Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeannine Burgess.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have always considered myself an artist. My childhood was filled with creative expression and exploration of imagination. I always knew I would end up in some creative pursuit, some career of artistry one way or another. As a teen, my passion was in fashion design, and I was certain my path would lead me to New York and FIT and to a career as a designer. But life took a hard left turn after the death of my father. At 16, my whole life changed, and my dreams were shattered. I left home, dropped out of school to live with an aunt, and started working whatever job that would pay for food and shelter. I spent the next few years just trying to feel grounded again.
At 19, I started college as an art major with the intention of becoming an art teacher. I enjoyed the classes, but somewhere along the way, fairly early on, I lost my enthusiasm. I left art school and for the next decade or so did what I knew how to do for the sake of comfort and familiarity.
In 2007, I stepped far out of my comfort zone and signed up for a month-long yoga teacher training. After being a curious practitioner for about seven years, my now ex-husband convinced me I was ready for the challenge. It was one of the most life-altering experiences I had encountered. So life-altering that it shook up whatever crumbly foundation I had in my marriage and dissolved it to dust. I was divorced on my 30th birthday.
Looking for a fresh start, I decided to pursue another interest and go back to school, this time in the science department as a nutrition major, and later the more holistic option through Health Science. Instead of an art degree, I now had my Bachelor of Science, and even though holistic nutrition and wellness is held in high regard to me, my soul still needs to create. While the left-brain dominant aspects of sciences are fulfilling in their own way, I couldn’t shake the itch to create.
My large painted chakra mandala project in 2014 was possibly an opening of the floodgates of all the creative expression I had been holding in as I focused my energy on anatomy labs and chemistry equations. You could say it would be exactly what you’d expect from an art school dropout with a science degree who happens to teach yoga. It was my life coming full circle, quite literally. What began as a means to heal from an emotional catharsis soon became an obsession with sacred geometry, the chakra system, and the healing power that colors and shapes have on the subconscious mind. I continue to explore all these elements and more, deepening my understanding on the connection between art, science, and wellness.
In July 2020, I opened a studio and gallery space with the intention of holding workshops to teach others to create their own sacred geometry artwork. Though the timing was terrible for opening a business, I learned where my deepest passion lives – in creating meaningful, healing, painted vortexes of color and geometry. For two years, I shared this space with as many people as I could. In June of this year, in the name of new adventures, I closed my studio to pack up and move 1200 miles south, from Maine to Georgia. My whole life changed, and my entire focus is now on making art. I haven’t found the perfect studio space yet, but I’m content for the time-being settling into new routines and challenging myself creatively. I’m looking forward to the next stage of my journey.
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?
One of the biggest challenges of attempting to be a career artist is of course figuring out how to support yourself. Finding the balance between being actively creative (which is all an artist really wants to do) and either working a job to support your creative endeavors or learning how to market yourself so the art you make is selling and not just collecting in a room somewhere. I still haven’t learned how to find this balance.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Most of the art I create still shares the same template and theme of the original chakra series of 2014. These are my large-scale (measuring 41×41 inches) sacred geometry mandalas painted with acrylic on birch panels. If you were to ask for my signature piece, these are it. The most unique part of these pieces are their size. Photos do not do them justice, the moment you stand in a room with one or more of these paintings, you feel how powerful these simple shapes and colors are on your physical body. Each painting has a theme: an energy, emotion, season, etc., and I try to create the mood of this expression through rich colors and movement through shape. The sacred geometry aspect draws the viewer in on a subconscious level, mirroring the structures of our own cells as they are the building blocks of nature itself.
As I continue to challenge myself creatively and my larger pieces become more and more detailed, I’ve begun also to explore the healing aspects of nature. My insect series began as a simple enjoyment of the varieties of moths and quickly expanded into a small collection with the intent of creating an oracle deck once I have the desired number of painted insects.
What I have learned the most over the past eight years when my floodgates of creativity opened, is that I love connecting with people through my art, I love the reactions, I love how it makes them feel (I love how it makes ME feel!), I love teaching others how to create their own, how we are all artists deep down, even if we are not all painters or musicians. My hope for the future is that I continue to expand on this: create, share, express, repeat. This is the work that feeds my soul.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I love teaching movement! I have been teaching yoga for 15 years, its my first body movement love, and served as a foundation for a small side career in fitness. I currently hold multiple group fitness certifications, including kickboxing for eight years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jeannineburgess.com/
- Instagram: @jeannineburgess_art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jeannineburgesshealingarts
