Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Shelley.
Jennifer, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I have always had an appreciation for art, and began drawing when I was around four or five. I began painting with watercolor in my late teens and started experimenting with acrylics and other medium in my early 20s when I attended the University of Texas in Austin. Up until age 21, art was just kind of a lackadaisical, fun hobby I enjoyed doing, but when life started throwing curveballs and became dark and disheartening, I found a lot of solace in artwork. I have used it as therapy ever since. My mom passed away in 2016, and she would always say she was my biggest fan. So when I lost her, I lost a big part of me. I felt like I lost the one person who was the proudest of me. It rocked my world, and I actually put down everything I enjoyed for a while, especially art and music. But one day I kind of woke up and realized just because she’s no longer here doesn’t mean I have to seem like I’ve passed on, too. I began painting again; finding life in the colors I was using again, and it really was magical to me and very, very healing. So, when things seem to fall apart, I paint to find brilliance again. I also use it as a means to really explore the emotions I’m feeling, or that others are feeling, and really try to understand them. Painting is one of the places I can express who I am as a person, and put my heart and soul into.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I create paintings, usually with acrylics and canvas, but I’m in the process of branching out into mediums such as oil paint, India ink, and charcoal. For the past two years, I have wanted to inspire people to be themselves, no matter what emotion or how much they have been through. I want people to be able to look at my artwork and interpret it into something they can relate to and appreciate. I also want to instill hope and aspiration; to show people that the more you embrace your pain, happiness, sadness…whatever emotion through doing something you LOVE, the more beautiful and meaningful life will be. My artwork is truly an outpouring of what I’m feeling, what I’ve experienced, and who I am. I hope others can look at it and not just think, “wow, that’s pretty”, but “wow, this speaks to me on a deep level.”
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
My advice for other artists is: be yourself, create what ignites that fire and passion in you, and love what you do. The only lesson I wish I would have learned earlier is to not be afraid of judgment and get out of my shell at a younger age than 33.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I am currently applying for what will hopefully be my first exhibit ever at the Gallery Main Street in Tyler starting in, and I’m really excited to do this!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.artpal.com/etherealart
- Email: luminescentisme@hotmail.com
- Instagram: Ethereal_art_by_jen
- Facebook: @etherealartbyjen
Image Credit:
Jennifer Shelley
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