Jasmine Stone
In My Own Words....
I am a multimedia artist, and I have always been drawn to figurative pieces and dreamlike landscapes and mindscapes. My earliest influences were Salvador Dali, John Biggers, Aaron Douglas, Gordon Parks, Georgia O'Keeffe, and the artists of the Renaissance, including Botticelli and Michaelangelo. My more recent artist crushes include Kehinde Wiley, Annie Leibovitz, and Bisa Butler.
When people ask where I’m from, the answer is everywhere and nowhere. My father was a military man, and we moved quite frequently. I was always the new girl. Once he retired, we settled in Atlanta, and that is usually where I say is home. While my sister and I always colored in the Barbie coloring books with crayon skin colors that looked like ours, I didn’t really find art until high school. I had the most amazing teacher, Ms. Spearman, that encouraged me just to create anything I wanted. Afterward, I studied for 2 years at The University of Georgia, 1 year at The Art Center of Albuquerque, and graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Communications Art and Design with a concentration in Illustration and a minor in Photography.
After many years of trying to make a career out of my art and spending quite a bit of money, I worked in retail for several years, disgusted by artmaking altogether. It wasn’t until after the birth of my first son that I dabbled back in photography. Through frequent volunteering at my son’s elementary school, teaching art found me. I have been inspiring elementary artists for 7 years now in Richmond City Public Schools. I really found my stride within the past few years after taking a workshop with my friend, Beth Allums. She introduced me to a whole world of mixed media canvases that truly got me through my own journey with cancer and has shaped my work ever since. I enjoy the process of piling on layers and letting the canvas tell me what exactly it’s supposed to be. One of the hardest lessons I am still in the process of learning, as a perfectionist, is that my art comes out in exactly the manner it’s supposed to...even if it’s not what I first envisioned. Once I get inspired by something or someone in my world, I let God guide me to express this for someone to connect with. Once I go on that journey and create art, it’s a whole experience of expression for me, a purging if you will...I don’t rework it, I move on to the next moment. I believe art can shine a light on those who are in darkness. Isolation is darkness.... Connection is Light… Art should Connect Us