M.J: Art obviously runs in your family. Was your
grandmother a watercolor artist too?
Jessica: Well, she must have painted with them at least
once but not much. They weren’t very used when I got
them. Grandma mostly painted in acrylic and she was
prolific. She wasn’t a professional painter, but she had a
large house and every wall was lined with her work.
M.J.: Do you have any of her paintings?
Jessica: Yes, around a half dozen. All the grandkids
ended up with a nice collection of Grandma’s paintings.
M.J.: That’s a great legacy. Were your parents
artistic as well?
Jessica: Yes, I was a lucky kid to love art and have a
dad with an art school background; he was constantly
teaching me to observe the world closely, and when I
asked for it, I got drawing lessons as well. My mom
went to school for music (my other love) and is quite
artistic herself. As a family we talked about color, value,
design — it was integrated into everyday conversations.
M.J.: What was your mom’s musical focus?
Jessica: She was a piano player and has a degree in
music education. She taught in public schools briefly,
but it was not her thing. While I was growing up she
taught piano out of our home, and included a heavy
amount of music theory for all her students. My mom
felt that trying to learn theory in college as an adult is a
struggle, but kids pick it up more naturally. She started
doing ear training with me when I was maybe three
or four years old and I took lessons from her for most
of my childhood. It was a huge advantage in learning
other instruments.
Quality of composition is the one universal way to judge any work
within the arts. Style and genre do not make work better or worse.
Impressionism is not inherently better than abstract and abstract
is not better than realism. That’s like saying all science fiction is
better than mystery; it’s silly. Among everything else, I like to teach
my students (especially the kids) how to see and design a successful
composition because this is truly the most important skill.
M.J.: Do you still play piano?
M.J.: That’s great!
Jessica: Yeah, I like to do that with my art students
too. I spend a lot of time on composition, a topic that
we’re familiar with in writing, film, and music, but less
so in visual art. Most of us can recognize when a book
is particularly well written, even if we didn’t really like
it. We might prefer a book that we know wasn’t written
as well, but the subject or style is more personally
appealing.
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Jessica: Sometimes I play for fun. I used to play French horn but
haven’t done that in years. I also play bagpipes.
M.J.: Seriously? That’s amazing.
Jessica: Hahaha, yeah. I teach and lead the CDA Firefighters Pipes
and Drums. It’s a weird side note that makes people stop and say,
“Wait, you what?” My life is full of them.