Today we’d like to introduce you to David Jester.
Hi David, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I always drew and painted. My grandmother and I used to draw together since I was a kid. Eventually, I went to College for Art, getting my BFA at VCU in Richmond and my MFA at Rutgers. I just completed a series of pool paintings in which I took 4 1/2 years to make 200 oils, mostly on wood. It was something I thought about for years before starting and so when it started, it was painting every day 10 -12 hours, taking maybe ten days off a year. They were stuck in my head waiting to get out and it feels good having finished them.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The Art gig is a tough one and involves a lot more than production. I’ve learned so much about all the different hats you have to wear. We all just want to be in the studio but you have to build a brand, an audience, then you have to create enough social media content to keep them engaged, then there is sales, shipping, and inventory management. After college, I went the Corporate route just because it is so daunting. But eventually, the Corporate life was not worth it. It was a soul crusher and I decided that struggling financially was less important than being fulfilled. In the beginning, when I switched to making Art I would go days without food but always had Art supplies, and I loved it. For me, the sacrifice was acceptable because it allowed me to produce the work. So even though it was tough it was completely worth it. I think not making Art is like not being allowed to speak, being stifled.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The last series of pools was something I had wanted to do for a long time. When I was in school, I started doing installations that were like pools. The viewer walking into a “pool” and was surrounded by paintings of people in pools. The pieces were about inclusion and exclusion. When I decided to make these paintings it was a natural starting point. I love so many things about pools, purity of fluids, shared fluid, the fact that pools exist in a world as part of the larger world. People in either world have a distorted view of each other, etc. And so it was a metaphor for me for the Gay world and the straight world, side by side.
I guess at this point I am known for them, yet am starting the next series currently. The pool series exceeded all my hopes. Of 200 paintings 170 have found homes all over the world, Malta, Amsterdam, France, Belgium, Australia, Brazil, Canada, all over. There is even one in a museum. They built a brand and found homes.
I am not sure anything sets me apart honestly. We are all on the same journey
Side note: LA folks can see a few of the paintings at Artlounge 145 N La Brea #F
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Invision what you want to accomplish and create a plan that you can execute on. I planned the first 20 paintings when I started and scheduled every day out 60 days in advance. I knew I wanted 25 paintings a year and given they take about 150 hours to complete allowed me to schedule. I made social media plans that allowed me, before shadow bans on IG, to add 5000 qualified followers a year. I figured out the best way for myself to manage materials in and care for the works when they are complete. It has been all about planning for me. They won’t paint themselves so you have to have goals.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d_jester_art/
