Let’s dive in and see what Joanna has to say.
kelly: What is your art form? What do you work with best, what do you wish you knew better, & what drives you nuts?
Joanna: I feel like I’m still trying to figure this one out!
I work best when my hands are directly involved with whatever media I’m working with; when I was taking drawing classes, I could never seem to work with a pencil, but hand me a stick of charcoal and the ability to render a drawing with my fingers as the tool and it would be beautiful! The same goes for my work, I love holding the feathers and burning my fingers with hot glue, creating beauty with my hands.
I wish I knew how to make my own metal jewelry. I dabble in it now and then but can only use beads and wiring. This fall I hope to take a Jewelry Making and Metalry class so that I can have one of a kind jewelry pieces. It drives me nuts when I’ve spent so much time making the perfect feather hairpiece and not being able to find a jewelry piece that works.
kelly: Fill in the blank: “When I am creating, I feel ________.”
Joanna: Once in the zone… free!
I feel like my head has a dominate right and dominate left brain! When I’m creating, I have to keep my “left brain” occupied (listening to an audio book, chewing gum, etc.) so that I am free to be an artist. Once my creating is done, I can then look at it with my perfectionist eye to make sure everything is just right. My art teacher used to laugh at me for this because my perfectionist side would take over in the middle of a project, unless it is otherwise engaged, resulting in no progress whatsoever because everything had to be done perfectly the first time!
kelly: Where do you like to shop for inspiration? This can be anything from bookstores, museums, certain parts of La Cross, flea markets, stores, etc.
Joanna: Right now I’ve been searching through pictures found online for inspiration. I have been most inspired from pictures of Marie Antoinette, the late Victorian era and fashion from the 1930’s-1940’s. A very odd combination if you ask me but when I surround myself with photos, textiles, colors and textures from these different eras, I am so inspired and end up creating beautiful, original pieces.
kelly: How do you keep yourself organized? Time management is often one of the biggest obstacles for creative minds. Do you have an agenda book and do you make “to-do lists?”
Joanna: First thing I do in the mornings is jot down a to-do list, one for life and one for work. If I don’t write it down, I forget about it and it never happens.
I am a procrastinator by nature so prioritizing is a big must! One thing I have found that helps is to at least start on an order as soon as I get one and to put all materials needed together in one place. That way I have everything ready to go if I need to stop and continue at a later time.
kelly: If you could have one superhero (or magical) power, what would it be and why?
Joanna: I wish I had the magical power to create multiples of myself! I have so many things that I would like to do in life and to experience but being contained to one body is a bit difficult. If I was able to be in more places at the same time, one of me would be a forever student because I love to learn, one would be an amazing artist, one would be the perfect wife and mother, you get the idea!
kelly: How do you combat creative blocks? What tools do you use to keep your creativity flowing?
Joanna: I feel like I’ve had a creative block for the past two months! What got my gears turning was a photo shoot I participated in; I wanted to have five new pieces to take with me and creating with no inspiration was next to impossible. But I just kept going, making and changing pieces until it clicked and then everything I looked at gave me inspiration for another headpiece!
Changing the media I work with has also really helped me stay “in the zone”. I started exclusively using feathers and vintage jewelry, when that was no longer enough I added things like organza, vintage lace, silk… trying to find other creative avenues that would work and keep the creativity flowing.
Contact me at kellywestover{@}att{.}com