the world.


Q:  Do you have any recommendations for aspiring artists?
~  I think technique gets in the way. Whether it’s a lack of it or too much of it. There is a balance in there someplace.


Q:  What was the last show, exhibition, museum you went to that was noteworthy?
~  I went to see Anthony James exhibition at Patrick Painter in November of last year. The piece K.O. effected me. Maybe it was because I was alone in the room with it and it was quiet so I was meditating with this big piece of expression. I was coming out of a time of deep depression and  my own death of the ego experience so K.O. resonated with me.


Q:  Do you have a favorite candy/secret addiction/not-so-secret addiction/fetish/-ism that has nothing to do with art?
~  Surfing.

You can become friends with Jessie Marie by going to her Facebook page www.facebook.com/jessicamarieblowers or see more of her work on her website http://www.jessicamarieblowers.com

Here are some additional images:

Cluster of Trees

Chumash Reclaimation