We recently connected with Desanna Watson Watson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Desanna Watson, thanks for joining 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.

I feel like some people just rolled out of the womb painting and drawing but clearly God erased that part of my early beginning script. I can laugh about that now, but there were days when I was seriously bothered by this. I say this because my journey was not “she is a natural at this.” I actually had to redo every art assignment given in high school. I wasted gallons of paint, destroyed countless brushes and filled many sketchbooks learning one technique. Everything I know how to do as an artist has been learnt through sheer determination and hours of practice. I remember filling sketchbooks with colour samples that had notes of the portions of each colour paint used to mix a specific colour. I remember challenging myself to mix as many greens as possible and then challenging myself to mix them without looking at my notes.

I was addicted to art and art class. As a matter of fact, my interest in getting these techniques was what I think my mother saw and realized that I was meant to be an artist. Even now, that I have exhibited in my home country and overseas, I can say that my practice is what it is because of the amount of time I spend mastering specific things. Now, when I teach my art students something and I am able to identify the gaps in their learning, it is because I had to fill those gaps to be the artist I am today.

My story is that, “I am the artist that does not believe she was born talented.” I was born with a creative mind that later found beauty and power in art’s ability to communicate for me. My drive came from the fact that I deeply desired for my ideas to be expressed in a beautiful and skilled manner. For that reason, I come from the paradigm that you can learn to be an artist. Go after the information you need to grow, apply the information and do this consistently. So the question is, “What do you wanna learn?”

Desanna Watson, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hey there! Desanna Watson is the name. I am a visual artist, art educator, and author. Desanna Watson Art International is an art-centered company that sells original mixed-media paintings, art prints on canvas, and art on merchandise such as notebooks, water bottles, throw pillows,and school bags. As a complement to my work as an artist, I write books to help artists maximise their potential.

In my art, I speak about spaces/environments, the histories of those spaces and how that affects the lives of the people who traverse these spaces. I reference various maps, images of ships and the histories of a space to form the conversation for my artworks. My most exhibited piece is a 75 feet by 8 feet mixed media painting entitled, “Retention of A Colonial Past,” 2018. The piece tracks the development of Kingston Jamiaca from its early town plans to the early 2000’s and speaks to the disparities in the development of space that can be tracked through the mapping of the city.

My work aims to bring people’s awareness about these occurrences to challenge them to assess the impact they have on the spaces they occupy and vice verse. My practice has led me to conduct workshops, one of which engaged over 360 persons in Liverpool, England and Jamaica. The workshop entitled “The Remapped Project” carries participants through a process of observing maps, its features and imprinting their narratives onto those existing spaces. In its nature, it stand as a metaphor of what we do every day, unconsciously and sometimes without calculated efforts.

For the readers, if you like art that speaks about your mixed history and how it has shaped you to be the individual you are, my work and focus is tailored to you. I would love to create that artwork of a lifetime for you.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The mission of my life is to effect positive change in people across the world by stimulating their minds with the conversations embedded in each artwork.It is my belief that artists are positioned to effect change. My mission includes inspiring other creatives to realise their own creative potential by sharing my path with them.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I will share a thought from one of my book that I am writing to assist creatives with their journey.

“When you sit down to create, whether you are a writer, a dancer, an event planner, a painter or a stand up comedian, your greatest opponent will be your thought life. Not the other creator, not the industry and not your family. All those categories of people contribute in their own way, but can never be compared to the damage done in our thoughts. Those thoughts that all of sudden rise up to tell you that “you are wasting your time,” “ you will never be good enough to be successful” and “time has already passed so do not bother trying,” are the biggest demons that we as creators face. ”

I had to unlearn the narrative that tells creatives to just get over it or to not take those thoughts seriously. I noticed that my acceptance of these negative thoughts limited my creative expression. So I made a decision to actively work on my thought life, and I rewrote the acceptable narrative that now governs my mind. It took me asking myself, “Why didn’t you create that artwork?” and “Why didn’t you apply for that opportunity?” to figure out some of these misleading thought. Eventually, I was able to face those thought, see them as the lie that they are, and embrace the truth.

More creatives across the world would have been further in their journey, if they knew that those crippling thoughts were not be taken lightly. If you can change your perspective, you can change your life.

Contact Info:

• Website: desannawatsonartinternational.com
• Instagram: @desanna.w.art
• Facebook: Desanna Watson Art International
• Linkedin: Desanna Watson Art International
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@desanna_art_money
• Other: TikTok @desanna_watson

Image Credits
Shawna Drysdale Kenoy Martin Liverpool John Moore University Staff