is exactly that. Jesse paints with his hands, with crayons, pastels, kid-quality paint & brushes. He paints on canvas, cupboards, wood panels - anything he can get his hands on. In addition, Jesse has painted many murals, done live shows (both public and private commissions), publishes his own books of his art as well as a line of running shoes! His work is primal, soul-filled, naive & honest. He is a music-loving, tattooed-frenzied artist. And he's driven to succeed as a self-supporting artist. And successful
he is.
Last summer I had the pleasure of attending one of Jesse's workshops. It was liberating, inspiring and frustrating. Jesse's approach is to demonstrate his techniques, provide gentle guidance and offer a class crit at the end. The liberation I felt was attributed to the techniques he employs: mixing paint right on the painting surface and often with hands.
The inspiration came via Jesse's own story of success as well as the philosophy he shares:
"Keep choosing the parts you like. Block out the parts you don't."
"The magic often happens in 5 minutes. Keep moving - don't think."
Lastly, the frustration. My style of painting & his are vastly different; I had a hard time getting beyond that to create a painting... I was lost in trying to marry the two together (which, of course, was not at all the point of this workshop).
Jesse will be back this month for an encore workshop, September 24 & 25. Get all the dets here. Do yourself a favour. Sign up. Liberate yourself, be inspired and most importantly, be frustrated... nothing like a challenge to keep stimulated!
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