Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dezzy Jones. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dezzy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Since I was a kid, I’ve known I was going to work and live in a creative environment. Growing up, my dad was a visual artist and writer, and those things are pretty much the only thing I ever saw him do. In some ways, I think this might’ve planted the seed that I’m supposed to do something similar. I was always overflowing with creative ideas and projects as it was, and the thought of not having a consistent outlet for that creativity just felt unnatural. With this being said, though, it wasn’t until early 2023 that I realized I specifically wanted to take my visual art more seriously. I’d started connecting with other artists in the city, got exposed to the business of making murals, and fell in love with the very nature of art. Infinite refinement.

Destynee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a Jacksonville-based creative producer and visual artist. I spend my day as a digital marketing specialist at a technology company, and my nights painting large-scale portraits in my studio.

Living at the intersection of visual art and marketing, I produce content on YouTube and my blog to help creatives, artists, and entrepreneurs build their brands with media. I think what sets me apart from others is my focus on self-mastery, and my mission to trigger intrinsic thought in everyone who stumbles across my brand.

All I really care about is uplifting the progression and development of myself and others. Helping folks see themselves better. I think my art is a vessel for me to do this, because it makes people LOOK. It even makes strangers look. In a way, it’s been my strategy to spread the messages that I think need to be spread. One of my mantras is that “everyone should make art”, and I stand by this. This doesn’t mean taking time out of their day to draw a picture, but it can be any creative pursuit where they’re trying to bring an idea into fruition. This can be playing with legos, trying a new recipe, or learning chords on a guitar. I just believe in the power of creation, and want everyone else to experience the value in it. If you can execute ideas on a small scale, with enough organization and focus, you can execute them on an infinite scale.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think something a lot of artists and creatives struggle with in today’s society is the obsession with outcomes, outputs, and the aesthetics of “having accomplished a lot of stuff.” Even in school, I cared about having a lot of cords on my robe at graduation, or at having a long enough resume to show colleges. Throughout my upbringing, I was conditioned that the /amount/ of stuff that you did demonstrates your value. I was primed to go wide, not deep.

As a result, I abandoned meaningful projects because in the back of my mind I felt it would take too long (and therefore decrease the amount of outputs I can add to my credibility list). I qualified the activities I took part in, by how much value they would award me in the form of social proof.

As an adult, I’m having to unlearn this insanely limiting belief. Teaching myself to engage in deeper work on my own volition–regardless of the potential outcomes. For the first time, I’m creating things for the SAKE of creating.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As an artist, whether you know it or not, you’re engaging in a really transformational practice. The creative process in itself is an insanely interesting and elusive one.

Entering a state of flow is a kin to coming up for air after you’ve been holding your breath under water for 2 minutes – it puts you back in the state you’re supposed to be in. The stresses and pressures go away, and you just /know/ what you’re supposed to be doing in that moment. Every complication of your life becomes super simplified, because all you need to do in the moment, is stroke on the next color, play the next note, or mix the next ingredient. All that other noise doesn’t matter.

It’s cool being a creative, because we’re essentially choosing to dedicate most if not all of our day in reverence to this phenomena.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dezzyjonesart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dezzyjones_/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dezzyjones/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@dezzyjones?si=hHyZ55S16hgjF8da

Image Credits
N/A