Jen Worden of Nova Scotia, Canada is a name many have known for years when it comes to art, but I bet you didn't know that you could use Jen, artist and Ironman in the same sentence! Read on and you will know what we learned about Jen that will inspire you as an artist and a person.
Marketplace Shop owner, Sue Pieper has known Jen for many years and recommended her for an interview. So I thought it would be nice if Sue and Jen could do the interview together as if they were sharing a cup of coffee and chatting about their day.
Meet Jen and her companion, Fig.
MP: Jen you are very talented in not just one medium but many. Does all this talent come naturally for you?
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I'm actually in a bit of a slump right now so being called "talented" feels like a bit of a poor fit. I think everyone's creativity is "natural" in that we are all born with innate talent. Whether we choose to exercise it? Ah! That's a different story! Too many of us listen and BELIEVE our inner critic which stops us from maximizing our true potential. So. Get out there and do it!
As for many mediums....I simply follow my Muse. One thing's led to another - altered books into mixed media into altered media into assemblage into metal work back into mixed media. Circle of Art baby. Circle of Art!
MP: This coming August you will be competing in the Ironman Louisville. Tell us about it and how training influences your art time, if al all? Back when you were milking cows, did you ever think you'd be an artist and participating in the Ironman?
Now THAT's a loaded question! LOL To deal with the last, first, no I can quite honestly say while sitting in the freezing cold barn next to warm Maggie at the crack of dawn, I never ever thought I'd be doing an Ironman. In fact, I'm pretty sure I didn't know what an Ironman was!
There don't seem to be many athlete/artist crossovers so Ironman training is something I haven't talked about too much figuring most folks that visit my website are there to see my work. Up until recently I was able to keep making art on a regular basis so it didn't seem to be that important. However, as training has become more time consuming its leaving me little time and perhaps more distressing, little interest in creating art. My current dilemma is, do I just keep blogging about what's going on with me? Swimming and biking and running and all that entails. (read: aches, pains, mental angst etc.) Or do I take a breather from the blog scene until I'm able to show more art? I don't know. I'm feeling my way along a blind path on this one. Given the tremendous effort to do this training, I knew I was making a conscious decision that my art life would take a back seat over the next few months. I didn't anticipate such a huge shutdown of my creative juices though.
MP: You are one of the most giving artists today when it comes to sharing your experiences, and your art. Please share with us today one thing that can make a difference in an artists life.
Thanks for mentioning and noticing that. Sharing is something I think every artist can easily do. I know there are a lot of people fearful that by giving of themselves or their techniques that they somehow diminish what they do. Personally, I've never found that to be the case. Each of us brings our own background, personality, set of experiences to our art creating unique work even if we're given the same set of tools.
ONE thing that can make a difference? Work in solitude. I don't think there's anything wrong with looking at other's work or trying different techniques. This is how we learn, how we stretch. But once you've mastered these tools, go to your work area and create without thought of anything or anyone but what is right in front of you. Relate your tools of YOUR life. Only then will your work be wholly unique.
MP: How do you feel about all the Social Networking that is such a hot topic today? Do you find it difficult to balance art time versus networking time versus private time?
Oh boy. I find this such a hard thing to quantify. From years in the web business, we were ALL about Social Networking. It is, after all, the foundation of the internet. Getting your name out there, getting linked on the right sites, contacting potential patrons. And I've had some successes based on that networking. But only when I've dealt with it from a business perspective. I've rarely had sales based on commenting on someone's day at the zoo, for example. If SELLING art is your top priority then deal with networking in that capacity. If it's about connecting with like-minded souls, then your web experience will be completely different. Just know the difference. Off my soap box!
MP: Do you have a favorite medium or technique that you use a lot in your work and/or that you couldn't live without?
Creating texture - from gluing layers of paper, to different mediums (crackle paste/gels/plaster), to attaching layers of metal - then using my fingers with very dry titanium white to pick up the textural highlights. There isn't much of my work that doesn't undergo this final touch.
MP: If for just one day, you could be anyone from anytime in history, who would that be?
In just about every interview this question comes up and I'm always in awe of other artists' answers. Mainly because I've rarely heard of the person which sends me scrambling to google them and nod solemnly as I read what I've found. All the while thinking, "oh. My. God! How come I can't come up with such great influences? I am SUCH a poser!" So to change streams here I'd like to be Lance Armstrong climbing up Alpe d'Huez in 2004 in the Individual Time Trial. I'd love to feel that sort of raw strength and endurance that could just annihilate your competitors. Once. :)
MP: Please share with us any upcoming projects/books/events/etc we can look forward to seeing in the future?
I'm currently involved in a collaboration with Seth Apter and Bridgette Guerzon Mills. We each chose a very different theme and book structure, so I think it'll yield really interesting results. hmmm. Oh I'd forgotten all about this ... a book coming out that has a piece of mine in it - a collaboration with Deryn Mentock. VERY interesting piece that one! Other than that, I'm keeping it pretty low-key until the fall.
MP: Is there any time of day that you find you are the most creative? Do you try to schedule studio time or do you prefer to follow the muse?
I'm a daytime creator. Definitely not nocturnal. Ideally I get out to my studio first thing in the morning - my ideas flow best then - but only lasts really until lunchtime. I equate it to doing sprints or interval work! I'm sure no one has a clue what that means. LOL After a lunch is my best assembling time. Something about just getting into a groove for a solid few hours. More methodical, less sparks and lightening strikes, more meditative. Any problems encountered will be left to be solved the next morning and I'll pick up another project and move along with that until I hit a stumbling block.
MP: Not all that long ago, you got your very own studio. Is there anything about it that you wish you would have done differently? And is there something about it that turned out so perfectly, that you'd advise others to incorporate into their own studio space?
Very apropos as I've been trying to work inside the house these last few weeks and it just doesn't work! I'm so spoiled! My studio, as mentioned, is outside the house, in part of an old Chicken Coop on our 150 year old farmstead. It has tons of light and tons of space to spread out. The floor is rough board wood so if something spills, it's left where it lies. I can sweep the detritus from the worktable on the floor with a care. The walls are wood so I pound nails in happily wherever I need one. I have a LOT of storage simply because I have a LOT of stuff. The downside of mixed media/assemblage work is that you never know what you'll need until you need it so culling doesn't happen very often resulting in boxes and boxes of extraneous pipes and metal bits and wooden boxes, metal boxes, dolls - bodies, legs, heads, arms, wooden platforms, clock mechanisms, bones - lots and lots of bones, and skulls. Nut to mention all the small stuff. Or even the paint and mediums and brushes and resins and plaster. It just goes on and on and on.
My one word of advice would be: know how you work. If you like things clean, be sure to give yourself oodles of both open storage, closed storage and horizontal space to put things away. If you like doing different things, consider work stations - for metal, for painting, for fabric. If you're like me and work in multiple mediums at one time? BIG worktables. I need to get another so I can spread out even more. Oh! And Storage! Get as much as you think you'll need and then double, maybe even triple it.
Jen and Sue, thank you for giving us an inside look into your life as a working artist. Jen we will all be cheering you on in August!
You can visit and learn more about Jen at her website.
Jen thanks so much for sharing...you are truely and inspiration..Good Luck with your Ironman....that is completely amazing...light and love-amanda
Posted by: amanda | May 2009 at 06:07 AM
Great interview! Loved learning more about Jen and her thoughts. Great studio shot too. And of course, the fact that she is training for an Ironman says so much about the fact that she puts her all into everything she does!
Posted by: Seth | May 2009 at 08:08 AM
Thanks Jen, for so openly giving us a peek into your life. After all these years, I hope we get to meet someday-in the "real world"!
Posted by: sue | May 2009 at 04:48 PM
Ironman, how amazing! Admire her for that!
Enjoyed the interview, her work, and her thoughts on networking. Thanks Jen for sharing
Posted by: Brenda Wampler | May 2009 at 09:35 PM