Five Questions for Jessica Simanowski
My first Zazzle Gallery artist interview! I was honored that the fabulous Jessica Simanowski agreed to participate. She creates beautiful unique designs specifically for high-quality Zazzle products. Please click here to visit her shop and scroll down to learn more.
JESSICA: Well, I sometimes wonder about that myself! The images and ideas just come to me all the time. But mostly I receive ideas shortly before falling asleep at night or shortly before walking up in the morning.
Just when I slide into that in-between state of being awake and falling asleep. I also have a huge gallery in my dreamstate that I often visit at night. I have hundreds of paintings hang there that I haven`t painted yet. So often I enter my gallery in my dreams and then wake up really inspired.
Then I jump out of bed right away and start painting as the coffee is brewing. So I would say that my art is quite inter-dimensional. I really get inspired by energies and experiences that go beyond what the human physical eye can perceive. I often hear from people who bought some of my original paintings that their dreams started changing also and that they opened their imagination and feeling abilities. I think that´s cool.
ME: That IS cool! I love the description of your dream gallery.
JESSICA: I love Zazzle. I wouldn`t say that I am super successful there yet but it´s truly a lot of fun. I am even more thrilled about Artsprojekt. There is such much creativity spreading from that page. I´m a big Artsprojekt lover and very happy that I could join them. Unfortunately the sales go very slow but at least it´s great fun to see my friends walk around in some shoes that I designed.
ME: Zazzle lets your art reach far and wide. :) I have this poster in my home and love it!
JESSICA: Hm, everything and nothing influences me. Like I said before, I am not even sure where I get my inspiration from because it seems to come from my own world somewhere within. But of course other artists inspire me also. And colours inspire me. And feelings. Sometimes a certain thought, feeling or a certain situation inspires me. I have a very open and wild imagination. For example, when I go for a walk I don`t just see the obvious but it´s more like everything seems to turn into a disney movie of some kind. I also often have dreams at night that play out as a cartoon.
JESSICA: I believe that being an artist is nothing that you can learn in school. You either have the feeling and passion for art or you don`t. But I also think that we are all artists. Everybody can be artistic and do art. It´s just a manner of focus and choice and allowing yourself to express yourself courageously. For sure it can be helpful to visit a school to learn about a certain technique but for me art is really about expressing feelings and energies instead of a mental activity of certain techniques. I had planned to visit the art academy after grammar school but then decided to not do so. I never regretted it because that way I could keep my art pure and create my own unique style. I really don`t like that standard box thinking, like people trying to tell you that you have to do a certain brushstroke this or that way or use colors in a certain way. That´s just a big limitation and the fear of loosing control and totally let yourself go and express freely.
I don`t think that anybody has the right to judge art. Of course, you can either resonate with some paintings or you don`t. But in the end every piece of art is of the same value. Art critics are very poor people to me who get stuck in their limited minds. But I will stop here now because otherwise my passion for changing the old art system is going to blow our interview frame, lol.
JESSICA: I would recommend to always just do what feels good. Don`t try to chase or force anything. Just play with designing your things for the joy of playing with it. And try a lot of different designs. Share your designs with friends and ask them to share it with their friends. Also creating a page on facebook to promote your zazzle products is helpful. Or just ask people to promote your products in their blogs. But more then anything, just be authentic. Rather come up with a crazy design that is truly unique then trying to chase the mainstream.
ME: Jessica, thank you so much for your time! Your beautiful imaginative work inspires many and I am sure these answers will encourage others to follow their muses, too. You are a unique and courageous artist. I wish you every success!
Jessica's Zazzle Shop
Jessica-Simanowski.com
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