Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmin Warnock
Hi Jasmin, 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 grew up in Mississippi with a mom who was always a hobby artist. I shared her talent and creativity and did art throughout school up until around high school. During high school my sister and I moved to Georgia with my dad, where I was swayed to play soccer and have a more realistic outlook on what I should do with my future. Having spent most of my life in small-town Mississippi I was surprised to find a lack a diversity in my new school in rural Georgia. This led me to pursue a degree at Georgia State- a campus that thrived with diverse populations. While at Georgia State I studied Marketing. I felt that I wanted to do something where I could express my creativity in a practical way. I found that Georgia State was more limited in their offerings for minors and although I wanted to also study graphic design to supplement my major, I was forced to settle with the standard studio art minor. My first art class was a drawing class during the height of covid. It was the first art class that I had been in in years. By my junior year in college I felt invigorated to implement art into my marketing practice and soon began to pursue arts marketing endeavors. I began working for a gallery in Marietta. Here I thrived on being in an environment surrounded by art and creatives. My time at the gallery felt very pivotal in determining my path for the future. Though I enjoyed the gallery, I was being grossly unpaid and taken advantage of. Furthermore, I began to notice that the gallery only showed a specific demographic of artists work and more often than not sold art only to that same demographic. The more I worked with the artists, the more I wanted to be one, but I felt as though I did not see myself represented in the gallery and therefore had to leave. While I was still working at the gallery I took my first Introduction to Printmaking class with Jamaal Barber. I honestly had no idea what printmaking was and if I’m being completely honest had to google it before arriving at the first class. I was immediately enamored with the capabilities of printmaking and felt inspired to have a teacher so passionate about the medium. When the semester came to a close, Jamaal asked me to come back and take his Selected Topics class in Relief Printmaking. This class was where printmaking really clicked for me. As I had said before I had always had artistic ability, but I had never really had a medium that spoke to the type of work I wanted to make. This class is where I became a printmaker. In large part I owe it to Jamaal Barber for seeing the printmaker within me and pushing me to start believing that I could be an artist.
After graduating it felt hard to balance creation with life, especially with no access to a studio or printing press. I struggled to find the time and resources to continue to make prints. Through my struggle Jamaal continued to encourage me to pursue printmaking and allowed me to assist his Intro to Printmaking class at Atlanta Printmakers Studio. This gave me access to the studio and also reinvigorated my drive to make work. In March of this year, Jamaal brought me along as his assistant for an 8-week concentration at Penland Craft School. While in the Blue Ridge mountains for two months I was fully immersed in my craft. Here is where I reflected immensely on what I wanted in my life and fully committed to becoming the artist I wanted to be. Since coming home I have hit the ground running, looking to expand my community, connections, and practice and have felt so grateful to have the opportunity to continue to do so.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has definitely not been a smooth road lol. I think the biggest struggle for me was thinking I had a solid plan after graduating and having it completely fall through. By the time I graduated I had been interning at a start-up digital marketing agency. I liked the culture of the company and the flexibility of working remote and figured I could ask for a more permanent position. The idea was to work there and develop a studio practice where I could begin to build a solid body of work. I worked at the agency for the summer following graduation and then in July was promptly laid off- there wasn’t actually room in the budget for my position. August was a month of transition. I was becoming financially independent from my parents. I had to find a job and a new place to live. Here is where I began my part time jobs as a Montessori substitute teacher and a bookseller. Although these jobs could offer me the flexibility I was looking for to make time for my art, I still wasn’t making enough to support my expenses. By December I picked up a third gig working for my neighbor who was an abstract painter. I didn’t mind my jobs, for the most part I enjoyed them, but now I was working seven days a week. There was hardly any time for art. At this point in time I was also struggling to get into the community studio. The whole year (2023) I think I made a total of two prints.
By the time I had graduated I knew that I was going to Penland in the Spring of 2024. Near the end of 2023 I felt the pressure to prepare for the job. From January until March I tasked myself with finishing old projects and getting back into the groove of using a printmaking studio. I worked a lot of hours in anticipation of not earning any money while at Penland and still having to pay rent on top of other expenses. By the time March arrived I was severely burnt out but hopeful that a break from my reality to solely make art was exactly what I needed. Thankfully I was right.
However, when I came back from Penland I was in a financial hole. It was really hard to come back from such an inspiring artistic hub just to be met with the same monotonous jobs. I couldn’t allow myself to get swallowed in the workforce again. I worked really hard to put myself and my work out into the Atlanta arts community. Needing to believe that there was money to be made in investing in my art rather than continuing to work unrelated jobs. Since then I have struggled to balance work, life, and art but now more than ever I am driven to make space for things I need to do to become the artist I want to be.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Printmaker! Mainly a relief printmaker.
I have been a printmaker long enough now (literally like two and a half years) to know that it is a little bit more of a niche medium. When I tell people I am an artist they usually ask “Ohhh painting or drawing?” never printmaking. With this I am always happy to explain the type of printmaking I do which is relief. Using usually wood or a linoleum block I draw an image on to the surface and then using carving tools, I create a tactile image. What is left of the surface is rolled in ink and then transferred to paper. This is usually done using a printing press or a wooden spoon and sheer will.
One of the things that draws me to printmaking is how much of a process it is. Each step takes patience and care. My favorite part of the process is the carving. In most cases you are confined to only using the negative space to create your image, meaning you only have black and white to develop your composition. To successfully create a print your way of thinking needs to be altered.
In my practice I am a detail-oriented maximalist. I am known for using different tools and carving techniques to create unique textures and details within my work. I love the problem-solving aspect of printmaking-how to properly depict components of the print or design. I’m proud of my ability to carve and the ways in which I have evolved my practice to begin to make the type of prints I want to make. I am also proud of my commitment to the craft and the lengths that I have gone to to expose myself to other printmakers to learn from their practices.
I think what sets me apart from others is that I have to be a printmaker. I have to use this tool as a vessel in expressing what I want to put out into the world. But to do that I have to be a student and learn from others. I have to be a member of an enriching community. I have to make the work and have the patience to improve and make a better print from the last. I think despite everything I have to make work that I’m proud because I am definitely my harshest critic. Everyday I’m working towards my goals as an artist. My ability, matched with my drive and passion I think serve as powerful tools in my journey and help set me apart from others.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
One important lesson that I have learned has come from my mentor Jamaal Barber and that is that you’ve got to make the work. As an emerging artist I recognize that I am on a journey to discovering my voice and the way my work presents that. Jamaal has encouraged me to keep creating and through that creation I will be able to find that voice. It’s one thing to have great ideas, it’s another thing to put those ideas into practice. You can’t ever expect to make great work if you never make any work at all and that is the fundamental lesson I have carried in my craft.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jwarnockart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/warnockart/
