— The featured artist of the 74th issue of Living the Photo Artistic Life magazine is AWAKE artist Jacqueline Rotteveel. I was pleased to interview Jacqueline here on Quill & Camera . . .
Q: Let’s start with your inspiration. What gets your creative juices flowing? What gets you excited about creating art?
I spend a lot of time looking at other people’s art — I love all the artists in the AWAKE Group! The variety of styles, all the amazingly creative ideas. It really is so inspiring.
I get bored easily, so I love learning new things: new tools, new techniques, new applications.
I also get really inspired by reading things by other artists. I find it so encouraging to read about how they struggled with their own self-perceptions and how their self-perceptions changed and grew as they matured in their craft.
Q: How do you handle your inner critic?
Ah! You mean Ralph. Ugh! Ralph is what I named my inner critic. He’s very, very clever and very, very smart. Ralph knows exactly when to poke at me and he knows exactly what to say to convince me that I’m no good, that I’ll never be any good, and that I should just stop pretending to be something I’m not.
It has taken me some time, but I’ve learned the best way to deal with Ralph is with humor. (Just naming him “Ralph” probably helped.)
I simply have to remind myself, “It’s just Ralph trying to stop you from taking any risks. Especially the risk of being hurt.” So I thank him kindly for watching out for me, chuckle, and then tell him I’m willing to take the risk because creating art is just FUN and nothing my life depends on.
I mean, if no one else likes my art, that’s okay.
What matters is that I had fun making it.
Q: What do you think you have learned as you’ve pursued your artistic journey?
I’ve learned how critical it is for me to exercise discipline in producing my art. I set aside every morning to give my artistic soul my undivided attention. I watch videos, look at art for inspiration, read books about other artists and their journeys. I keep a journal for inspiration as well. But most importantly I have learned that unless I put in the time creating something, I will simply go no where.
In a sense, it’s like taking a cross-country trip. Packing, getting directions, gassing up the car, making reservations — all those things are important. But unless I turn the key and put the car into gear, I ain’t going nowhere.
So all the prep stuff is important, but in the end, in order to immerse myself in a piece that resonates with me, I have to put the time in to actually create the art.
I may get lost on some of those little side roads now and then, but eventually I make it to the freeway — and then I’m cruising.
Q: How do you think about your artistic style? And is that even something you’re working to develop?
This could probably fit under the “What have I learned” question above. Because honestly I’ve acquired dozens of grey hairs worrying about “my style.”
I’d find myself scrolling through the art created by AWAKE artists in our private group, or looking at their art in the magazine, and I’d feel as if I could instantly identify who some of the artists were at a glance, simply because of their unique style. I thought that was just amazing! And I really wanted to be that kind of artist — you’d see a piece of art and instantly just know it was mine.
But in time I’ve come to see how overrated that can be. I’m having WAY too much fun right now trying out all kinds of different things.
I seem to go through phases. I had a black and white phase. A railroad phase. A “things on a cliff” phase. Right now I seem to be in the middle of a “funky animal portrait” phase.
And the thing is, I can’t wait to see what my next phase is going to be.
The only thing I hope is that wherever I land next, whatever I find myself creating, it arises from something new and exciting I’ve learned . . . and when you see it you’ll wonder, “Whose art is that? I love it!” That would be more than enough!
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