|
|
Jennifer Shada’s watercolors examine textiles for their inherent marking of culture, style and personal narrative. Exclusively painting fabric at rest in undefined space, she draws attention to the origin and function of the material. Like a gazing ball; the frozen, suspended textiles give reflection to the threads uniting our collective past, present and future. In addition to studies of textiles, Shada examines how mundane objects transform from ordinary to extraordinary; asking how specific objects make us feel closer to a time, person or place; something that is no longer tangible. Does this transformation happen onto an object or does it happen within ourselves- the object remaining ordinary to anyone else?
Published on March 19th, 2023. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What are you fascinated with right now?
When I think of being fascinated with something, I think of being overwhelmed with interest or obsessing over something new and exciting. I'm not sure that I am "fascinated" with anything in particular at this moment, but I am very happy and excited that there is starting to become room for me in the teaching space as I have been hoping for a couple of years now.
Last fall I taught two courses at two different community colleges, and this coming semester I am teaching three courses. I have been getting such great feedback from my students about how I teach each class, as well as from other faculty and both of my Chairs in each art department. I can't tell you how good it feels to be doing something that I love so much, and then to get such validation and positive feedback for doing it feels even ten times better. Maybe I am fascinated with this new role I have, and continuing to improve myself and my curriculum as an art professor definitely has my highest interest.
What advice would you give your younger artist self?
My advice would be to take more classes and try more methods of art-making outside the field of painting! I feel like I am a painter through and through, however I do wonder what my work might look like if I had taken a wider array of classes during my schooling that might enhance or influence my ways of making. I know I took all of the required classes to get my degrees, but I think I only did the minimum because I really focused on painting.
I would tell my younger artist self that it is important and will inspire innovative techniques in painting to take more interest in other art forms. Maybe more wood shop classes or printmaking classes; something else that I could incorporate to make for a more dynamic body of work. Fortunately, we live in the modern world and any form of making I have interest in now I can always look up online and take a quick course or watch a video. How amazing!
What are your tools for creative resilience these days? Do you have any methods to stay positive when life becomes difficult and perhaps when you have limited time to create?
Time away from the studio, while always having the studio in mind, is very helpful and productive for me. Training myself to see, experience and reflect on all of my actions and extra curricular activities that make up my life outside of the studio and how to incorporate them in my practice keeps me very interested and dedicated to my work. When there are days with limited time to create and be present for the work, realizing that most of my time spent elsewhere enhances the work whether it's clear or not is a way to say, "I'm still working."
What is your dreamy vision for your creative career and art practice three years from now?
Three years from now I will be 37. Since last year when I wrote that my goal was to teach at a college in the area, I have since been hired to teach at two. Three years from now, I hope to be doing the same, perhaps with more opportunities to teach more courses in painting.
For my art practice, my dreamy vision would be to expand my studio space. I have some ideas for some much larger works on paper, so I need a bigger space to make them in. In addition, I just want to continue my balance of teaching and painting while also being a good partner to my fiancé and friend to my closest friends.
How are you being kind to yourself as you look towards realizing your vision for your art career?
I think the biggest thing to remember as an artist, and something that I learned a long time ago myself, is that there are definitely times in your life where your art practice might not be a first priority. It might not even be a second or third priority either, but knowing that if your art is your life and your life is your art, then it will ebb and flow and that I think is a healthy balance. I'm kind on myself knowing that I am doing as much or as little with my practice as I can at the time.
What are you fascinated with right now?
When I think of being fascinated with something, I think of being overwhelmed with interest or obsessing over something new and exciting. I'm not sure that I am "fascinated" with anything in particular at this moment, but I am very happy and excited that there is starting to become room for me in the teaching space as I have been hoping for a couple of years now.
Last fall I taught two courses at two different community colleges, and this coming semester I am teaching three courses. I have been getting such great feedback from my students about how I teach each class, as well as from other faculty and both of my Chairs in each art department. I can't tell you how good it feels to be doing something that I love so much, and then to get such validation and positive feedback for doing it feels even ten times better. Maybe I am fascinated with this new role I have, and continuing to improve myself and my curriculum as an art professor definitely has my highest interest.
What advice would you give your younger artist self?
My advice would be to take more classes and try more methods of art-making outside the field of painting! I feel like I am a painter through and through, however I do wonder what my work might look like if I had taken a wider array of classes during my schooling that might enhance or influence my ways of making. I know I took all of the required classes to get my degrees, but I think I only did the minimum because I really focused on painting.
I would tell my younger artist self that it is important and will inspire innovative techniques in painting to take more interest in other art forms. Maybe more wood shop classes or printmaking classes; something else that I could incorporate to make for a more dynamic body of work. Fortunately, we live in the modern world and any form of making I have interest in now I can always look up online and take a quick course or watch a video. How amazing!
What are your tools for creative resilience these days? Do you have any methods to stay positive when life becomes difficult and perhaps when you have limited time to create?
Time away from the studio, while always having the studio in mind, is very helpful and productive for me. Training myself to see, experience and reflect on all of my actions and extra curricular activities that make up my life outside of the studio and how to incorporate them in my practice keeps me very interested and dedicated to my work. When there are days with limited time to create and be present for the work, realizing that most of my time spent elsewhere enhances the work whether it's clear or not is a way to say, "I'm still working."
What is your dreamy vision for your creative career and art practice three years from now?
Three years from now I will be 37. Since last year when I wrote that my goal was to teach at a college in the area, I have since been hired to teach at two. Three years from now, I hope to be doing the same, perhaps with more opportunities to teach more courses in painting.
For my art practice, my dreamy vision would be to expand my studio space. I have some ideas for some much larger works on paper, so I need a bigger space to make them in. In addition, I just want to continue my balance of teaching and painting while also being a good partner to my fiancé and friend to my closest friends.
How are you being kind to yourself as you look towards realizing your vision for your art career?
I think the biggest thing to remember as an artist, and something that I learned a long time ago myself, is that there are definitely times in your life where your art practice might not be a first priority. It might not even be a second or third priority either, but knowing that if your art is your life and your life is your art, then it will ebb and flow and that I think is a healthy balance. I'm kind on myself knowing that I am doing as much or as little with my practice as I can at the time.
Find Jennifer Shada on Instagram
|
|