Design Federation

Interview with Jasmine Jan

Watercolour painting might have the reputation of being quite demanding, but in the hands of a master like Jasmine Jan, amazing results can be achieved.

What is your name and where are you located?
Jasmine Jan and I live on a 105 acre property in Lambells Lagoon which is about a 50 minute drive south of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Where did you learn your craft?
I am essentially self-taught as an artist. I didn’t go to art school. I did travel over to the United States on two occasions as I was successful in securing two Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Fellowships to do 2 – two week intensive technique training workshops with the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. These training workshops gave me skills working with a number of different mediums under the training and expertise of some of the leading wildlife and scientific illustrators in the US. I have also done a number of short workshops with various master artists who specialise in Chalk Pastel, Watercolour and graphite. I am always reading art books, magazines and also teach drawing and painting classes to others which is quite rewarding because I often learn quite a lot from my students watching them paint and draw.

What is your artistic medium of choice? Why that medium?
Currently my favourite medium of choice is watercolour as I am having a lot of fun combining Chinese brushpainting techniques with Western watercolour painting techniques. I also really love working with chalk pastel however haven’t been doing much of that lately as I am painting an exhibition to take to China at the end of 2007 which will all be watercolours.

Have you always been focused in this particular area?
No, prior to discovering the joys of watercolours I used to mainly work in coloured pencil. Though my subject matter has always been wildlife. As a kid I was totally fascinated with animals. I worked at the Museum and Art gallery in the NT and spent lots of time diving and working with corals and jellyfish. When I left the Museum I started work as a zookeeper at the Territory Wildlife Park and that has been a constant source of inspiration as I was working with lots of amazingly beautiful and fascinating animals. Now I live on a pristine bush block with a paperbark billabong I can just step outside of my house and go for a wander and will see lots of plants and animals growing and living on the block which is just bliss for someone who love nature.

Whose work do you relate to most? Who inspires you?
Lian Quan Zhen (Chinese born artist now residing in the US) has inspired me for many years with his wonderful watercolours. I am also inspired by the bird paintings of one of Australia’s best bird artists Bill Cooper (he was my hero when I was a kid and for years I always wished I could meet him). Last year I not only met him and his wife, Wendy Cooper he actually came over to my house for dinner which was an absolute thrill to meet my childhood hero. I am also inspired by the beautiful works of New Zealand artist, Ray Harris-Ching.
These days I am inspired by so many artists who work in a variety of mediums it would be really hard to say whose work I relate to most. I love Aboriginal rock art, I am fascinated by the work of sculptors and 3-d artists probably because I only have worked in 2-d and think it takes a clever and artistic mind to create an amazing sculptural piece. I especially am inspired by artists who have created sculptures from recycled materials and basically created something amazing and beautiful from what others have discarded as rubbish. I think that takes way more talent than just painting a watercolour on a clean piece of watercolour paper! I also love glass art probably because I reckon I was a Bowerbird in another life and have always been attracted to shiny sparkly stuff and glass is just so amazing how if reflects light.

Do you enjoy collaboration work?
I haven’t really done any collaborative work but would love to work with other artists on a collaborative project.

How do you think/want other people to respond to your art?
A lot of people are attracted to my work because it is very bright and the animals are recogniseable to them. Sometimes I think my art is considered by those in the “art world” as frivolous, representational, decorative and commercial. Probably all the things that “serious artists” would detest having said about their art. To be quite honest I don’t really care what these people think of my art because I do my art for me and for nature.
I get great joy out of seeing an animal in the wild and studying it. I really love being able to respond to that joy through painting and drawing. All I can hope for is that people enjoy seeing my work and actually feel the happiness and positive joy that I feel when I am a painting the animals that inspire me. There’s too much death and destruction in this world, I want to paint paintings that make people feel happy, energised and positive and hopefully a little bit more appreciative of our wildlife.
On a more realistic note, if people didn’t like my work enough to buy it then I guess I wouldn’t be able to make my art my full-time career…..I hope people like my work enough to want to buy and display it proudly. I don’t really want to be a starving artist!

Have you ever tried using water colour pencils for your work?
No, probably should try it though…when I get time!

What was the public response like to your first exhibition?
It was fantastic. My first ever exhibition was actually a group exhibition with three other Territory Artists (Oil painter, Glass artist, Wood artist and myself the Wildlife Artist). It was a real stepping stone for me to finally put my art out there for the world to see. It can be really uplifting when I see people smiling and enjoying my art and making a connection with the subject matter.

Do you think there is too much focus on digital arts these days and not enough on classical styles?
I think the focus is on digital arts because it is something that is still quite new. That’s fine I don’t have a problem with that. In terms of classical styles what is classical? There is so much variety and diversity out there I just think we should all just keep an open mind about the arts.

Can you let us in on any trade secrets?
I don’t have any trade secrets, I am quite happy to share my knowledge, skills and experiences with anyone. But I do have a word of advice for anyone contemplating a full-time career as an artist. The painting/creating/practising your art is the easiest bit…..thinking of and operating yourself as a business is the hardest bit and if you can do that well, you will succeed. In many ways artists are lucky because their commodity is their creative/artistic ability which is within themselves…..unfortunately many artists lack business skills and this is why they may not succeed and become a well-fed artist as opposed to a starving artist.
Biggest trade secret – Surround yourself with happy, positive people. Their energy will lift and feed you and keep you inspired.

Interview with Jasmine Jan

Interview with Jasmine Jan

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