Portrait of an Artist: Jennifer Carrasco

Artisan: Jennifer Carrasco

Via my online travels, I have met many wonderful artisans who have enriched my life.? Without a doubt, my life is better for having been graced by Jennifer Carrasco.? We’ve never officially met (one day!), but a generous, fun-loving and kind spirit translates warmly through the computer lines — and I’ve become extremely fond of her.? She is highly regarded in our industry so it is my pleasure to have her as a guest on the Fauxology blog.

Jennifer was born and raised in a small wheat farming town in the Palouse, the very SE tip of Washington State.? Her family is large, Irish Catholic and generally gets along well.? “As a group, we like to tell stories, drink too much, get sentimental at family reunions and honor the arts and education.? I am the oldest of four girls.? The three sisters are household goddesses and I am not.? A terrible burden.? I clean for days before one of them visits”, she says fondly.

RG: Do you clean the studio as well?
JC: It is my messy heaven.? The floor is paint spattered, the walls are covered with drawings, quotes, paintings and my paint-encrusted CD player.? I love literature and writing as much as I love painting, so I listen to books on tape instead of music.? It gets me in the groove.? I am not particular and would listen to deodorant ads if I have to. I?ve listened to War and Peace three times and even Ulysses by Joyce (and a lot of detective stories and science fiction in between).

RG:? What are you working on currently?
JC: Right now, since the economic downturn and other rumbles, I am doing more illustrations than murals.? I realized long ago that the awesome accomplishments of the finish artists were not something I could come up against, so I focused on figurative painting…murals, panels and decorated furniture.? I taught art full-time for years, so basically I taught myself to draw (not a big issue during the 60?s of Pollock, de Kooning and do-your-own-thing) and had shown in galleries for about 15 years before I came back to Seattle.? Right now, my first illustrated book, Lotus and the Golden Pearl, is out.? The writer, Libby Pink, ?lives in Bath, England, and between the book designer, the publisher, the author and me, we did it all online in a Work? Zone.? It was so much fun.? I want to do it again!

RG: You’ve also worked on amazing murals…
JC: My biggest? mural job was a 30′ x 40′ x 17? ballroom where my client asked me to paint ?The Great Pacific Northwest, Rococo?.? I was appalled and told my client? it was too much (in every aspect).? He growled, ?Yes!? I want it over the top!?? If you look at the picture, I thinks he got what he wanted.? I did all the figurative painting, Frank Irlanda gold-leafed the cartouches and I had Jennifer Mason, Bette Mandel and Bobbie Irlanda helped me with the stippling finishes.

Another big job was a 30? x 6′ foot mural I did for one of Tom Douglas? restaurants in Seattle, The Palace Kitchen.? My client wanted lots of food, people having fun in the 17th-18th century and warm lighting coming from a stoked up kitchen.? I had fun putting in painting quotes from Velazquez, La Tour,? Le Nain and Chardin, and putting in characters from books…Cyrano is there talking trash to Moll Flanders, who is down on her luck and traveling in France.? Dowland, the lutenist, is playing for the crowd and there are peasants and nursing mothers partaking at the table.? There are the Cluny tapestries on the wall and the young lord kissing the servant wench in the doorway who came down to join the fun. I researched the food and when Tom had the opening party for the painting, he cooked all the dishes in the painting for the party. If I have a special love in mural painting, it’s researching historical styles and artifacts and making them my own.

In the past five years, I have done all the murals for Tommy Bahama and been asked to renovate some of the murals done by previous artists.? I paint them on Roc-lon canvas, roll them up like a rug and ship them off to sites ranging from Vegas to Maui to Dubai.

RG: How are you inspired?
JC: Great artists are my inspiration.? I spent a month in Paris two years ago and lived in the museums.? If you are a teacher, you can go into most of the French museums for free.? I went to the Louvre five times and Musee d’Orsay twice. Nature is certainly my fountain of wonder…painting in the park or on a windy hill is a day of endless renewal.? And, of course, the work of my colleagues…my art/business group here in Seattle and my friends from IDAL and the Salon. Your site, Lynne Rutter?s and Theresa Cheek?s site are amazing, and I could look at Brian Nehr?s painting collections site all day.? Tania Alves Seabock is another fabulous painter and designer.

RG: Do you like to teach?
JC: Teaching has always been my fall-back and I really enjoy it.? I think that an artist has an obligation to do this and do it with a generous heart. Each person has a different style no matter what techniques they pick up, so the sharing of techniques is not an issue with me.? Many people have helped me along the way.? I do think, however, that one must be wary of letting the teaching take over one?s life.? It can take so much energy that one doesn?t have any left for making art.? Right now I teach art in a coffee shop, a very Seattle thing to do.? It?s my favorite venue because it is (1) close – no gruesome traffic (2) I love the owners and company; and (3) it?s the first time I can have a beer and teach.? In this day and age, people go through 3 or 4 careers in their lifetime.? I think I am on my 5th but it?s always been in the field of art.? It?s re-group, shift and churn off in a new direction.? We artists are good at that.

I hope you’ve enjoyed Jennifer’s incredible artwork — please be sure to also check out her sublime Carrasco Studio blog.? In our online interview, Jennifer muses on the following and you can continue to see why she is so special: “My life has been wonderful.? I had no idea I could have this much fun as a shy kid who read too much and didn?t have an art teacher.? My Peace Corps experience taught me that there are worse things than failing and to say yes to adventure and ventures.? Some experiences have been really hard, as with anyone?s sorrows and travails, but I think as an artist and a creative person, I have been able to work them through with stories and paintings.? It has given me deep wells of power and solace to know this and use this source of endless invention and, well…laughter. I used to be more guarded about my feelings and beliefs, but at this point in my life, there it is.”? …and we thank you for that, Jennifer.? Endlessly.?