Jennie O'Connor is an intuitive painter who plays with colorful textures in her art. Her work is mainly acrylic and much of her work incorporates collage. You can find more information about O'Connor at her website.
1. You started painting after retiring from a career in mental health. How did you first pick up the paint brush?
Actually, I began getting involved in art a couple years before I retired. I have a friend in Seattle, where I lived at the time, Cathe Gill, who is a wonderful artist and teacher. I took my first watercolor class with her and also started taking drawing classes at that time.
I loved Cathe’s paintings and wanted to create beautiful paintings too and of course I could not. I hated what I painted and as a result didn’t pick up the brush very often. But it was a start, and I very slowly began to paint, taking more classes after I moved to Portland. Really it was taking classes that kept me motivated and after a few years I ventured into the realm of acrylic painting and then got into a collage class quite by accident and just had a blast.
2. How has your art evolved?
As I mentioned, I was very sporadic from the start. It really wasn’t until until about four years into it that I began to get more serious. I think the turning point was when I found that I was having fun painting with acrylics, making collage papers, and texturing my paintings.
3. How do you approach a piece? Walk us through your process.
I have found that it does not work for me to do a lot of planning before I start a piece. I am definitely, an intuitive painter. Start by applying color or collage papers, building and layering as I go along. At some point I have to stop and evaluate. Is the painting heading toward being a nonobjective/nonrepresentational abstract or will it work out as a representational abstract. I bet I have at least 20 paintings in progress in studio, when I get stuck or am not sure what I want to do next, I will just set the piece aside. I will often work on 3 or 4 pieces in one work period, partly too, because I’m impatient and want to continue working while something else is drying.
Actually, I began getting involved in art a couple years before I retired. I have a friend in Seattle, where I lived at the time, Cathe Gill, who is a wonderful artist and teacher. I took my first watercolor class with her and also started taking drawing classes at that time.
I loved Cathe’s paintings and wanted to create beautiful paintings too and of course I could not. I hated what I painted and as a result didn’t pick up the brush very often. But it was a start, and I very slowly began to paint, taking more classes after I moved to Portland. Really it was taking classes that kept me motivated and after a few years I ventured into the realm of acrylic painting and then got into a collage class quite by accident and just had a blast.
2. How has your art evolved?
As I mentioned, I was very sporadic from the start. It really wasn’t until until about four years into it that I began to get more serious. I think the turning point was when I found that I was having fun painting with acrylics, making collage papers, and texturing my paintings.
3. How do you approach a piece? Walk us through your process.
I have found that it does not work for me to do a lot of planning before I start a piece. I am definitely, an intuitive painter. Start by applying color or collage papers, building and layering as I go along. At some point I have to stop and evaluate. Is the painting heading toward being a nonobjective/nonrepresentational abstract or will it work out as a representational abstract. I bet I have at least 20 paintings in progress in studio, when I get stuck or am not sure what I want to do next, I will just set the piece aside. I will often work on 3 or 4 pieces in one work period, partly too, because I’m impatient and want to continue working while something else is drying.
4.What do you like most about being an artist?
Being retired, art has become one of the main focuses of my life. My main focuses, outside of family and friends, has been cooking and gardening. Some time ago, I realized that I create paintings much like I garden and cook. As an example, my best meals seems to happen when I pull everything out of the frig and come up with a meal. Usually this is out of necessity, because the food needs to be used and I hate to waste food. So I also see myself as an intuitive cook, and gardener. And it’s just fun to see how it will turn out. It’s fun for me to sort of roll up my sleeves and dive in and see what happens, if that makes any sense.
Being retired, art has become one of the main focuses of my life. My main focuses, outside of family and friends, has been cooking and gardening. Some time ago, I realized that I create paintings much like I garden and cook. As an example, my best meals seems to happen when I pull everything out of the frig and come up with a meal. Usually this is out of necessity, because the food needs to be used and I hate to waste food. So I also see myself as an intuitive cook, and gardener. And it’s just fun to see how it will turn out. It’s fun for me to sort of roll up my sleeves and dive in and see what happens, if that makes any sense.
5.What do you dislike about being an artist?
I am really not a very good verbal communicator. I also hate finding places to display my art……I am for sure really bad at self-promotion and not so good at social media either. (Though I do have a web site and an Etsy store.) I think I’d like to hire someone to do it for me but that seems so lazy and I’m just not sure what to do about it really.
This is all so ridiculous, given my history as a counselor. But even as a counselor I was pretty good one on one, or working with couples, which is what I loved the most, but ask me to speak to a group or promote myself, I was lousy!
6. What does a general day look like?
The ideal day for me would be to get out and walk first thing, make breakfast and then paint; but recently I've had some ankle issues and that has slowed me down. So I like to go straight to my studio and do some work before my husband gets up. For sure, I am the most creative in the morning. I find it very hard to get motivated in the afternoon, so it’s important that I find time to paint in the morning.
7. You’ve had an etsy shop since February 2012. What have you learned in the past few years running etsy? Any advice to artists just getting started in etsy?
Etsy takes a lot of work, optimally the site should be worked on everyday. Recently, I have been very lax about working on my site. It just seems like I haven’t had the energy for it but that will change.
I am really not a very good verbal communicator. I also hate finding places to display my art……I am for sure really bad at self-promotion and not so good at social media either. (Though I do have a web site and an Etsy store.) I think I’d like to hire someone to do it for me but that seems so lazy and I’m just not sure what to do about it really.
This is all so ridiculous, given my history as a counselor. But even as a counselor I was pretty good one on one, or working with couples, which is what I loved the most, but ask me to speak to a group or promote myself, I was lousy!
6. What does a general day look like?
The ideal day for me would be to get out and walk first thing, make breakfast and then paint; but recently I've had some ankle issues and that has slowed me down. So I like to go straight to my studio and do some work before my husband gets up. For sure, I am the most creative in the morning. I find it very hard to get motivated in the afternoon, so it’s important that I find time to paint in the morning.
7. You’ve had an etsy shop since February 2012. What have you learned in the past few years running etsy? Any advice to artists just getting started in etsy?
Etsy takes a lot of work, optimally the site should be worked on everyday. Recently, I have been very lax about working on my site. It just seems like I haven’t had the energy for it but that will change.
I’ve heard that it takes a minimum of 100 listings to get noticed, I’ve reached that and it has helped but certainly more listings would be better and of course renewing listings frequently so that there is action on the site every day.
8. You sell original paintings and also prints and cards of your work. How did you decide to sell reproductions? How do you decide what to reproduce and what not to reproduce?
Every year for the last 12 years I have painted a painting to be printed for our Christmas cards. Each year I have had cards left over and eventually started selling them at shows which made me think about taking some of the paintings that I had had professionally photographed made into prints and cards. (These are paintings, that I’ve entered into shows and probably not the best way to choose.) I’ve done okay, but not great. I still have at least ten cards to get on the Etsy site. Also, I haven’t pursued making giclees either, but it’s for sure a possibility. And well really, I can’t even say that prints or cards are that great of an idea but I’m doing it for now anyway.
9. What are your artistic goals for the next year?
Get my Etsy site more active….sell more. Look into the new site, Amazon Homemade. Improve my web site. I’m lazy about that too. Get a handle on social media.
8. You sell original paintings and also prints and cards of your work. How did you decide to sell reproductions? How do you decide what to reproduce and what not to reproduce?
Every year for the last 12 years I have painted a painting to be printed for our Christmas cards. Each year I have had cards left over and eventually started selling them at shows which made me think about taking some of the paintings that I had had professionally photographed made into prints and cards. (These are paintings, that I’ve entered into shows and probably not the best way to choose.) I’ve done okay, but not great. I still have at least ten cards to get on the Etsy site. Also, I haven’t pursued making giclees either, but it’s for sure a possibility. And well really, I can’t even say that prints or cards are that great of an idea but I’m doing it for now anyway.
9. What are your artistic goals for the next year?
Get my Etsy site more active….sell more. Look into the new site, Amazon Homemade. Improve my web site. I’m lazy about that too. Get a handle on social media.