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

Jean, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

When I was in graduate school I had no idea that I would be selling my abstract art. I had to go from landscape painter to redefining myself as an artist in four years. Now I live in Aruba, my art is represented by ArtisA and I have participated in The Other Art Fair twice. I am the Rollerblade Painter who began my journey in the USA.

In graduate school I had a young family and a crazy athletic background of bike and ski racing. As an athlete I faced the excitement of prime physical fitness and I wanted to see if I could recreate that feeling in painting. I had studied artists like Jackson Pollack and Rebecca Purdum who used their painting methods to break ground from traditional painting styles. Jackson threw paint lines and Rebecca painted with her hands, all methods that you see artists using now. No one was rollerblade painting that I knew of back in 2008 so I wanted to risk doing something new. During covid people started to notice my paintings and I gained a strong following after that.

It was a rainy day and I was stuck while trying to come up with new work for my professors. I thought I would go into my garage in Vermont and put down some papers, along side of them large areas of ink to roll into. Wearing my rollerblades, rolling repeatedly over the papers, I began to see the interesting lines that I was creating in a birds-eye view and I liked the way I felt emotionally and physically. It reminded me of how I began as a child. I danced a lot and drew. So, I began to combine my childhood imagination and feel free from the norms of expression that I had adhered to while only using a paintbrush. I loved using the wheel to push and pull the paint on the canvas in my own way.

“Colors and lines excite me. I use colors that come from my emotions and surroundings. The competitive spirit of innovation is alive in me.” Jean Cherouny

Around 2010 I was lucky to visit in the salon of Louise Bourgeois, a famous artist who lived in NYC. While at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, USA I had a studio visit from an artist who gave me her phone number to arrange a visit with my art. This changed my life. I began to understand that a life as an artist was about taking risks and sharing my truth.

I knew that this was going to work because it was a true story that I could tell to anyone and they would see my years of building a practice being my true self. I went from being a child who loved to move to being a painter that defined myself as an active expressionist painter. I loved the adventure and purpose each time I painted. I think each work of art preserved for me a sense of provenance. People knew that they are getting an original piece that will stand the test of time.

Sometimes I will use a wheel attached to a handle to add varied brush strokes. I enjoy the rush of putting colors on the canvas with speed. I had to rely on my instincts to do things quickly as an athlete. I was fortunate from a young age to take many classes that taught me about color theory so I relied on this adventuring out on my own stylistically. I even started to have my students try painting with a wheel on a stick to help them discover the freedom of a unique style and be fearless when they take classes with me. I also had the idea to start offering art retreats in Aruba where people can experiment with their abstract painting methods with me in my studio.

I am a teacher, painter and an athlete but also I am a role model for my kids who take the approach from me about giving back and doing what you love.

jeancherounyfineart.com

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have never written about my brand before but I do social media that shows my rollerblade painting and making my art in my studio. I mostly write about how I create rollerblade paintings. Picture the likes of an ant or crab making tracks in the sand. This is what I do on rollerblades using canvas as my sand. It is the freedom to reflect on which colors I choose and how I make lines intersect in a completed composition. Action painters, like Jackson Pollack and me, are set apart from other painters who use traditional methods.

The history of painting and the birth of the internet gives a window into sharing knowledge that all artists can use in creating their own style. Back in 2008 I read books and wrote papers about artists and movements that interested me. When I went to graduate school my teachers asked me, “How will you define yourself apart from the rest of the world?” I chose to put down my paint brush and literally stand on my own in history as an athlete.

Picture this: Large areas of green, orange, blue and yellow that give you the feeling and scale of a painting by Mark Rothko. Art is freedom: a place to go where you can get lost in color, line, shape and meaning. I produce this kind of painting that has sold to countless collectors since 2017.

My business comes from doing international art fairs, being represented in the USA and abroad and having my own website. I also do intimate art retreats on the island of Aruba where I currently live that share the artistic life and soul of the island.

The colors of the nature surrounding are evident in my paintings. You will see bright tropical rhythms and movement in my color pallet. For your walls there are endless possibilities: for your art collections you do not want to miss having this unique art included.

Find me at jeancherounyfineart.com

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience is about falling down and knowing you have to get back up and start again. As an athlete I learned this and then carried this trait with me into a business of selling my art. I think I also carried it literally too. The term “rollerblade painter” as a women, did not exist before I started it. People think that the art is not real art just like when Pollack started. As a woman I have to be prepared to have many people criticize me for being crazy or unskilled. This is a challenge to overcome daily. I paint the way I do now for 8 years professionally and since 2008 when it began in graduate school.

Think about the many times you learned that staying down would stop you from reaching your goal. Being driven my goals has always been my strength. I think it is because I felt supported from a young age. Resilience comes from having things happen to you like losing your best friend in a fire at the age of thirteen. I had to make a choice to live for someone I lost at a young age. I had to learn how to fight and not give up easily. So this experience stuck with me. My friend Jamie was a soccer player with me in fifth grade. When I lost her I know that I would have to continue to fight for what I loved despite what others told me. I have never forgotten how fortunate I am to have a life to become the artist I want to be.

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

There is a time to know and a time to not know. While I paint I have to balance what I know and what is emerging out of each painting-the unknown. It is a process that requires letting go. I know there is a balance in business to account for everything and track many of the important details like statements, taxes, purchases and inventory. I have had to embrace being free to paint and also tactfully keep things in order.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jeancherounyfineart.com
• Instagram: https://wwwinstagram.com/jean_cherouny

Image Credits

Jean Cherouny