We were lucky to catch up with Tessa Jeanne recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tessa Jeanne 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’ve always had a connection with art since I was a young girl. My parents always encouraged me to keep drawing or painting but, I knew for sure I wanted to be a professional artist when I met my art teacher freshman year of high school. She showed me that anyone had the potential to be an artist as long as you had the will to challenge yourself creatively and follow what your heart tells you to paint.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Originally from Columbus, Ohio, I knew I wanted to work creatively from the beginning. Soon after high school, I began working in the stained glass industry with Franklin Art Glass Studios, Inc as a designer. I learned about all the ways color, line, and light work together to create beautiful pieces. Working there encouraged me to go back to school for a BFA in Painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, Georgia. Following my studies through figurative, landscape, and expressionist styles, I found myself being drawn to how color and light could be manipulated to create emotions in my art. Now as an abstract artist, I use painting and sculpture to explore the human form and the natural world through color. My current work explores the liminal spaces within the human experience with the emergence of light within a color field. I use warm colors that reference the blood or flesh of the human body and use cool greens and blues to remind us of our connection to the earth. Overall, the messy process of artmaking is crucial to my practice; it helps me condense the mess of life into beauty. Lately this process has been largely impacted by my desire to use only the materials I have and to begin using natural pigments in my work.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Most recently, I decided to do more research on how the use of natural materials and methods for art can create lasting impact for the artist and the environment. There are so many materials used for oil painting or even acrylics that are harmful if not used with the right precautions like wearing gloves, washing brushes properly, or disposing of used/unused materials. It impacted my own creative process and encouraged me to try something new such as with my Emergence sculpture which uses natural silk drapery, hand dyed with Madder root. As humans we all have a responsibility to ourselves and our environment to use what we already have and what will have the least harmful impact, even with such things as fine art.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I spend a lot of my time reading and listening to podcasts when I’m not working on my art, but one that’s helped me the most is The Great Women Artists podcast with Katy Hessel. Katy Hessel introduces and hosts so many artists, art directors and more that have had success and struggles in the art world. There’s so much we can learn from the artists that have come before us and the ones around us that will push us to get ourselves out there to make a career as an artist by applying to residencies, exhibitions, and much more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tessajeanne.com
• Instagram: tessajeanne_art