We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jennifer King. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jennifer below.
Jennifer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
My artistic education started when I was pretty young, as my mom taught me some basics on how to draw and paint (she had studied Commercial Arts and her grandmother was a painter). I furthered my artistic journey quite a bit in college, when I chose to major in Fine Arts with a concentration in painting and drawing at Cal State University Fullerton. After I received my BFA, I took time off of school to build my portfolio, develop my artistic style, and focus on color theory. After four years of working retail part time and growing my portfolio, I started my MFA at Claremont Graduate University where I had the opportunity to investigate concepts in my work on a deeper level. After grad school, I got a studio and continued my work while teaching college level art classes. In retrospect, there were some things that made me take longer than necessary to finish school and learn how to become a professional artist. I was a very quiet student, and didn’t realize the value that being more social and joining art clubs in college could have offered me more support and preparation for post-school life. Another mistake was choosing a part time low paying retail job. It was an art supply store, which was a great experience in learning about art materials, however staying there for so long (4 years) did not allow me to financially sustain myself and kept me in a stagnant existence without clear direction. One good choice I made during this time was to work for a professional artist as an assistant, where I got an inside look into what life is like for a successful painter. Another issue was that school did not prepare me for the harsh reality of how difficult making it in the art world really is, both in terms of recognition and financially sustaining myself. I love being an artist, but it’s a long and unpredictable journey with no set formula for success. Overall, I did learn really valuable skills, both technical skills in undergrad and conceptual skills in grad school. Pursuing interests on my own has been equally helpful with developing my artistic skills. In my opinion, if you can combine art school with your own persistence, research, and practice you will have a well balanced arts education.
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?
The term “artist” is very broad, so to describe myself more specifically I fit into the “fine arts” category, as I mostly create physical drawings and paintings with the intension of these works being shown in galleries or museums, or sold to collectors. I work in my studio in downtown Santa Ana (Orange County) focusing on large scale oil paintings. My work addresses feminist ideas as well as expressing my views of men and women through figurative painting. My interest in art began at a young age, but choosing the “fine arts” route happened in college when I discovered that I cared more about making work that express my own thoughts and opinions rather than working as an animator or graphic designer where I would have to work for companies by expressing their vision. My purpose is to create works that communicate my ideas in a unique and interesting way that resonates with others. It gives me great satisfaction when a collector chooses one of my works to live with; it’s a real honor to know someone is passionate about what I enjoy creating.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
I think the idea of NFTs has a lot of potential, but needs more time to evolve. I love the idea of this permanent record of sales for an artwork that is public, as well as the artist receiving a commission each time the work sells to a new owner. Unfortunately, NFTs are in this very complex and controversial world of cryptocurrency and technological jargon that the average person does not understand, so it’s not as accessible to those who are not proficient with technology. For the potential in generating revenue for artists, currently its only likely that artists with a large following or artists with already established collectors will benefit, while newer artists get overlooked. Another issue is that, at least currently, the majority of interest regarding NFTs is more about money than it is about the appreciation of the art itself. However, NFTs have given more attention to digital art specifically, as well as interest in the development of AI art generators, both of which can be useful tools for traditional artists to utilize in their own art practice. For example, I’m finding that using Photoshop to create digital sketches as well as AI art generators to create variations of my work can help with the brainstorming process with creating interesting compositions for future paintings. On the flipside, there is a real concern of AI generated art to take business away from real artists, which almost certainly will happen. In summary, I’m interested to see what the future holds for NFTs, if they evolve into something more mainstream, stay as a niche interest, or fade away as an art trend that will be remembered as happening during the pandemic.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I’m going to list six ways society and/or individuals can support artists: 1. Education: teach others art appreciation, explaining what is the purpose of art and why is it is necessary. Art communicates ideas, informs the culture, and inspires people every day.
2. Hire artists. If you’re a business owner, hire artists to paint murals, create signs, design banners and logos, etc. If your business has wall space, offer the space for local artists to display their work. If you’re financially able to decorate your home, choose handmade works over mass produced products from large corporations. Buying handmade art shows that you value people and unique ideas and expression rather than vapid decorative mass produced images that make your living space look generic. If you work for the government or have some position of power to promote incorporating art into public spaces, make your voice heard!
3. Don’t rely only on AI to produce images, this will put artists out of business and will not support people or important, unique, human ideas.
4. Share artists work, art events, artist opportunities such as jobs residencies, and grants. Social media and word of mouth are powerful tools (and free!) anyone can utilize to support creatives.
5. Go to art shows/events. Artists appreciate your interest even if you don’t have the budget to buy work, artists can benefit from your reception of their ideas and your expression of appreciation.
6. Vote! Make your opinions known, and when there is potential for supporting creative projects you can support by voting and encouraging others to vote.
Contact Info:
- Website: jenniferkingart.com
- Instagram: @jenniferkingstudios
Image Credits
B&W portrait photo by Alan Escalante (@alanescalante) Color portrait photo in my studio by Cynthia Lujan (@desfigurados)