Featured Student Artist | June 2024

Deborah Jones

Deborah was most recently a student in “Grain of Hope,” offered online in the spring of 2024.

What did you enjoy about your experience in Grain of Hope?

I appreciated Laurie’s gentle and powerful nudge to continue to find my way in making my art while acknowledging and accepting the challenges that continue to emerge for me as a maker. The focus on moving beyond perfection and comparison, which are top on my list of ever-present barriers, was once again profound for me. I experienced an opening and solace that I truly needed as I worked in my journal from the previous class, “Speak to Me From Everywhere,” following the prompts from this class. I especially connected to the themes of exploring the “accidental” and the “intentional.” Once again, I was moved by Laurie’s way with the poetry as she interwove each meaningful theme from the sessions, leaving me with a grain of hope that I can reach beyond my barriers as a maker.

What did you find difficult?

Because I had been in a particular dry creative period I found it initially difficult to get into my studio and dive into working with the prompts. I found myself procrastinating and judging myself. Then slowly I began to open and relax, feeling the encouragement from my fellow students, Laurie, and Noelle.

What is the strangest object in your studio?

The strangest object in my studio is a 3” tall plaster cast of a bent finger that one of my 7th-grade students, Knudsen, created 25 years ago in an art class I was teaching. We were making masks using plaster gauze and Knudsen did not want to do it. He was almost always full of abundant energy and had a penchant for challenging everything in all forms. He instead decided to make a plaster cast of his finger, paint it silver, and add silver beads and some metal. It is strange-looking and such a powerful reminder for me to remember to honor how each of us travels to the beat of our own drum. Knudsen loved making his “finger” art. I was very fond of him and moved when he gave it to me as a gift.

Tell us a little bit about your practice as a maker. Where do you thrive? Where do you struggle?

I have a studio on our land high on a ridge in the Rocky Mountains where I make art; collages, paintings, and books. It is a majestic and inspiring location. For eight years I worked in morning journals that I handmade writing and painting on a page every morning. A year and a half ago I stopped doing this routine feeling it was time to re-create a different kind of daily practice. It had become rote and less meaningful to me. Floundering for quite some time, I was pleased recently, through Laurie’s mentoring and the workshops, to be motivated to work into some of the journals I had previously created that already have some non-prescribed imagery on some of the pages. I thrive while being enveloped in the “flow” state of making art, a deep dive without distractions, an opening while finding comfort in the mystery of the unknown.

My struggle in making art comes especially when my censor becomes overpowering. When I have an exhibition or when my work is going out into the world I tend to immediately question what the viewer would like to see and if will the work will be seen favorably. I must work diligently to turn off this part of my thought process. My censor is a relentless and active troublemaker and can only disappear when I quiet my brain and allow myself to experiment and play without judgment.

What is one intention you have as a maker this year?

I have recommitted to being in the studio daily no matter how long or short, to being gentle with myself, eliminating distractions, settling in, and playing more.