We were lucky to catch up with Janimarie Lester DeRose recently and have shared our conversation below.

Janimarie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

They threw out the tv, literally. We were raised with no television in the home. Instead, we would read aloud in the evenings, sprawled across my parents bed. They always fostered creativity, through long hours of free play, barefoot summers spent in nature, and so many stories. My mother is a painter, gardener, art historian, museum educator, and naturalist, my father is a chemist working on rocket motors, and avid birder. Together they gave three girls a beautiful childhood filled with creativity.

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?

I am a quiet person, a wide open space kind of person. When I feel my body rigid from the daily interaction with noise, chatter, pavement, and exhaust, I escape to my studio. The place where I tune all excess out and fully center, cocooned in the process of making. Just as Yoga centers and calms the whole person, creating art is a deepening practice. Deepening in the sense of being grounded and connected to the land and self. I work while reflecting on nature, the curve of my brush line echoing the cattails of the marsh, or the curved belly of the bowl cupping the enclosed space like a birds nest.

I live in Logan, Utah; a quiet University town, nestled in the Rocky Mountains. I spent some years adventuring Alaska, and then settled back home, teaching pottery at a local high school. Teaching is extremely rewarding and I love working and making a difference in my community. I currently am raising my children, and developing a clay studio art practice with Salty Peach Pottery. My joy comes from quiet experiences creating art, and my greatest love is when I share those moments with the people I love.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As a young artist I was sucked into the mystic of the edgy artist. You know the type, the brooding artist always pushing harder and farther. I would create work with shock value, that made the viewer and myself uncomfortable. I tried everything and anything and stretched my work to a place that was emaciated and ingenuine. Over years of fumbling through ideas, sketchbooks, and life stages, I have found a place that is more true to myself. That place is one of creating beauty, focusing on the natural world, and living simply. I create works of art intended to bring importance to the food served in them. Mealtimes provide a bonding time in our days, when we are all gathered around, satiated and laughing. I find time spent around a table full of pottery and good food is a life well spent.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Art Education! I am a teacher as well as a studio artist, and I have seen the change happen. I teach young people to see more deeply. Paying attention provides empathy, and I would argue empathy is the most important thing we teach our children. Empathy is the reason to care. Support of the arts comes from a community that cares about deeper connections and each other.

I provide my students the opportunity to understand what an artist has to put into becoming a masterful craftsman. This is a truly humbling lesson, and provides a deep appreciation and respect for the artists. We are a visual society. We must learn to interpret visual communication, just like learning to read. In addition to understanding, I try to give every student the confidence to create for the process, not the end product. The act of creation is a valuable medicine and tool for self actualization.

Contact Info:

• Website: janimarielesterderose.blogspot.com
• Instagram: Salty Peach Pottery
• Facebook: Salty Peach Pottery

Image Credits
Graphic Designer for logo: Lezlie Anderson