We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jeanne McGee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jeanne below.

Alright, Jeanne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

This topic comes up for me when I’m trying to learn something new creatively. At this point I feel when it comes to printmaking, I can now work at an intuitive level and work in a zone where I don’t always have to think about technical issues. When I’m trying to learn something new, I look at work of artist I admire, I realize they have mastered that craft and I have to put in the hours to create the new work that I want to make.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My earliest memories are of drawing and painting so in some ways I feel as if I’ve always been an artist. I grew up in a creative household with my mother providing different artistic projects. I studied art in college and had an instant affinity for printmaking. I went on to get my MFA in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
I started out creating large scale woodcuts but eventually the carving began to aggravate my hands. I decided to start carving very soft material and creating stamps. Turning to a new way a printmaking offered new opportunities: I started teaching classes and creating a fabric collection for Cotton and Steel fabrics. I also take my ideas that I create with the stamps to launch further products such as cards, tea towels and larger prints.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My audience on social media built up slowly over time. I think my first big jump in followers came when Etsy asked me to do an interview. Since they have such a large audience, a lot of additional people saw my work. I also think it grew after I began to make a conscious effort to take consistently nice photos. It’s taken more time but I think it’s worth the effort and I’ve learned a lot in the process. I’ve had the same approach for creating reels. After the initial learning curve, I actually now enjoy making videos.
My advice would be to would be to focus on your work first, then put that equal effort into how you want to present it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of my work is the making. The process of moving from idea to a new piece is a thrill every time. I have struggled with anxiety and being creative and making work has also allowed me to process the world around me and relieve my anxiety.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jeannemcgee.com
• Instagram: @jeannemcgeeart

Image Credits

Jeanne McGee