Shirley Jackson BFA: Essay

**** UPDATE*****
This blog has my outdated portfolio. 
To see my current work, and to stay posted on what I'm up to go to the following:

http://www.behance.net/ShirleyJackson

http://mymorningmagpie.blogspot.com/


Shirley Jackson
2D Design
 
It's hard not to notice or point out: the theme of my work is animals. I like to put sets of antlers on their heads, dress them up in different articles of clothing (lately it’s more historical i.e. samurai or Roman armour), and portray them doing silly things. Sometimes they look menacing, but because of how they’re stylized you don’t care that they have sharp teeth: you still want to hug them.  
I generally like to keep things simple, but I also like to have smaller details that you might not catch at first glance.
I look towards our natural organic world, and my imagination, for my inspiration. I struggle with using colours effectively and so I've started to look at nature for examples with how to use it properly and effectively.
 
My goal with my work is not to be elusive, depressing or dark.
It's not meant to be a serious reflection of the self, or have more layers than a 7-layered chocolate cake.  Instead, I want people to smile and be inspired when they see my work. I want people to feel a burst of sunshine and joy in their heart guts.  
I personally feel that art does not have to be a maze for you to figure out, or that it has to be filled with inner struggles and turmoil. 
Art like a car crash. There are three sides to the story: 
-You have the perspective of the person affected by the accident
-The person who caused the accident
-Then the perspective of the bird flying overhead.
I feel that art is whatever you make it. It's whatever the artist wants it to be and it's whatever the viewer makes it out to be.
 
An important stumbling block I have overcome is that it's ok to be inspired, and learn, from other artists.  I have always shied away from seeing what others were doing and accomplishing because of my jealousy of their talent. I was intimidated by their success. 
But rather than viewing what amazing thing someone else has created or achieved as intimidation I have learned to view their works and accomplishments as inspiration.

Over the past two years I’ve taken steps to grow and learn what it really takes to become a successful artist. I’ve had work displayed at the Blonde Grizzly gallery in Salt Lake City, participated in the 3rd and 4th annual Craft Lake City festival in Salt Lake City, and since May of 2012 I have been interning with Travis Bone and his company Fur Turtle Show Prints.

I want my art career to become one of a freelance illustrator and printmaker just like Travis. I've fallen in love with screenprinting and I want to produce gig poster art. I want to improve my work, taking it to the next level, so I don’t get lost in the sea of everybody else making whimsical animals.  I'm still unsure as to how I'm going to go about accomplishing that, but I feel that if I continue trying new things I'll eventually discover the thing that allows me to stand out from the crowd.