We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jackie Dorsey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jackie below.
Hi Jackie, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
First of all, thank you for inviting me to interview. I am really excited to answer this question because the most meaningful project is the one I am working on right now. As background, I moved to Athens about 10 years ago and fell in love with it for its vibrant art and music scene. For those who don’t know, Athens is home to incredible music venues and music festivals. As an avid music goer, about 7 years ago, I began painting musicians as a way of paying homage to our local musical legends. These paintings were shown in juried exhibitions nationwide as well as locally. Creating these paintings was my way of giving back. Over time, my appreciation for Athens musicians expanded to include the many musicians who more widely have called Georgia their home. I honestly think, regardless of genre, that there is something really unique or special about the music that has come out of Georgia.
Thus, for the last 5 years I have been working on an exhibition honoring Georgia’s more legendary musicians. This is a passion project designed solely to highlight and honor the musician’s who have grown their music careers here in Georgia. Because I do my own photo shoots, this has been both a challenge and a delight. The challenge of course is getting through the talent’s management and scheduling a shoot. But when I have gotten through, I have been able to witness and meet some incredible talent. Lots of sound checks, rehearsals, visits to the musician’s homes and studios, and shoots in my own studio. For each musician I have gone deep into their music archives while painting, which I hope was channeled into their final paintings. I can’t wait to share my paintings with the public. These paintings will be on exhibit June-August 2023 at the Lyndon House Art Center in Athens.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Sure. I am an Athens based visual artist primarily working in watercolor. I retired early from careers in academia and teaching to pursue my life long interest in art. My foray into working in watercolor was actually a matter of happenstance. When I first moved here, Athens had some great watercolor courses and professional instructors, and to this day continues to have a sizeable community of supportive artists. I took classes, workshops and threw all that I had into this art medium which has led to a steep growth in the quality of my work and has allowed me to achieve a degree of success for which I am proud.
I exhibit around the country in Nationally and Internationally juried exhibitions and have been featured in juried art magazines and books. I hope that anyone interested in seeing my work will go to my website jackiedorseyart.com for a list of current exhibitions, as well as a selection of past work. I also have a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jackiedorseyart. I do commissioned work, mostly portraits, but honestly have limited that for now to focus on my Legendary Musicians Project.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
There are so many rewarding aspects to being an artist. The ability to give back to a community, to pay homage, to bring joy, to provoke, to be surrounded by art and like minded artists are just a few of the rewards. But honestly if forced to pick the most rewarding aspect of being an artist, at its core, it is the intense satisfaction or high that you get from making a great piece of art. For those who are non-creatives, I suspect it is the same dopamine rush that an athlete gets when achieving a goal, or on a smaller scale that little rush that a wordler gets when all the letters flip over green.
Fortunately for my own development my critical eye was not well developed when I first began. Work that I thought was great 9 years ago, and thus gave me that rush back then, I would be embarrassed to lay claim to today. But that’s the key or the hook of leading an artistic life. There is this drive toward mastery that alone is deeply satisfying. As your skills develop, your standards increase, and as your standards increase, your skills develop. This improvement is not monotonic; there are definitely set backs in my development as an artist, but if there became a point in which I felt that the quality of my work had plateaued, I would have to switch it up and create more obstacles or aim higher. All for that “hell yeah” kind of rush.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I am so appreciative of all the people, businesses, organizations, private entities and government programs that support the arts. I enjoy it as an appreciator of the arts as well as an artist. Communities that have art venues and programs are all the richer for it. Thus in communities like Athens, a lot is already being done to create a genuinely thriving creative ecosystem. Gratitude.
But to address this particular question, the one area that could use some illumination is that of art pricing. What I think non-creatives fail to understand is what goes on behind the pricing of art. Before a became a full time artist I would attend gallery openings and art shows and often be surprised at what I thought were high price tags on art. I wasn’t aware for example that the venues, having to pay their bills, generally take a cut between 30-50% on any sales. I also never considered the costs associated with shipping and framing work. Now that I am on the other side, I honestly think that many artists are often undervaluing their work.
As an example, putting aside all the labor, skill and passion that can be put into creating a piece of art, let’s consider the costs of exhibiting a large painting at a venue a couple states a way: Shipping costs right now are approximately $500.00 round trip, framing $300, materials $100, and the airfloat shipping box $200 or more. If the painting sells, the venue is taking a minimum 30% cut. Thus working backwards, a $2000 painting will have a check cut for $1400 (less actually with sales tax). Subtract shipping, the shipping box, cost of materials and framing, and the profit could be as little as $300 for a piece of art that may have taken 160 hours to create. Of course every artist costs are different, and every artist will not put the same amount of time into their craft. But I suspect that most non-creatives are simply unaware of costs associated with creating a piece of art and selling it to the public at a venue.
Contact Info:
- Website: jackiedorseyart.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jackiedorseyart