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There it is. Okay.

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We'll get started then. Hey, friends, and welcome back to The Artist is In. I'm your host, Kat Collins, and today I'm thrilled to bring you a conversation with paint and visual designer Jennifer Small. Jennifer's work captures the quiet poetry of the everyday, transforming overlooked objects and banal spaces into vibrant, abstract compositions. that act as personal time capsules. Her paintings are rooted in observation, memory, and a deep appreciation for the wonder of the ordinary. She has exhibited across the East Coast and Midwest, and her work has been featured in publications like New American Paintings, Studio Visit Magazine, and Artist Talk Magazine. In this episode, we'll talk about her creative evolution, her ability to turn routine into resonance, and how her practice invites us to look a little closer at the beauty right in front of us. We'll also explore how letting go of expectations, of rigid narratives, and of traditional forms can open the door to a more expansive and honest creative process. So let's get into it, because the artist is in. Jen, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate this. Yeah, thank you for having me. This will be fun. I'm looking forward to this conversation. So to start with, how did your journey with painting begin? And how has your relationship to your work changed over time?

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Yeah, so my journey was specifically with painting. Yeah, so my journey was specifically with painting. You know, kind of seriously painting, you know, specifically began in high school. when i painted my first oil painting and i've always kind of been you know a maker you know even as a small you know small child always you know drawing and making things but that experience in high school you know using oil paints in a very traditional way and learning that process really got me interested in painting as as a as a practice as a medium and Over time, my relationship to my work has changed. I think it's evolved from being more academic or more traditional to being more personal, more narrative. It's evolved from realism or direct observation to abstraction, all the while maintaining the relationship to those foundational teachings from school. And I also moved away from oil to acrylic at some point in grad school.

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Nice. I did the same thing. I started with oils and moved to acrylic now, and that's what I've been using for years. Yeah, for sure. Your paintings often elevate humble, everyday objects. What draws you to those subjects?

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Yeah, so my... The way... Yeah, so...

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One of my, the way I kind of pick and choose things is kind of based on their formal elements in a way. So I'm looking at things, I'm kind of switching off from the object's function to just the aesthetics of it. So I'm looking for things that have an interesting texture or The light and shadow is hitting it, you know, in an interesting way. Or, you know, there's a pattern or things are overlapping one another in creating an interesting contrast. So those are the kind of things that I look for and kind of pull out from my environment. But I think using the environment, one, it's accessible. It's kind of... always there whether i'm at home or traveling but also there's so much there's so much to take in and and it's just kind of an endless you know factory i guess of of inspiration so so that's that's what i'm kind of looking for that makes sense i mean we have it all around us why not

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know factory i guess of of inspiration so so that's that's what i'm kind of looking for that

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makes sense i mean we have it all around us why not I also see your paintings, especially with some of the more recent series I've seen of yours, almost like a journal of your day or the things that you've been going through or your travel of your day or the things that you've been going through or your travels because you're taking aspects of that and putting it into an artwork. Does that sound about right?

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Yes, definitely. You know, this process of pulling things out of my environment also, you know, doesn't always also just in addition to it, it's fueling my compositions or giving me kind of source material. It also helps me solidify memories of experiences. You know, like you were saying, it is it is a journal. You know, that's that's how I I kind of. document and collect and kind of map my my movements in a way and and looking back at the paintings even years later i can i can remember exactly where i was what time of year it was you know what was happening you know kind of thing so so it does act as as a as a visual journey in a way

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We often describe your work as a journey of a day in the light. So that makes perfect sense. You mentioned memory. What role does memory play in your art?

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I think memory is almost a result in a way because, like I said, I can look back on paintings and I can look back on paintings and and see, you know, kind of recall back to where I was and to, you know, what I was seeing and even, you know, who I was with or things like that. So I think the memories end up being, you know, coming kind of at the end. And I think the process that I use just kind of helps me to, helps me make the memories more concrete. I guess. Sure. Sure.

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So talking about your process, because it is a bit different, can you walk us through your process from initial observation to the final painting and what you're paying attention to during each phase?

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Sure. Yeah. So the initial observation phase, I mentioned a little bit earlier, I'm kind of paying attention to formal elements. So I'm... recalling those, you know, those foundational kind of compositional items we all learned in art school. And I'm kind of scanning for interesting elements in terms of, you know, lines, colors, textures, patterns, contrasts. And what I'm doing is kind of photographing those things. And then kind of collecting all of this photographic inspiration. And I also start to think about,

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also start to think about, you know, what... And I also start to think about, you know, what two elements would work well together. So if I pull something that's very rigid, very architectural, like maybe another observation that's a little more organic or a little... a little more looser or curvier would work well with that more rigid piece. So then after I collect all of the inspiration through photos and sometimes little short videos, so what I do is kind of analyze all of them and from those photos kind of group observations together and determine which parts of each photo I want to work with and which parts will work with work well with other other parts so I end up using three to four kind of photo inspiration photo source in each painting sometimes more but but that's kind of the the general amount and then what I'll do is figure out what needs to be adjusted so Maybe it's just a little corner of something and I want to scale that up to make it, you know, a really big area or focal point. I'll sometimes flip and turn parts so that the orientation is different. So I'll work all of that out through sketches and sometimes collages of initial sketches or of the actual sketches. of this initial sketches or of the actual photos themselves. I'll actually, you know, cut and rearrange in order to, you know, figure out my composition. Then I'll determine a palette for the work. So sometimes the color is kind of local to what I was observing. Sometimes it's completely imagined and sometimes it's a combination. So I'll kind of work that out. And then moving to the final painting surface, and I work on canvas, I work on paper, and I work on panel. So whatever I'm working on at the time. And then through the painting process, I'll make adjustments to the color, the value, the paint applications. So sometimes those more rigid areas, you know, are masked off and very hard edge and their paint with, you know, the paint's applied, you know, in a more flat sense. Sometimes I'll leave the canvas raw and some more liquid applications. I'll use spray paint sometimes. I've recently gotten into applying paint with an airbrush. So I'll kind of work all of that out. But overall, the composition remains pretty close to the initial, you know, sketch or collage.

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So there's a lot of process and planning you go through. So how do you know when a piece is done, especially when you're working from such layered personal observations?

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Yeah, so I think... Personal observations.

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Personal observations.

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Yeah, so I think once I get to the point of, you know, working on the final painting, I'm definitely more focused on the formal considerations. So I'm looking at... balance i'm looking at focal point i'm looking at you know variety negative space are the colors working together things like that so i'm not at that point i'm i'm kind of the personal kind of side of it what is is kind of in the beginning and then you know once i get to the determining if it's finished you know i'm thinking more about those kind of compositional elements sure sure so when you started out painting did you start with realism oh yes yeah i was i was trained pretty pretty traditionally in undergrad observation you know it was the still life landscape portrait kind of sure yeah process and it was and as as i started to develop

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when you started out painting did you start with realism oh

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yes yeah i was i was trained pretty pretty traditionally in undergrad observation

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know it was the still life landscape portrait kind of sure yeah process and it was and as as i started to develop skills to to kind of make something look as i was seeing it i started to kind of break things down so i started with repetition where i would take a piece of a still life that we were painting in class and just repeat it and turn it and and kind of fill the canvas with kind of a single canvas with kind of a single object in a variety of of kind of perspectives so that's kind of what what kind of started me veering away from direct observation and into you know more of an abstraction but but it was still I was still painting kind of realistically I still had that like 3d modeling type thing going on and that kind of carried me into starting to prepare for grad school i was still doing kind of similar things i was i was also making little mini sculptures out of sound objects and those became my subjects for a while and because the the little you know things i would use were kind of nondescript it it again kind of lended to

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a while and because the the little you know things i would use were kind of nondescript it it again kind of lended to in the end, an abstraction, even though it was more observational. But then in grad school, so there was about five years in between my undergrad and grad. And when I got to grad school, I was still kind of pursuing this kind of everyday object, but kind of dissected and repeated and scaled up, scaled down, things like that. And I took a narrative painting class in grad school and I wanted to challenge myself to kind of bring more of that personal element or that narrative into my work,

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bring more of that personal element or that narrative into my work, but I still wanted to explore abstraction. So that's what kind of led me to this day in the life idea.

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You know, I was first thinking about how, you know, you look back on a significant day and your memory kind of, you don't, you remember the significant part, but you also kind of, all of the other like kind of little things are more in focus in a way, at least for me. And I started thinking like, what if, what if I do the opposite? Like, what if I kind of pull things? from an insignificant day like any day any time and and kind of use abstraction as a way to tell my story but also kind of elevate these common experiences you know in a way so it was kind of just that juxtaposition I was also you know it grabs a lot me to write about all of this so

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kind of use abstraction as a way to tell my story but also kind of elevate these common experiences you know in a way so it was kind of just that juxtaposition I was also you know it grabs a lot me to write about all of this so So I think it provided me some framework. And that narrative piece, you know, was still very personal. It just, the paintings didn't always appear personal. Which I kind of liked. I kind of liked that you had to kind of investigate a little bit. That you had to kind of investigate a little bit.

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And... you know and kind of understand the context a little bit sure but then it it provided a layer of oh yeah i've you know i've noticed shadows like that or i i've you know i remember that you know corner of that building going to class today too and and things like that so it was it became kind of a way to connect but also a way to tell tell my story and and kind of document my journey sure so it's almost like your personal story becomes a universal story that other people can connect to yeah and and that's what i was kind of kind of getting getting at exactly yeah it was you know i was kind of pulling out these things that everyone's

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it's almost like your personal story becomes a universal story that other people can connect to yeah

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and and that's what i was kind of kind of getting getting at exactly yeah it was you know i was kind of pulling out these things that everyone's experience in a way you know or at some point and kind of using those elements or using those things as inspiration for elements in my work sure so has your move toward abstraction felt like a form of liberation or were there hesitations and letting go of realism i think i think at first there there were because i

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so has your move toward abstraction felt like a form of liberation or were there hesitations and letting go of realism i

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think i think at first there there were because i still felt for a long time i felt the need to kind of avoid like flatness of avoid like flatness but i i i feel like when i kind of and also flatness but also like local color i for a long time i i veered away from realistic color and

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i i i feel like when i kind of and also flatness but also like local color i for a long time i i veered away from realistic color and that felt liberating but it's funny more recently i've been going back to more realistic color in in spots in areas so yeah i think abstraction as a whole was super liberating because i felt myself kind of not getting bored but but kind of i wanted to challenge myself more

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back to more realistic color in in spots in areas so yeah i think abstraction as a whole was super liberating because i felt myself kind of not getting bored but but kind of i wanted to challenge myself more from direct observation to kind of put my own spin on it so so yeah I think it was liberating I always talk about how when it comes to abstraction in my case I paint you paint as well but it's painting what you feel you know and even though you're also painting what you see it's a different way of seeing yes yeah absolutely

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always talk about how when it comes to abstraction in my case I paint you paint as well but it's painting what you feel you know and even though you're also painting what you see it's a different way of seeing yes

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absolutely

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Yes. Yeah, I agree. And I think, I think the, for me, maybe the feeling comes in when I'm picking and choosing, when I'm, when I'm feeling that something is more visually engaging to me than, than something else. And, and it's not visually engaging to me than, than something else. And, and it's not necessarily. some deep emotional connection. Right, and it doesn't have to be. Right, and it's my process of kind of understanding what I'm seeing. Sure.

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You know, you mentioned the viewer want to connect with your work in a tangible way and wanting them to do that. How do you hope people feel when they experience your paintings?

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Yeah, I hope people feel kind of a sense of a connection of familiarity of kind of recollection or or fondness maybe of their own experiences in if it was in the same place or the same you know type of environment or you know things that they can make a connection to and also kind of an extended

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it was in the same place or the same you know type of environment or you know things that they can make a connection to and also kind of an extended appreciation for abstract painting and the process of making an abstract painting maybe if they if they kind of saw it as a such a broad genre that it can be you know you know very non -objective but it can also be rooted in in representation sure absolutely

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So in my recent solo episode, I talked about the power of letting go of the outcome, which is the predominant theme for this series. Letting go of the outcome, which is the predominant theme for this series. In your own creative process, what have you had to let go of?

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in my work and I try to embrace using like looser more painterly applications and you know having those areas kind of work with the more rigid or precise areas and allowing also allowing the substrate to provide kind of more contrast in surface quality or the application of paint. Like I mentioned, I've been kind of getting into, you know, using paint in different ways, whether it's really fit out and watery versus, you know, really, you know, heavy body paint or spraying the paint or, you know, kind of just allowing things to happen rather than being so rigid and calculated i guess even though my process is pretty calculated i i i like those moments of of chance you know some people say happy accident or whatever i think i i like i'm trying to embrace more of that or whatever i think i i like i'm trying to embrace more of that

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guess even though my process is pretty calculated i i i like those moments of of chance you know some people say happy accident or whatever i think i i like i'm trying to embrace more of that or whatever i think i i like i'm trying to embrace more of that the in the the painting process itself rather than feeling like i'm just kind of enlarging my sketch so how do you balance structure and spontaneity in your compositions is letting go a conscious part of your studio practice yeah i think so i think the way i balance that is through kind of the selection process of

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the the painting process itself rather than feeling like i'm just kind of enlarging my sketch so

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how do you balance structure and spontaneity in your compositions is letting go a conscious part of your studio practice yeah

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i think so i think the way i balance that is through kind of the selection process of you know, at the very beginning. And the compositional kind of process where I'm specifically looking for those contrasts in how I'm composing the work. So I think I often will, if I, you know, kind of if I use one super rigid piece, then the next piece will be we'll have more curves or more organic qualities. So I think, I think the way I build this, the compositions kind of have that. And then what I do is then I play with the application. So if, if the more organic, you know, areas maybe call for that, that more fluid paint application, that more like kind of watercolor. So then I pair that with a more flat application,

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more flat application, more opaque application, where those two things can kind of live together.

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Has there been a specific painting or moment in your career when you had to release control? And what happened when you did?

00:25:13 SPEAKER_02
Yeah, so I think... The moments where I've had, you know, an idea for something that isn't necessarily connected to the series that I'm currently working on or something like that. It's just kind of this side idea. And when I've had those ideas, it's like really sparked, you know, from a specific experience. And if I've leaned into that and kind of went for it without as much of the planning, it often yields an interesting result. And an example, a kind of recent example, last year I was in New York visiting galleries and saw some of Mary Heilman's horizontal stripe paintings, just works on paper. And they just felt so... immediate and confident and just fresh and when i got home i started to look at you know horizontal look for horizontal kind of patterning you know and i have a horizontal fence in the backyard and i started kind of have a horizontal fence in the backyard and i started kind of seeing sections of fence as potential you know

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i got home i started to look at you know horizontal look for horizontal kind of patterning you know and i have a horizontal fence in the backyard and i started kind of have a horizontal fence in the backyard and i started kind of seeing sections of fence as potential you know horizontal stripes like broad horizontal stripes and i couldn't get it out of my head so i was like okay i had this big watercolor paper and i just went for it i use you know i use liquid acrylic and just just made these like big horizontal stripe paintings and and those kind of things are really fun because it kind of Keeps things fresh. You know, I'm working on a, if I'm working on a, you know, longer term kind of series like I am right now with this series about my trip to Venice a couple of years ago. I like to throw in things that are like that, that are a little more immediate and don't take as much, you know, planning and sketching and things like that.

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like that. Sure.

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So what do you think? we as humans overlook in our daily lives art can help us see differently yeah i think art or looking at art can help us kind of slow down a bit in our daily life to allow for more investigation more discovery i think when you look at a piece of artwork there's there's so much to see there's so many details to kind of look at investigate and

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i think art or looking at art can help us kind of slow down a bit in our daily life to allow for more investigation more discovery i think when you look at a piece of artwork there's there's so much to see there's so many details to kind of look at investigate and And I think that idea of looking can be transferred to our daily life and maybe allow for more of that exciting discoveries.

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looking can be transferred to our daily life and maybe allow for more of that exciting

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Sure. The key, I think, is slowing down. Yes. You know, and taking the time to actually look at something. It was an interesting experiment that an art museum did that I visited a couple years ago. They had a room with one painting in it and a chair in front of the painting. And they had a timer where you timed yourself to sit for 30 minutes in front of one painting and see what you can do and, you know, what questions you ask. What more do you see? And then they had a journal you could write your observations in to share. And it was really interesting. And I like to take my time and look at paintings. I love getting deep in them. But I will tell you what, Dirty Men's was challenging. They hit five and I was like, really? I have to stick it for 25 minutes or more? Yeah. You know, the slowing down and actually taking the time to do that is challenging, but it's definitely worth it. Absolutely.

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You mentioned briefly about something in your art practice right now that's exciting you or surprising you. Could you expound more on that?

00:29:39 SPEAKER_02
I'm sure. Yeah. So right now I'm, well, I have a couple of things going. So I am continuing. I mentioned a series I'm working on about, I mentioned a series I'm working on about a visit to Venice, Italy. where I documented one day just being a pedestrian in Venice. And that's yielded a lot. I think up to about 15 or 16 paintings. Wow. And so that's kind of ongoing. But I'm also getting into shaved panels. So I'm using... like a laser cutter or cnc router to cut shapes out of wood and use those as as my surface so i'm kind of breaking away from the the traditional rectangle sure so that's in the works like the shapes specific to something or are they okay yeah so so all of the the it's it's going to be specific to

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to something or are they okay yeah

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so so all of the the it's it's going to be specific to the observations that i collect kind of working on simplifying the shapes from my photos or from my sketches you know photos and sketches and kind of using those as as the the canvas that of instead of the rectangle so i've i've done a couple of small ones that were inspired by you know houses and and routes and things in the neighborhood. And now the routes and things in the neighborhood. And now the series I'm working on now is going to be about a trip to Miami. So those will be developing. And I'm also, like I mentioned before, really interested in applying paint with an airbrush. So that'll be kind of showing up if I work more. I did some pieces on paper where I used the airbrush and it was really fun. Just a different and kind of hard to control. So it goes back to that letting go idea.

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Precious. What advice would you offer to artists who are learning how to let go of perfection of rules or of external expectations?

00:32:20 SPEAKER_02
Yeah, so I would say. Just kind of stay true to your ideas. You know, try to stick to what you're thinking and feeling and not comparing to others. I would also say just keep experimenting, keep playing, keep learning about, you know, new ways of working, new materials. And then you'll find your audience or they'll find you. So I know I find myself doing it too, you know, kind of comparing to others in terms of where they're showing or, you know, who's collecting their work or, you know, how many sales, you know, who's collecting their work or, you know, how many sales they're having and things like that. But, you know, the audience will find you.

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Absolutely. So where can, speaking of being found. Where can listeners see or support your work?

00:33:24 SPEAKER_02
Yeah, so my website is jensmallart .com, and my Instagram is jensmallart, so try to keep it pretty simple. But yeah, I post as often as I can, and my website's actually pretty up -to -date at this point. But yeah,

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that's where people can find me. Great.

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Great. Jennifer, thank you so much for joining me today and for sharing the layers behind your work and your way of seeing. I think we all need that reminder that meaning doesn't have to be monumental to matter. It can live in a coffee cup, a corner of a room, a passing shadow. If you want to explore Jennifer's work, as she said, you can find her on Instagram at jensmallart. That's Jen with one N. And visit her website at jensmallart .com. I'll drop all the links in the show notes for everybody. As always, thanks for listening to The Artist is In. If this episode resonated with you, please consider leaving a review or sharing it with a fellow creative. Until next time, keep creating, keep noticing, and don't be afraid to let go of what no longer serves you. That's often where the real magic begins.