M.J.: Have you always worked in watercolors?
Jessica: Actually, I originally had a strong
dislike for watercolor. The watercolor instruction
I received in high school was limited, and in
frustration over an assignment, I went home
and threw all the rules out the window. I pulled
out a small tin of paints from the 1950s that my
grandmother (a painter) had given me and used a
tiny liner brush to make an 18”x24” painting. I
dug my brush into the cakes of paint to get darker
values than I had been taught. It was a rather
ridiculous process, but my teacher was thrilled
with the outcome and entered it into the local
congressional district show, where it won first
place and traveled to Washington D.C. to be on
display for a year. I never told him my process,
and promptly dropped watercolor, returning to my
preferred mediums of graphite and chalk pastel.
Fourteen years later, I found myself in a
challenging stage of life that included being busy
with an infant and toddler and frustrated by a
lack of intellectual stimulation. My family was
in the midst of a brief stint in Silicon Valley for
my husband’s career, and I lacked nearby friends
and family to keep me sane. I stumbled upon a
list of courses at the Palo Alto Arts Center, and
saw there was a class in watercolor that would
fit in our schedule. In a moment of defiance, I
thought “I hate watercolor. But I can take that
class. I’m going to go do that.” I fully expected
to be underwhelmed, but the instructor was solid,
there was a good group of students of all abilities,
and the medium offered an element of intellectual
challenge.
M.J.: I think most parents of young children
understand the need for personal time.
Jessica: Yeah, in one of those life lessons, I
learned you should not give up the things you love
to do, whether as hobby or otherwise, because you
really don’t feel like a whole person unless you’re
fulfilling those needs. I think everyone needs to
do something creative whether it’s cooking, home
decorating, renovating old cars or boats. Whatever
it is, there’s some outlet most people find their way
to. I had plenty of them but I really missed art.
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