Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Rattray.
Jasmine, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Art has been a form of escapism for most of my life. It has helped me release thoughts and feelings without having to find the words. One of my favorite movies shares my sentiments by saying “most of the time I have all these thoughts bouncing around in my head, but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kind of quiet.” (The Notebook for those who do not know – I know it is corny). That is art. A way to calm thoughts and become vulnerable. Art is vulnerability. My art has allowed me to be vulnerable. I realized how vulnerable it was and put my art under the name Hippie Queen Artwork as I began to sell it. It was almost as if having a different artistic name allowed me to share things that I did not want to share as Jasmine. Each art piece had its story which reflected my views, feelings, and identity, Identity was a big one because I have always had trouble fitting into a box. I began finding empowerment through art. With an additional love to help others, I created a goal to help others use art as a form of self-expression and connect with themselves on a deeper level. They would do this through creating art in relation to conversation topics that help encourage mindfulness, self-awareness, and self-empowerment. With the support from family and friends, I have been able to grow these classes into what is now Paint with HeART. I truly believe self-empowerment not only helps us but helps us to help others, and I love that I can share art as a form of empowerment with others.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Creating both Hippie Queen Artwork and Paint with HeART has been a tough journey. As most artists have probably encountered, the first struggle had been creating pricing for art pieces that were technically not even thought to be sold. I created my art for myself so turning it into something for purchase was not originally thought of. Once I was able to figure out pricing for my artwork, the next difficulty began with identity as an artist. When someone identifies you as an artist and may not understand artists, there can be requests for specific artwork that is out of the artist’s genre. At first, I took it as a compliment, but later realized it was taking the joy out of painting for me. It is difficult for myself to create art for others when the art I have always made has been for myself. I decided as I move forward with my artwork, that I would like to remain creating artwork for myself since it was better for my identity as an artist. In regards to Paint with HeART, this has been a project that I enjoy doing to help others. Yet, in order to help others and expand, I have to work on the business side which is not my strength. It has been a learning process but it is encouraging each time I learn something new. Everything is a process but everything I do I genuinely enjoy and have a desire for so each step has been a blessing.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My artwork has expressed feelings on self whether it be love, beauty, pain, excitement, etc. I love focusing on black women because it is a reflection of myself. In addition, I have a Haitian/Caribbean background which is why I utilize bright and bold colors as highlights in my artwork. These colors remind me of the Caribbean artwork that my family would have in their house growing up. I am proud of the growth that my artwork has shown over time. By discovering my own artistic style, I am proud that I have become more confident in my art and to be vulnerable enough to share it with others. Taking this confidence into my art classes, it has opened another world where I can use expressionism as an art form while having conversations that help others express themselves within their own artwork. I have had encouraging conversations with kids and adults through art and know that they left with an art piece that speaks to them because they made it. It is exciting for me to see people of all ages use an artistic form that I love to learn more about themselves through these conversational art classes and feel encouraged when they leave.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Covid-19 though it has been a tragedy for families and friends that may have lost someone to the illness, it has also encouraged a lot of people to focus on themselves. To find things that they truly enjoy. I have found that a lot of people are on a journey of self-discovery. For myself, I have had to pivot with my art classes to conduct them online. I was unsure if I wanted to conduct them that way since these classes did provide a specific experience in person. It challenged me to recognize my passions and what I wanted to do with them. If I wanted to continue these classes, I had to find new ways to connect with people and have encouraging conversations with them. Through pivoting and conducting classes virtually, I pushed myself to connect with others in unique ways. Through this, I recognized how much I enjoyed these conversations and how important they were for those I spoke to which encouraged me as I continued to build Paint with HeART.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hippiequeenartwork.com
- Instagram: @HippieQueenArtwork & @PaintWithHeARTorg
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HippieQueenArtwork/
- Other: www.paintwithheart.org
Image Credits:
Sheretta Danielle Photography
