We were lucky to catch up with Jordon Harsey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jordon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today 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?

I actually taught most of what I know to myself through trial and error. I had always liked drawing and eventually took the next step with my first painting – that was what really opened the door to art for me. I obviously had art classes in elementary school, but do you ever really retain anything from art class when you’re a kid besides that you like doing it? I only ever took one art class when I was older, my senior year of high school. My teacher told me several times he had wished I started taking art classes as a freshman so that he could have had me in AP art. Honestly, I think I have always shied away from learning art in that setting for fear it’ll take the joy out of it. I know a lot of what I do is probably not “technically” correct, but if I take pride in it I don’t really think that part matters.

If I had to do anything differently to speed up the process, it would’ve been taking classes on it in school. Nowadays though you can pretty much teach yourself anything if you use your resources. There are plenty of paid programs online that can teach you certain skills, but something I always did was to just type into YouTube “How to Draw ____.” It may sound silly, but Bob Ross was one of the people I watched when I first started painting. It helps to just watch someone else do it, even if you end up with a completely different style than them or it doesn’t look exactly like theirs – you get the motion down and you can take it anywhere you want to. One of the biggest things I learned on my own though is just trial and error. Work on it every day, draw something every day and eventually you’ll be able to do it like second nature. The same is true for painting, for digital art, for mixed media, for clay, just any kind of art. It will probably look questionable at first, but over time you’ll be able to make things you never thought possible just from practice.

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 21-year-old self-taught artist from Columbia, South Carolina. I started my business with acrylic paintings, but now I have expanded to include watercolor paintings, digital art prints, digital art logos, clay incense burners and dishes, clay earrings, and more to my “storefront.” I don’t have a physical location I sell from, I mostly sell my art on Instagram and Etsy, however about a year ago I attended my first NoMa Flea Market as a vendor and have been selling with them as often as I can ever since. I have been able to attend other events through the connections I have made selling at NoMa such as the New Brookland Tavern Market and the 2023 Cottontown Art Crawl. In the past year, vendor events have become my main drive for creating – the atmosphere just makes my passion grow every time.

I haven’t found a good word to describe my style yet, I am honestly just realizing that I do have a style after feeling like I haven’t had one for so long. I love using lots of colors and making them as vibrant as I can. My favorite things to feature in my art are butterflies or moths, jellyfish or other marine life, the sun, the moon, stars/space, and astrological symbols. I like to also find unique surfaces to paint on, such as glass or mirrors. I work on commission, so I feel like I have a wide range of skills when it comes to bringing someone’s ideas to life, but my favorite commissions are when I get free-range to create whatever I want.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think non-creatives might find it hard to separate products they consume from artists from those that you find at say Target or Walmart. I get a lot of comments on the pricing of my work, some say it’s too high and some say it’s too low. Regardless of what is more compelling, the truth is that I set the prices I do because that’s what I feel like the time, effort, and materials I put into this creation are worth. I also feel that they don’t understand that everyone has to start somewhere when it comes to selling things you created yourself – I think you kind of have to build the right audience for it first and find a happy medium between what you value your own work at and what other people value it at. I also think this impacts their views on turnaround times. With commissions especially, people can grow a bit impatient with the amount of time it takes to complete. Sometimes it feels like they fail to realize I didn’t just pull this out of my storeroom in the back, I spent hours and hours hand crafting it for you.

All in all I think all creatives could benefit from non-creatives being a little more understanding. If you feel that something is worth more than the price, feel free to leave a tip! If you aren’t willing to pay the price for an item, don’t blame the creative. Above everything else, it goes a long way just to be nice and as understanding as you can be.

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

I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to decompress. Art helps me work through things that I might not be able to do with words. For a couple hours, I can just escape. At times it can get stressful, especially if I am making something for someone else and it isn’t turning out how I want it to. Ultimately though it is my best outlet for everything.

Talking to other creatives is also something that keeps me going. Connecting with other people who have the same passion for creating is really refreshing and it re-ignites my passion every time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/jordonharsey
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordonlorraine.art/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordonlorraine.art/
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/jordonlorraineart