Today we’d like to introduce you to Juana Martinez
Hi Juana, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Juana (Jenney) Martinez, I was born and raised in Ventura County. Being a daughter to immigrant parents has made me a hard worker and a very passionate person. I started drawing at a very young age, my parents being agricultural field workers would be gone from sun up to sun down so it gave me a lot of time to just create. This led me to pursue art as a passion and to make something out of myself as I was a by product of the American dream. I Graduated from CSUN in 2017 which led me to become very involved in the arts, mostly making small comics here and there. It wasn’t until after the pandemic, where I moved away from the valley back to Oxnard that I got involved with the art community. I’ve set up multiple art shows highlighting mostly minorities and their art, hosting vending events to help local artist make money and working/supporting the community and the non-profits to create and bring large scale art events to the community. Currently I work as an Events Intern at Oxnard Performing Arts Center in which I get first hands-on experience to help children and to bring art activities to them but to also help my director in creating large scale events. During my free time I still take the time to draw and paint so I can sell art pieces at Art shows and vending events. My art highlights my city and its people who are agricultural people like my parents were so often you will see strawberries and fields in my art work or Mexican pottery. I paint and draw what I admire and my city is my passion at the moment. I am hoping to expand to nearby cities and to do more shows and to just highlight even more artists when I get the chance.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
IT has not been smooth, 2017-2022 was about the hardest times of my life. Questioning if I was ever good enough or if I was meant to pursue art, or even if it was something I ever wanted to do again. I would occasionally draw here and there and overall gave my focus to other things. 2023 was a creative spark year. It came flowing back slowly and snowballed into this insane adventure. I have had an event lined up every month since January and have not looked back. A lot of the struggles have been mental, with imposter syndrome or even just thinking that I should have pursued something that would have made me a lot of money, as I came from a household of poverty. Continuing my path has been an adventure.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a multidisciplinary artist as my works involve multiple medias. I am often looking for the next thing to work on. Some pieces have clay in them, some have thread in them, hair, makeup, photography. I try to incorporate as many things as a I can and that interest me at the moment, things that would add another layer to the meaning of my works. I am known for my plein-air paintings of my local city but also for my caricatures and ink work (Ink is my most favored medium but so is gouache and watercolor). I am proud of all my artwork impacting people in a positive way, when they see my art, it reminds them of a warm feeling inside, nostalgia, of their homes. What sets me apart besides being a Jack of all trades is that I do not currently make print, all of my work is traditional and one of kind. My art can be seen in multiple spots of the city of Oxnard.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Go to events, no really YOU have to go, do it scared, do it nervous. Throw up, cry, etc JUST GO TO as many art events as you can. Talk to people. This is all easier said than done, I am very much a homebody so going out to art events, hosting my art shows, talking to people in the art community has been a challenge but it has opened so many doors. I did a paint and sip for a guy one time and now he’s my boss and showing me how to make art events at a larger scale. Crazy I know. I said yes to a random flyer at a coffee shop and I started in my first role in a movie, saying yes to these people at events have expanded my networks and let me do stuff like storyboarding for indie movies to painting on electrical boxes to working for a publishing company at San Diego Comic Con.
JUST go for it!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://juana-martinez.weebly.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenney_todd/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064022321433&paipv=0&eav=Afbk8FvP7OSkw2zRIsF3H5_miCAmYRUDdhml_vSOVHHf61yOQbJzfNdTRG_ew74W4C4
Image Credits
All Photos are taken on my phone.
One of the pictures, of me in stripes teaching children is taken by Marianne Cothern
