I have met some artist and crafts people since joining Etsy in 2011 that I have continued to keep in touch with them and their art. One of these artist is Jenny Rodda from Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
Jenny graciously accepted my invitation for an interview, so here is Jenny and the art that she creates.
What are your inspirations for your work ?
I find inspiration literally everywhere.... I am completely inspired by
nature... one of my favorite things to do is to simply sit and look out at the
beach or the lake or under a tree and just soak up the beauty surrounding
me... it has become like a meditation that gets the flow of ideas
rolling... fabric designs and texture... photos... colors... quotes.... books...
soulful music.... words... art supplies... shops... particularly home
decor and vintage... thrift stores... smells... architecture... and
people.... whether complete strangers or folk that I meet.... their
hairstyles.... faces... clothing.... their expressions.... bountiful
inspiration....
Where do you get the ideas?
I love to use reference pictures as inspiration for my drawings...
not so much for likeness, but merely as a starting point... so I LOVE
magazines... you will often find me at the library checking out a bundle to take
home... my intuition.... I will often start with a vague idea for a painting and
more times than not will lose myself in the process... where the thinking stops
and my intuition takes over... I am always on the lookout for free little
booklets and postcards.... and my art journal.... I am always sketching down
ideas for future pages....
Did you get your degree in art?
No I don’t have an art degree.... however I have been creating since I was
very young... I have very early memories of visiting the drapery with my
Grandmother in her small country town and being totally memorized by everything
in there.... My Nana taught me to sew on her old treadle sewing machine, to
smock and embroider... I always kept a diary where I both wrote and
doodled.... and when I was thirteen started sewing classes after school
where I played with designing some of my own clothes... I have
participated in all sorts of classes... quilting, scrapbooking, cloth doll
making... designed and sold my own cloth doll patterns... and more
recently mixed media, art journaling and face painting classes... I am in
absolute awe of technology.... to be able to take an online class with someone
who lives on the other side of the world still amazes me... I love
learning new things and hope it is something I never stop doing....
On an average day, how much time do you spend on your work?
Creating is a daily practice for me... I also have a part time job but
rarely a day passes when I am not in my studio for at least some of the day....
sometimes it is a very short amount of time... but often it can be for
hours.... it might be creating a new painting or something for our little
mixed media group swap.... or a gift... or it could be sketching...
playing with art supplies.... or simply being inspired by reading a book
or magazine... my studio is the place that I LOVE to be... it is not only soul
nurturing but it also fills me with joy....
Do you show your work? Where?
I share my work on my blog and facebook page and also have an Etsy
shop...
"Harper"
8 x 10 - the original was painted in a mix of watercolor, acrylic, pencil and pan pastel...
"The Calling of a Dream"
8 x 10 - the original was painted with watercolor, pencil and ink... has a collage of sweet stamped images...
A pastel - on patterned paper...and blended without gesso...
Just a small representation of her work. You can see more of her work here -
