We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jocelyn Russell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jocelyn , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I learn best in a structured environment with hands on teaching and learning. It takes me a long time to internalize something fully, and I need to practice, practice, practice to understand something. I have a learning disability, and over the years, I have finally figured out how I learn. I am also an educator and taught at schools for students with learning disabilities, so I know how to teach students like myself. If I had known what I know now about my learning style, I would have been able to take advantage of all the support offered to me throughout my education. However, a lot of it has to do with maturity and time. I only feel like I got my act together as an artist in my late 30’s, even though I have a BFA and an MFA and have taught art since my early 20’s. While I wish I had been more focused and disciplined when I was younger and had more time (I am a full-time teacher, parent, and caregiver for elderly parents), I just needed to grow. I got in my way when I tried to make art when I was younger. I also don’t think I had that deep drive and desire to make something. After I gave birth to my son, it was like a switch flipped, and I HAD to make art. I think producing the most important piece of work I could ever make (my child) made me need to create more.
The essential skills for making art are time, space, and desire. The actual knowledge of how to make something will come if you desire to make it. And when you have that desire, that drive, you carve out the time and the space to make it. If the need to make is so great, then you can push through all of the obstacles- the internal critic, the external critics, the lack of time, space, money, etc. In the moments when you don’t have the desire, you just need to keep making, even if it is the smallest sketch, just to keep at it.

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 am a visual artist, art teacher, mother, and spouse living in New York City. My main material of choice is porcelain. I hand-build my pieces using the pinch and coil method (pinching a base and adding coils to build the walls to create functional and sculptural works. My MFA from Parsons School of Design is in sculpture and installation, and I will often use my porcelain pieces to create installations inspired by my time near and on water and the natural world.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

To be an artist is to create and share something with others. I have always had the drive to create, to scratch that itch, and if I don’t, I feel entirely out of whack. When finishing a piece, I feel a deep thrum, like it was meant to be and needed to exist in the world. It is the most rewarding feeling, almost indescribably and not duplicated in any other part of my life. It is truly amazing when I put the art into the wider world, and someone else feels deeply connected with the work.

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

The arts should be celebrated in every aspect of society. The arts should supported and treated with as much respect as sports. We should instill a love of the arts in children from birth. If society believes that the arts make life better and happiness isn’t just about making money, then the arts will thrive. If governments fund the arts, then it frees more artists to create. Even free health care and child care would allow creatives to pursue their art more easily.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.jocelynaerussell.com/
• Instagram: intsagram.com/artofawen