Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Jenny Grant

Hello guys, happy mid january =) hope 2013 is rockin' so far for you...I'm getting there, slowly but surely finding my groove again, but I'm also allowing my creative self to breathe for a little bit. I think she needs some space, so I'm just doing small bits and pieces daily (like in my doodle post) to keep my creative diet healthy, but not to the overloaded to the point where I'm sick of it & just want to binge on the bad things instead ya'know?? 

What would the artistic chocolate/cake-binge equivalent be?? hmmmm?? One to ponder on...anyhow focus Jennibellie! get on track, this is a TAT post! And a great one it is too, tons of wisdom in this one, so I'll now hand over the reins to the very astute Jenny Grant:

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are. 

I am Swedish living in New Zealand. I am married to a kiwi and we have 3 wonderful kids, 8, 6 and 1,5 years old. I am a Mixed Media Artist and I create my art based on an intuitive process. The imagery in my paintings emerge during the process of painting. When I find my flow my intuition guides me through the process. It might sound like a cliché but it is magical and it fills me with energy! I work with mixed media - acrylic paint, different mediums, watercolour, ink, colour pencils, fabrics, paper, photos... anything that comes my way. My work is very rich with many layers that add depth and texture to my art. My work has been exhibited and is for sale both in Sweden and in New Zealand as well as on-line. I believe that many of us have lost the connection with our spiritual self. Many of us search for answers. We want to expand and explore love, creativity and our spirituality. But we fail. We seem to go in circles and not find the answers. I do believe that we should stop searching and start listening. Listen to our inner voice, our inner guide. If we do, we will achieve more, and peace will develop within ourselves. Painting is a great way to practice listening to our inner voice. 

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it? 

One of my biggest challenges is to get time to paint. I have 3 young children. I usually work late at night when they are asleep. I also get 1-2 hours work when the little one has his morning nap. He is a good sleeper… so far :-) I place my unfinished work around the house so that I can look at it when doing house work. The paintings speak to me at different stages and I get inspiration of how to continue. I note down my inspiration when it comes and place yellow stickers on the paintings to remember what to do next. When I get time in my studio I can jump straight into the painting process. 

The biggest challenge artistically is to keep my intuition lead the process. When I analyse the painting too much the flow is lost. I need to be brave enough to trust the process, just let go and do it. The challenge is to not be afraid to mess up or to lose something that I like. Not to steer the painting process with thoughts around what looks good or what will sell BUT to keep the intuition steering the process. I have many paintings going in different stages at the same time. I switch between them when I get stuck. I also work in art journals. In my art journal I can be even more brave and just let go instead of analysing the results. When I let my intuition lead I feel very strongly when the painting is finished. I get filled with energy and peace at the same time. Very powerful! 

What is your greatest personal achievement either in your art, or because of it? 

Through my art I practice to be brave and trust my intuition. When I do I get filled with energy and peace. The same feeling I get when I take other decisions based on my intuition. As children we all have access to our inner voice but through life we stop listening. Why is that? I think that one of the most important gifts we can give our children is to encourage them to continue to listen to and act on their intuition. To find a way to encourage our kids to be true to themselves and have a direct link to their intuition is a challenge. I think there are a couple of fundamental things that we can teach our children to help them to listen to their intuition. One is to love themselves for what they are and not for what they do. A second thing is to not be afraid. Many people today are driven by fear and I think that is very dangerous. The third thing is to have fun, to not take life too seriously. I learn things through the symbolism that appear in my art throughout the process. I put messages on the backs of most of my paintings with some words of wisdom that I learnt while painting them. You can see examples of this on my blog. In my latest Solo Exhibition "The Voice Within" I exhibited a series of paintings painted during 2012 that taught me many lessons, you can see more in the exhibition link below.

What is your heart's greatest desire for your life as an artist? 

I would love my art to hang in people’s homes and in public places around the world and bring joy and wisdom. I would love to continue to put up regular exhibitions where the message is as important as the paintings. I would also love to be able to help individual people, both children and adults, to be less afraid, to be braver and to listen more to their intuition. I think that is a small but very important step towards a more human and sustainable world. 

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art.

My art is displayed in several places both in Sweden and in New Zealand (for more details see my web site). 

My blog and photos of my art is found on my web site: www.flowbyjenny.com. Exhibition Link

I post all news on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/jennygrantart

Thank you so much for your wonderful interview Jenny, you share sooooo many insights 

and I *love* the idea of putting your unfinished artwork up, so your subconscious can evolve it for you while you get on with other things. I kinda of do this with my art journals - keeping them out and open until I'm ready to work on them again, but as I can't be in my studio all the time (...and when I am I'm working on them anyway) it's kind of limited, but I think many of us will nick that fabulous idea now you've put it out there ;)

Want to be a featured TAT artist? 

Email me or click the link to find all the details here =)