We were lucky to catch up with Jocelyn Chemel recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jocelyn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I have always been someone who changes direction every few years but the one constant has always been my art practice. As a child I always played at being the Teacher. I went to college and graduated as a psychologist. One day when I was pregnant with my first child I started experimenting with watercolor. it was the first time I had picked up a paint brush. I knew at that moment that I was fully present and joyful creating beauty and color.
After my first child I started painting while I still worked as a psychologist. I started taking art classes and soon I left the the field of Psychology and became an artist and art teacher. I did go back to teaching! I taught children and adults for a number of years. When my late husband passed in his 40s I started my own clothing business. I imported clothing from Europe for the next 15 years and had a very successful private client store. I painted through that period. I changed careers to become a jewelry designer but always painted on the side and took part in exhibitions. Today I am a mixed media artist full time. I still teach adults.
Jocelyn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I see myself as a collector of beauty . I love the natural world and all its majestic magic. I love the intersection between flora and fauna and design. I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I see mountains, glaciers, rivers, waterfalls and sun dancing on water. I have done many projects with the intention of capturing natural beauty. During Covid I photographed forgotten pretty flowers/weeds lying on the sidewalks. I picked up dandelions that were in abundance and photgraphed them, deconstructed and reconstructed. This photographic collection is available in all sizes framed or on aluminum.
I am a mixed media artist and work primarily in oil stick, collage, acrylic and pen. I paint abstract landscape that is mysterious and fantastical as well as more realistic landscape that is calming. I teach students mystical and abstract landscape, helping them to express more confidently and easily the beauty that is all around us.
I work with designers and clients to assist them in collecting beauty. We collaboratively come up with a gallery wall that encompasses my paintings and photographs, their photos and their keep sakes. I love doing these walls because I enjoy the design aspect, painting and the creative process with the client.
I also love to do personal digital mandalas using birds, flowers and animals as the subject. It is very important to me to connect personally with a collector and client. When I review the businesses that I have been involved in I can see that I have always been driven by connecting to the client whether it was making custom, one of a kind jewelryfor people, being a personal shopper for private clients or doing art commissions. I am sure that my psychology and teaching background has influenced my artistic practice and made it richer.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
At 39 I had breast cancer. I know that being an art teacher to children then helped me get through the year of terrible treatments. I would put on my wig, and go and teach the kids every afternoon . No matter how sick I felt when I entered the classroom pain, discomfort and time stopped. I connected to the children and the creative process. Together we would play for a few hours experimenting with color, shape and materials. I would give them prompts which would unleash their wonderful imaginations. It was through creating art that I learnt how important play is for all of us. It connects us back to ourselves, it nourishes our soul.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
There is a particular mission that drives my creative journey. I feel strongly that even though making art is a sole practice its very important to me to include others and make it collaborative. When I create gallery walls, do commissions or do personal mandalas for people I am enjoying the process of listening to their story. I feel like all of us don’t always have enough opportunity to be seen and acknowledged. We live in a world of information overload and perhaps its my psychology background but one of my core beliefs is that we are enough, We dont need to be fixed, to be told that we need an expert . We need to be listened to. People have a lot of innate wisdom already. I see my role as a collaborator that helps draw out what the client would love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jocelynchemel.com
- Instagram: @jocelyn_chemel. @ajoyreading
- Facebook: jocelynilloschemel
