We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Hudson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?
Technically the very first dollar I ever made from my work was when I was 15. I went to a creative arts high school and was working on sketches for my painting homework. A class mate looked over my shoulder at my sketchbook while I was working and expressed how much they loved one of my sketches. I told them they could have it after I was finished with the bigger project. About a month later I carefully cut the sketch out of my sketchbook and handed it to my classmate without asking to be paid. I felt uncomfortable asking for money for the sketch. They gave me $5 and a $10 target gift card and I was pretty content with that outcome. At this point in my journey as an artist I didn’t understand the value of my work or my time. Art was this thing I was always just “good at”. As a teenager getting $5 for a sketch felt awesome. However the struggle I felt about charging for my work would continue for a long time. It has taken years of working to understand my worth as an artist and know that I deserve to be paid for my time and expertise.
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?
My name is Jennifer Hudson and I am a Maryland based cut paper artist/ painter. I show and sell my work both locally and nationally, and I specialize in wildlife art. I am a member of the Guild of American Papercutters and a Signature Member of the Society of Animal Artists. I began my career as a watercolor painter after graduating from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 2014. I started showing my work by applying to calls for art and posting my work online. Around 2016 I was still showing my paintings but was becoming interested in the world of contemporary paper art. I was starting to feel burnt out and uninspired with the work I was making. I wanted to explore a different medium that would challenge me. I started creating small, simple paper cut pieces. I taught myself the medium through trial and error. I began making more and more elaborate pieces, building on the skills I learned before. I fell in love with the medium and process of paper cutting and have been a paper artist ever since. In 2017 I won jurors choice in a local juried art show. A local gallery owner reached out to me and invited me to join their gallery. By the end of 2017 I was showing and selling my work constantly for the first time.I now show and sell my work as a full time artist. Using a scalpel knife, I cut all of my work by hand out of several layers of paper. My work is highly detailed and delicate. I enjoy layering sheets of paper together to create lace-like three dimensional works that display texture and movement. I am very proud of the layering techniques I employ in my work and the level of detail I am able to get with just my knife and the paper. My brand of paper cutting is different from others because of how I layer my pieces and the patterns I create. Every single color in my work is a different piece of paper. My entire process requires alot of careful engineering to get the paper to lay right and have the scene be legible. My goal with my art is to invite the viewer into the world I am creating. My love of nature is evident in my art. I have always been an avid animal lover and enjoy documenting the natural world in my work. Most of my work is inspired by the landscapes and wild life around where I live. My subjects primarily include foxes, birds, deer and other creatures native to north central Maryland. In my work I hope to capture the movement and spirit of the animals I portray.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think it is necessary to create spaces for artists to show their work and meet their peers. I was able to grow as an artist by participating in local shows and getting to talk to fellow local artists. This was especially helpful when I was just starting out. Community arts centers are incredibly valuable and an essential part of maintaining a creative ecosystem. They provide areas to show art, make art and bring community together. Overall arts centers promote the idea that art is important and worth caring about.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Your time is valuable! I spent so much time thinking that I only needed to be compensated for the material cost of my work.I would put months of work into a paper cut and charge a fraction of what I actually put in. the bottom line is that creative jobs are valid and artists deserve to be fairly compensated for all the work they do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jenhudsonarts.weebly.com
- Instagram: @jennycutspaper