Jess Hallier Artworks

Wesley Pepper's Art Lexica

Transcript

[00:00:00] Wesley: Hey greetings everybody. It's Wesley pepper and you're tuned in to my podcast Wesley Pepper’s art Lexica, which is brought to you by spudcaster and baobulb. Yeah, hi everybody, uh, to all my new and returning listeners from wherever you are, whatever part of the world you are and whatever device you're listening on.

[00:00:25] Welcome. And I really appreciate having you here today for another kick-ass episode on Wesley Pepper’s art Lexica. Um, let's just have a quick recap on last week's episode. Uh, thanks a lot Delia for coming through, man, all the way from Cape town. That was super cool. My sister, I really, uh, enjoy the process.

[00:00:41] You know, we spoke about theater of the oppressed and. I think like the way they are adapting to the pandemic is quite interesting is super, super interesting. I thought that, um, that really grabbed me, um, and the way they using, uh, you know, the, the, the digital platform and even zoom. I thought that was really interesting.

[00:00:59] So if you haven't listened to it yet, please go check it out, man. It's available on all the streaming platforms. Um, I'll, I'll. Sort of announced that at the end of the episode again, as I always do. Yeah, man, uh, also lots going on in the world, also in my life. There's also a super cool project that has, uh, since, you know, um, I guess all the energies in the right, uh, place and all of that.

[00:01:20] And I'll definitely tell you guys more about that at the end of the day, I think it's going to be really cool. Um, uh, you know, um, collaborating with some app developers and yada yada, yada, I'll tell you guys more about that towards the end of the episode. Yeah. Okay. Uh, let's go on to today's episode. Yeah.

[00:01:35] Today I'm also talking to a really interesting artist man, all the way from Port Elizabeth. Uh, we're talking to Jessica Hallier, she's a visual artist that runs, uh, a company called, uh, Jesse's Artscape. Um, you know, and, um, she's a visual artist, as I say, she does a lot of portraits and that type of thing.

[00:01:51] Also, she works. Quite, uh, I would say abstract. Um, I've seen some really interesting abstract work, which I thought was really cool and really interesting to talk about that. Uh, from what I know, I know she also does a lot of commissioned work, uh, from what we spoke about in the week. Sounds like that.

[00:02:08] So we definitely be unpacking that because I've been noticing her processes, her technique, and I thought that's really interesting, man. Especially the more abstract kind of work, um, That's that's going to be quite interesting to talk about and see how her business works. So we unpack her processes of course, as always.

[00:02:25] And, um, yeah, unpack her business, man, like how she's coping with this new reality we've been given, you know, how she's dealing with all of that, how she's adapting, um, how she's taken to the tech world and tech trends that social media as well. So, but yeah, man, so I was gonna be like, It's going to be a lot of fun looking forward to it.

[00:02:46] Um, yeah. And, um, as always I'll, um, yeah, I'll speak to guys after this and I'll make some more announcements towards the end of the episode. Um, so yeah, everybody thanks for tuning in and I'll speak to you after this.

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[00:03:18] Wesley: [00:03:18] All right, then let's okay. Let's get straight into it, man. Uh, Jessica Hallier did I pronounce your surname correctly

[00:03:25] Jess: not quite but yeah.

[00:03:30] Wesley: Um, and do I call you Jessica or Jessie or

[00:03:46] I think I’ll go for the formal thing here. I know another Jessica. Who's also an artist anyway.

[00:03:56] Jess: Well, um, I must update you. My, my business name has been changed to Jess Hallier artworks it’s no longer Jessie’s Artscape.

[00:04:12] Wesley: Okay. Uh, yeah, so yeah, man, lets jump, let’s start from the beginning, you know, I mean, I was saying a little bit off air, uh, you know, every artist has a, has a journey on how they got to where they are today, you know, um, some artists did this, some artists did that. That's uh, since you, uh, there’s actually a technical word for people like us, it's an art practitioner

[00:04:40] Um, so yeah, so,

[00:04:48] um, yeah,

[00:04:56] But you run your own business and you’re an art practitioner so before we get into the, like, the business and the art and stuff I just can you tell my listeners a little about yourself

[00:05:01] you know, what part of the world are you from? You know, and how did you get into this game

[00:05:07] Jess: Okay. So, um, I'm originally from Johannesburg, um, was born in Pretoria and I come from a very artistic family. My mom and I used to paint together. My aunt used to also paint. Um, my family did a lot of writing poetry dancing. So as I say, very creative, um, I had, I was always an introvert.

[00:05:40] I was bullied and, um, I had a very difficult relationship with my parents. And so I found comfort in art and I found that that was the only place I was being heard. Um, I wasn't being judged. Yeah. I wasn't being bullied and like, I could also express those feelings. I wasn't really good at expressing them with words.

[00:06:08] I'm not very good with words. And so art helped me to escape reality and, um, I've been doing that since I was a very little girl. I wanted to be a graffiti artist. And anyway, I ended up becoming a high school dropout and I worked as a waitress for many years and bartending and. Um, I decided in 2017 that I can't lie to myself anymore and that I, you know, follow my dreams and then I don't want to be doing what I was doing for the rest of my life.

[00:06:51] So I started teaching myself how to do art and at the same time, I landed myself a peachy illustration job, because I thought, well, while I'm learning how to do art I might as well go and look for like, we'll just call it children's book, illustration jobs, and then if I land something like that while I'm learning, I can earn some bucks for it.

[00:07:12] So that's how I started. Um, and I illustrated a book called the school in the tunnels. It was, um, Excuse me. It was

[00:07:32] published by Chestnut publishers in 2019 and it's available on Amazon and, and yeah, so I taught myself. Yeah, basically. I'm self-taught artists.

[00:07:59] Wesley: Uh, uh, interesting thing that I picked up there is there’s a common thread that runs through every artist that I know myself included is that most of our art is actually drawn through some kind of pain

[00:08:05] Um, it's, it's, it's almost as if pain, uh, is like a, uh, you know, do the artist is like in the center and then the pain sort of like almost a what's the word. Yeah. It brings out the artists explodes and then they usually that the results aren't. So that's actually quite interesting. Um,

[00:08:36] Jess: Um, you see I also suffer from epilepsy and I have mental illness attached to that and, um, I can only express how the seizures affect me through art. There is no word on this earth to say what it does to me. And I feel that you cannot create anything beautiful from a beautiful place. It has to come from, as you were saying, that deep place of broken brokenness pain.

[00:09:04] Um, so yeah, I mean mental wellness and all of that, one has to say it does kind of enable you and equip you with tools to create these things.

[00:09:20] Wesley: Um, the mental thing is quite a topical thing at the moment

[00:09:31] especially in our industry, you also said there that you were self taught.

[00:09:41] I know that with self taught artists technically I dont want to get very technical I've noticed most self taught artists, uh, draw or paint in sort of a photo realist manner, uh, uh, the way they conceptualized. Yeah. Yeah. So, so, so a lot of the, um, content come from, um, photographs, um, so in, um, In teaching in, uh, teaching yourself out of work, uh, explain it to us. Like, how did you, why did you start, um, um, uh, I guess, I guess, where did you start getting the confidence to know like, yo man, but I can do this, you know, and I'm good.

[00:10:27] Jess: Well, um, I, as I say, I mean, the high school drop out bunked school to draw graffiti the whole day. Wrong thing to do, but anyway, maybe it's not

[00:10:46] powerful. So anyway, I mean, when I started taking it seriously in 2017 again, but before then, um, I tried to draw my dog. I had to pit bull and I was, I was like 17 years old and I came really close to that super duper close. And I used to also, when I was younger draw, I started off with obviously drawing other artists art, you begin, and then you move on, you progress on to drawing things like an apple, um, things that's in your living room that you see so that you can shape and all of that.

[00:11:26] And obviously, always beginning with the first basic shapes, like triangles and in turning those into cubes, cylinders et cetera. So, and then I started to teach myself how to render, um, portraits from start, you know, uh, The whole foundation and everything like that. And then it went on to anatomy, all the meanwhile I was doing the illustrations on the side, cartoons find abstracts, all of that kind of stuff.

[00:12:09] Wesley: So yeah.

[00:12:19] Interesting. I like the fact that you did something in anatomy I think that’s very important.

[00:12:28] Um, and I guess one can see it in the work actually. Um, so, and the whole you keep bringing up graffiti, um, I actually got family in Port Elizabeth. Um, I guess I would say, um, I’m part from PE as well. Um, and I'm, I'm actually quite familiar with some of the graffiti, uh, especially around

[00:12:51] by the train station. Um, Uh, uh, there about, uh, and Richard Niel got some really cool stuff there

[00:13:02] so, um, yeah, I see it a little bit of, you know, I’m kind of familiar with some of the graffiti culture in PE

[00:13:13] It’s actually cool. You also made mention of like a children’s book, I want to get to that because I think that's pretty interesting as well. Um, and like your business. So you say you changed your name, not to it's changed from Jesse's Artscape to Jessica?

[00:13:44] Jess: Um, Jess Hallier’s Artworks. The original name was Jessie’s Artscape because it was like Jessica’s escape, escape place, you know, as an escape. So now the reason why I’ve changed that

[00:13:52] is because I found out some information from a family member

[00:13:58] Well, from my mom about a family member in our family, Michael Hallier he resided around. The Grahamstown area in Alice actually, um, he, he was my third cousin. Uh, he was an Eastern Cape oil painter, but he was also, uh, the professor of fine arts at the fort hare university in Alice. And he established the first art school to award black artists with a degree.

[00:14:31] His art school was internationally recognised. He had, has a BA, well master's in fine arts. And, um, the reason why I referred to him in the past tense is because he died of lung cancer in 2001, I didn't ever meet him. Um, he had several exhibitions and works. Uh, his works have been exhibited internationally, so.

[00:14:55] Um, I, um, he's, um, family of his, and I believe that this is a way to show people as well, that this is my bloodline.

[00:15:11] Yeah, because as I said, it’s a creative family, but now when I find out this information about him, I, it like set that foundation and I believe that I have to carry on my family name.

[00:15:26] I am the last

[00:15:32] that can actually bear children. Well I’m not actually going to have children and I don't have children. So that's, this is my way of leaving my name behind.

[00:15:46] Wesley: Um, yeah, I mean, let's jumping into the business now. Um, so, uh, but just like, just give some context everything's um, um, As artists. Um, I'm actually very interested to know, you know, I understand where the name comes from. I understand that that sort of consistency that's actually quite interesting as well.

[00:16:12] Most artists, um, you know, that, especially the artists from major centers or Johannesburg, Cape Town and so forth and even abroad, uh, entrepreneurial, you know, that not many are entrepreneurial, you know, most of them, as soon as they get signed by a gallery that’s pretty much it, you know, uh, yeah, sure. These days things have been changing. Absolutely. And I know, I mean, me personally I know of many artists who are entrepreneurial

[00:16:41] But yeah. Um, so. How did you, I mean, like it's a very, it's a very, uh, bold thing to do, um, especially from someone who's self-taught, um, because you sort of sketch your own reality in what you decide to teach yourself with and all of that. So clearly in that ecosystem that you created there was some form of entrepreneur, or being an entrepreneur come from somewhere.

[00:17:11] Um, um, but how did it get to that point, uh. Tell me how the, how your business is set up, you know, uh, the products you make, you know, the art and so on

[00:17:27] Jess: uh, well, well, I mean, I solely run my business from home, I, um, and I. I always believe that you are always learning. So you can’t stop and say, you know, now it's done. Yeah. Like you get a job. And if you don't have the skillset, you make this skillset, everything that you keep on learning and that, and, um, How, uh, I mean, if a customer orders something from me, I use PostNet to send it.

[00:18:08] I mean, I save on the fact that I don't have to go and rent a space. I did work with an art gallery before, but I walked out with less money after I sold an art piece. So, and now when I do it from home, I can spend um, more money on, on arts utensils. And I get the full amount when I sell the piece, I don't have to give a certain percentage to people and I don't have to pay to put my art in the place.

[00:18:38] And, and, and, and, and so, yeah, I mean, I. Just run it from home. And I think that it's even better to do it now in this new modern world, because in this modern world, that is where it's growing. I mean, everybody's working from home, everybody's starting their own business and doing it in their bedroom. I mean, you see these influences, they got the photo shoots happening.

[00:19:02] They got a wall that they use and, and you run your business, in your little house, in your, wherever you are. You, you, you got your phone. Or your tablet, you take it with you wherever you go. So you're always available for your customers or your clients or whatever. So it's pretty, it's pretty simple nowadays to run a art business, a hair dressing business and nail designing there's whatever you wanted.

[00:19:29] I mean, the, the way this modern world is going is making it simpler for us to make it, to make it from home. Think about the amounts of petrol you spend. When you drive to work every single day,

[00:19:51] you gotta pay that petrol to go from your house to the studio space. Whereas if you section off a piece of your house, turn it into a studio. Bob's your uncle. You saved. And now you just bring in the cash and stuff. And as I say, for me personally, working with galleries, I don't know if I will do it because it wasn't wasn't it wasn't

[00:20:15] Wesley: uh,

[00:20:22] yeah. Yeah. Interesting point there about the cost saving

[00:20:27] Yeah, yeah, of course the bottom line is all about money

[00:20:37] um, uh, Uh, of not getting what you deserve from the, from the gallery, that's, uh, that's a problem.

[00:20:49] Um, we actually all do to some point not that I'm hating on any galleries.

[00:20:56] Jess: I also work with standing gallery, whatever they can do whatever, but like for me, and a lot of people that I've seen. As they stick to the little house,

[00:21:15] Wesley: uh,

[00:21:22] Yeah, that's definitely part of this post COVID world. Um, ja sure. And, um, also I know that for artists, it might be easy because even myself, I kind of know a few things that are on and then making workspace. And it's quite, uh, it's quite interesting how different people are adapting to that.

[00:21:50] Our houses are designed pretty much to sleep, eat, and go to work. Um, it's not designed to work, so I'm actually giving quite a close eye on because I know artists who’ve been, as you say, even yourself, who’ve been doing that for years and there's many that does it.

[00:22:08] Um, I also understand the thing of saving costs. Um just a, uh, uh, a quick question

[00:22:14] um, have you done or rather, like, how do you get your work out there? Because one of the major roles of a gallery is to take the artist to the market and sell their work

[00:22:30] So how do you hustle?

[00:22:38] Jess: But galleries dont always do that. That was another issue that I had with them. But anyway, we won’t talk nonsense.

[00:22:45] I use the internet. I rely on my phone because my internet on my laptop is so slow. My phone is faster. So I get clients from Facebook is my number one and Instagram also. Upwork, uh, people per hour, glass door, deviant art and places like that platforms, but mostly Facebook and yeah, as I say, yeah, uh, websites, um, yeah, there's even art pages that they, what they do is they supply, um, They dedicated solely just to putting out, uh, art competitions and exhibitions that are available and stuff like that.

[00:23:38] You could, you go on there and that's our fine art competition. Like last year in the midst of COVID, uh, I decided to start the art competition enter an art competition. My first one, um, a prestigious one, uh, international. Before COVID hit us and then yeah, it hits. And that's also, I found on the internet. So everything is on the internet.

[00:24:09] Everybody's using the internet nowadays.

[00:24:12] Wesley: Uh, uh, the thing that really sticks out is that, most of your clients are on Facebook. Um, you know, like this is something that I've been building up a lot over the years actually is how, uh, which social media platform, um, of the sort of more ideal to one’s work. For example Twitter is...