Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Poyerd.

Hi Jill, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

It’s always amazing to look back on your life and see how the twists and turns lead to where you are today. When I look back at my childhood and remember my interest in art and being surrounded by fine art through my parent’s activities, I can see how it formed the basis of what I do today. Art wasn’t their primary interest or career, but my mother painted, they hosted national art workshops for a time, and they collected art. Fine art was always a part of our lives. In particular, it was my mother who first taught me to paint with oils and it was my mother who encouraged me to study watercolor painting after the birth of my son.

As I matured, my interests were not solely on art either. I actually have a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, which could seem completely unrelated, but today I can see how it lead me to where I am now. PR deals with how the public perceives you or your company. In simple terms, it’s spin. I learned the importance of honesty (dishonestly is not good PR) and putting your best foot forward.

Today, I can see that the way I grew up gave me a special appreciation for fine art, public relations taught me the importance of presentation and how to organize, and throughout my life I’ve always enjoyed working with creative software programs such as Photoshop. These areas of my life combine to make it possible for me to paint professionally, teach art online, and present art history in unique and interesting ways through my YouTube channel content.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

Would I say that my path was a smooth road? Kind of. I absorbed myself in each stage of my life, but after several years in a stage I would find myself wanting something new, so I would gravitate in a different direction. For example, I soaked up public relations during and after college, but after I had my son I leaned into learning watercolor painting. I like to master things, so I dove into painting classes until I felt I needed to turn to self study, which included studying the Masters.

Around this time, the world was turning increasingly towards digital learning, so together with some colleagues I helped establish an internet-based art group. This then lead to producing a video to help the public better understand the different art styles using the work of group members as examples, and that was the start of my YouTube Channel. This then lead me to turn one of my YouTube videos into a formal online class, which lead to me eventually becoming a top instructor on UDemy and now to hosting my classes on my own website as well as on The Beginner to Master Art Academy. So, life tends to takes us on paths and for me it was mostly a smooth journey.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

Believe it or not, I think what I’m most known for is the peaceful presence that my audience feels in both my artwork (oil and watercolor paintings) and my video productions – my art appreciation YouTube Channel and my online painting classes. Most people also find my voice and cadence very calming. This plus the fact that I love creating uniquely interesting content and digging deep into a subject, means that I’m able to offer viewers a gentle but engaging educational experience through several venues. In such a busy world, this appears to be a strong appeal.

One of the things I’m most proud of is the fact that my videos and classes tend to clear up what can sometimes be confusing or even contradictory information. For example, in my oil painting process class I was able to sort through all of the related terminology, clearing up various definitions and approaches to building a painting. With so many opinions in the world of art, it can get confusing. The class offers clarity and enables students to adhere to the best practices for paint integrity. Basically, I feel like I fill in many information holes for those learning to paint with oils.

Another thing I’m proud of is my groundbreaking project on brushstrokes. At one point, when I was trying to think of what topic I wanted to cover next for my YouTube channel, it occurred to me that no one had ever looked back through history and documented all of the various brushstrokes that were used by the Masters. I spent over a year intensely researching this topic, observing brushwork throughout art history and keeping an eye out for brushwork innovations. The result is a categorization of twenty-two different brushstrokes. I created a three-part YouTube series taking viewers through the history of brushstrokes and then an eight-hour online class teaching students each stroke with a look at how Masters used each one and then applying it to a simple painting. The YouTube series has over a million views and the class is one of UDemy’s top courses in painting.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?

I don’t think I had it as hard as many when it came to living though Covid. So many people suffered and were tightly confined. I still feel bad when I think about the suffering. But my husband and I were able to confine ourselves to a fairly roomy home with a yard. It just so happened that my young adult son and his best friend were living with us at the time, so we ended up all confined together. It made for a loving little community and we eventually came to consider his friend as a second son; a blessing out of the difficulty. To kill the time, we decided to do some house projects, practice cooking, and learn art. Brian, my son’s friend, is half Asian and would often teach me about the Asian art culture, introducing me to artists and some of their calligraphic methods. I developed such an appreciation for their brush mastery and their beautiful, calming use of space. It was during this time that I came up with another concept that I’m very proud of. I began to see that artists in general could improve their brush skills by working with Asian ink wash painting. I decided to create a class for this very purpose. In fact, while creating the class (as proof of my thesis) I painted one of my loosest paintings! I think Western artists can learn so much from Eastern art…and I would guess the reverse could be said as well.

Pricing:

• Jill’s online painting classes are available as either 1-year or lifetime subscriptions and range in price from $25.99-$65.99
• All of Jill’s YouTube content is free.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.jillpoyerd.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/jillpoyerd
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/JillPoyerd
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/JillPoyerdFineArt
• Other: https://www.ugallery.com/artist/jill-poyerd