Artist Jean Wilkey: Reality, color, animals, landscapes, objects

Las Cruces artist Jean Wilkey “combines objects, landscape, animals and the figure to explore aspects of perception, identity and our relationship to nature,” according to her website. She paints realistically and loves “certain colors for the way they make me feel when I look at them.” Her favorite color changes over time, but right now, she is “obsessed with pure Manganese Blue.”

Here are Wilkey’s answers to a few questions about her art.

Bulletin: You’re a native of Fort Worth. What brought you to Las Cruces?

Wilkey: Although I was born in Texas, I moved away right after college and lived in Honduras, Costa Rica and Israel before returning to care for family. We moved to New Mexico because I wanted to get my master’s degree in painting and my husband didn’t want to live anywhere that had snow. We arrived (in Las Cruces) in 2005 planning to stay for only three years. New Mexico is not only is the Land of Enchantment but also of entrapment, or perhaps I should say entrenchment. It’s home.

Bulletin: Is there a particular award or recognition you are most proud of?

Wilkey: Not an award per se, but I did a painting of my cat that a friend bought. His wife had recently passed away, and he hung it in his bedroom so that he could see it first thing every morning. It makes him happy, because it reminds him of his wife, who used to collect stray animals. What more could an artist want from their work?

Bulletin: Do you have an in-home studio?

Wilkey: I have a studio at home, but I also have a public studio and gallery space at 221 N. Main St., where I teach and show my own work and that of other artists. Right now, due to COVID-19, I’m teaching online, and the gallery is only open by appointment or by chance, but I hope it will soon re-open with set hours.

Bulletin: Do you paint every day? Do you have a favorite time of day to paint?

Wilkey: I like to paint daily, but it’s not always possible. I prefer to do email and errands in the morning and then get into the studio with a free mind by 10 and paint until 5 or 6, but in the past few years, it hasn’t been happening that way. So, I grab studio time when I can. I find if I go more than a couple of days without painting, self-doubt begins to creep in.

Bulletin: Do you have a favorite piece of art?

Wilkey: One of my favorites of my own work is “Big Pink,” a five-foot tall painting of a plastic rabbit. It always makes me want to laugh when I look at it.

Bulletin: Can anyone learn to paint?

Wilkey: Talent is a big myth. I believe people have proclivities. Perhaps they love music, so they start playing the guitar, or they are more visual and start drawing for fun. They receive praise for what they do, so they keep at it. It’s the keeping at it that pays off. No one expects someone to become a concert pianist without practicing scales and studying for years, but somehow in the visual arts we think either we can draw, or we can’t. The joy of self-expression is what’s important. It’s the comparison thing that kills that for people. Just express yourself in a way that makes you happy, and if you’re lucky, makes others happy too.

Bulletin: What is most rewarding about teaching art?

Wilkey: I love it when I see someone “get it.” They understand what you are showing them, and now they can do it – they can apply that to their own work. It gives them great pleasure to achieve something, and it is wonderful to watch that.

Bulletin: What else would you like to say?

Wilkey: Art is a powerful thing. In the writings of the Baha’i faith it says that “art is worship.” I think that being creative is an act of homage to the Creator. We all can exercise that attribute of creativity regardless of what field we pursue. As visual artists, we can choose to create beauty where it might not exist and meaning where it can help us all to grow, evolve and become better people. I hope my work uplifts people and gives them pause for reflection about their lives.

For more information, visit www.jeanreecewilkey.fineartstudioonline.com.