We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jacquie Stock a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jacquie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Tap Lessons, a two-woman short play Lynn Hautala and I wrote and performed at Freehold Theatre Lab and Studio in Seattle was one of the most meaningful projects I helped create. For years, Lynn Hautala, Judith Da Silva and I learned, loved and practiced tap dance with Anthony Peters, a fabulous teacher. We three became friends bonding over how to do the shim sham, how to move on stage when your body is stiff and shaking from fear of public dancing, and how to persevere as age continues. We loved tap! The rhythms, movement and music were an escape to a focused, happy, “look-what-we-can-do” space. In Tap Lessons, the play, Lynn and I wrote about joy, sense of accomplishment and creatively delving into life as you age. Sharing that message with the audience was a fulfilling goal. And, we’re still tapping!
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?
Like many people, I loved to color and paint as a child. My teenage bedroom was decorated wall to wall with oil paintings I enthusiastically dashed off with little forethought and no study. Fun! Unbridled expression! Yes, but also as with many people, my early artistic path dwindled away as other life choices and opportunities evolved. Some fifty years later, after a rewarding career in public health, I was itching to paint again, to tell stories, to dance! You’re never too old to start something new or revisit an old friend. Painting was an old friend I missed–the color, the desire to tell the story of an observed image, the process of creating the image; I was itching to paint. Wisdom comes with age, and I knew I needed to study painting. After retirement from Seattle Children’s Hospital and during the start of the COVID pandemic, I started studying painting–reading books, taking online classes, studying other artists’ work, practicing.
I’m an acrylic painter inspired by nature’s beauty and wonder, so mostly I paint impressionistic landscapes, seascapes, and botanicals. However, I also love a quirky or unusual scene such as a castle door or magical assemblage of items. I believe that paintings of nature inspire us to explore outdoors and to cherish the natural environment. The Seattle neighborhood in which I live (West Seattle) has a thriving and generous art community. Through the kindness of community artists, I began to show work at local shows and was happy when collectors enjoyed a painting enough to acquire it. The fact that others may want to enjoy something I painted inspired me to keep going, to explore what stories I might be able to tell through painting. Creating and showing my paintings locally and at jacquiestock.com has been a return to a childhood dream.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, making friends and receiving support of my family are two important, rewarding aspects of being an artist. My mother and husband who both passed away in the past couple of years were consistently supportive of my creative endeavors. “You are great, it’s wonderful you’re doing this”, were encouragements I heard from them, and so felt able to continue. My daughter and sister and brothers are also my biggest supporters–feeling that love, even if I don’t like what I’ve created, is one of life’s best feelings.
The kindness and generosity of friends in the West Seattle art community has kept me moving ahead in my art practice. As with our Tap Lessons play, it’s the support and inspiration of friends that moves you forward, inspires you and keeps you going.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Right now, an important goal for me is to inspire people to understand that old age can be a time to cherish, to learn important life lessons, and to produce creatively. Ageism may be the last “ism” to fall in our evolution toward a kind and wise society, and my mission now is, as George Carlin said, (paraphrasing) “When you’re young, it’d be smart to set it up so that old people are cool”.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jacquiestock.com
- Instagram: jacquiestock
Image Credits
Feature photo photographer: Nancy Keselyak