Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Leishman.
Hi Jackie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have always loved to make things with my hands. My mom set up a studio for me in the basement as a kid. I took art in high school, but I was a “smart kid” and people never really promoted art or took art seriously where I grew up. It wasn’t until college and specifically when I studied abroad in Paris that I really understood that aspect of myself. I wanted to create. I think with my feelings and understood art in such a visceral way. It is hard to explain but it just clicked. I finished my degree from the University of Georgia in International Business and then went on to get an MFA from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. From that point on, I made art. I taught art in universities and now teach at a private high school. My studio is at my house and I work there as much as possible. There are things I must make or at least figure out and that is my space to do that.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t exactly been smooth or fraught with struggle. It has been what it has been. The biggest things to work out were how to keep making art while raising three children; how to carve out space for myself both physically and mentally so I could create. But those are good issues to solve or struggle with. I get to be a mom to three amazing kids, and I get to create. I have a wonderful partner who supports me and us in all the best possible ways.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was originally trained to be a photographer. It is what I loved, finding new ways to look at what was already there. I loved the darkroom and the way I could be a mad scientist in there. But as I started having children, darkrooms became more and more rare and my practice shifted significantly. I slowly started taking less photographs and instead started making more collages.
I mainly make collage about places or landscapes. Although I dabble in other forms like still life or figures. My work is layered. I pull from everywhere, I like the contrast of objects and materials and yet having it work together. I like the push and pull of opposites.
I get inspiration from a lot of places, from books I read (especially Mary Oliver, Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry), from being in nature, from other art, and from my daily life. My studio practice is where I work out my thoughts, not just about art, but how I approach the world. I don’t draw or collage what I see, but how I feel about what I see and experience.
I am proud that I am still making art and that it is still fascinating to me. A lot of the people I went to school with are no longer practicing artists. And most of them thought I shouldn’t have children if I was serious about being an artist, but here I am. Still doing it and raising a family in the midst of it. I love that I have stuck it out and thrived
What makes you happy?
I love that each day, showing up in the studio is different. I am different and the way I see and interact with my materials and ideas changes. I love that.
I also love reading a great book or poem, listening to music, hearing people laugh. It inspires me to see people be excellent at something.
Pricing:
- Drawings, $75 – $800
- Collages $150-$6,000
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jackieleishman.com
- Instagram: @jleishmanart
Image Credits
Portrait of me: Simon Blundell, @simonfoto The rest of the images: Jackie Leishman, @jleishmanart (me)
