Each month the Renderosity community votes on The Renderosity Artist Of The Month [AOM] ... September's AOM is Jazzie [Jollyself]!

We congratulate Jazzie for an outstanding collection of works in the Poser Gallery!

Who is "Jollyself," and how did you come by that name?

Well, I currently reside in Florida having been raised in the suburbs of Chicago. I couldn’t handle the winters anymore and made the move in 1991. Living in Florida is kinder to the body and spirit …although I miss the beauty of the seasons and Christmas in Chicago. I am self taught in all things artistic. In my next life, I would like to go to school and be professionally trained. I work in oils, acrylic and pastels on canvas, polymer clay sculpturing and now digital. My user name was created as email contact for my website several years ago featuring my clay sculptures of Santa. One of my favorite characters of life. I created Santa in an unorthodox way of course LOL, and sculpted him, Mrs Santa and elves in “situational life” sculptures. Meaning Santa on the toilet, or the Mrs in a tub and Santa trying to get a kiss, Mr and Mrs Santa dancing etc. My sculpting site was tagged “His Jollyself” and when I found digital and started to join the digital galleries, I used that email address and it just sort of stuck. The website was closed last year. Now I have a gallery under Jazzie ( a nickname) and my official artistic name “Art By Resolution” at my online store as well as Jollyself.

How long have you been working with computer graphics?

I was surfing one day in 2006 and came across the Renderosity site and galleries and was just amazed at the graphic art. I couldn’t take it all in fast enough…I found myself virtually obsessed with the art I saw, the potential it gave to my own artistic endeavors and the amazing world of digital graphics to the point that I spent almost a week of pure research into the online galleries, the software tools/tutorials and exhibited talent amassed out there on the net. I then grabbed up Daz, Paint Shop Pro and Photofiltre and started to explore. Once I started to learn the software, I new that I was hooked, because the digital aspect of creation allowed all the stuff in my head to get out with some semblance of appeal. Something I could never put out on canvas. Probably because I am not trained in the basic principles of light and perspective. The digital world and software does that for me and allows me to create through concept and texture. It has also helped to teach me the basic principles an artist needs and my canvas and sculpting work has benefited from my digital knowledge and work immensely. Soon I was upgrading software, buying the software books and devouring them right along with dinner everyday.

Industrial Weeds

Do you have any traditional art experience?

When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time drawing cartoons and turning the basic coloring book into little works of art with crayon and coloring techniques such as bold lining, scratching out color, cross hatching etc. I saved those coloring books for awhile, preserving the individual pages with tissue paper and notebook paper believe it or not LOL. Then I found that I loved the paint brush and painting on canvas in my freshman year of high school in art class and that I seemed to have a knack for it. I started to mimic other art that I saw and favored to see if I could, soon gaining skill in my own creations on canvas. Once I got that confidence to explore and transfer my drawings to canvas..I was off and running. I taught myself to sculpt with both wet and polymer clay in the late 90’s when polymer clay became all the rage because you did not need a kiln to fire the work. That’s where my love of Santa showed itself through art for the first time. Then I found digital, and began to teach myself in that too.

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am trying to get my Etsy store front geared up for the season. I am creating some traditional seasonal prints for the fall and winter. Some of the winter ones will be designed for Christmas cards, and I am designing a surreal calendar corresponding to each month. I am also focusing a little bit on art for kids and creating prints that appeal to them in both composition and color but with alittle bit of the surreal in them.

What software/equipment do you use and why?

I eventually graduated from Daz and PSP 8 to Poser and Adobe Photoshop which are my primary tools. I couldn’t create without Photoshop. Now using CS2, I do a lot of 2D work in my surreal art and the filters, actions and brushes are the main staples of my 2D work. I’m trying to find the time to teach myself Zbrush now. Where Poser and Photoshop speak to my love of painting, Zbrush speaks to my love of sculpting. Its an intense software with unlimited use, and it has the added attraction of no messy clay and cuts from sculpting tools LOL.

Witness the Life

What is it that you like best about Poser?

I like Poser because it allows me to play with textural materials and the light rigging system is excellent. Also…there is a lot more content out there in the market place for Poser. I also love the additional render options of toon, line drawing etc. even though I don’t use them a lot in my final work, I like being able to render a piece in these modes just to see how it turns out. Sometimes, a piece will evolve from a straight render to something else just because I rendered it in a different mode and saw it in a new perspective.

With many of your works in Surrealism, what is it that attracts you to this genre?

You know, I never knew I had that twisted perspective in such a degree before I found digital. Digital allows me to create outside the box so to speak and that option has seemed to fuel my imagination toward the surreal. I had that “bent perspective” in creation on canvas too but it was limited by my lack of training and so stifled to a degree. With digital, it seems to have exploded. You can say so much with so little in the surreal genre. I’m not creating for shock value, I’m looking to inspire quiet thought. Surreal can cause one to think, as well as admire. It fosters a conversation. It breeds a different perspective. Sometimes it sparks controversy. If it makes you uncomfortable, there is probably a reason why within your own views or social strata. I like that. That is what all artists aim for. To affect the social conversation as well as add to it through their art. There is much to be said, and I strive to do that in my work.

What do you think your best piece of work is and why?

To me, my favorite works are those that touch the viewer on a different level other then “wow” or “nice” or “cool”. So I would say that my latest best is probably “Witness the Life”. My earliest best is probably “Industrial Weeds”. Then again, if you ask me next week, I might feel other pieces to be my best, LOL.

Who, or what inspires you and how do you get your ideas?

A lot of people ask me that, including my sister and husband, LOL. I seem to have an over-active muse. All the surreal artists inspire me, both known and unknown. I am in awe of the 18th century masters because their work is so rich in color and I plan on seeking them out when I get up "There."

As for my ideas, they come from everywhere. An age old saying, the twist and turn of a phrase, taking a basic generic concept and bending it, watching a child have a tantrum at the grocery store, seeing a face in the clouds, twisting the mundane to bring new life to it. All of these things can spark my creativity. I love using the organic elements in my surreal work such as nature, roots, rock, weeds, etc. I also love texture work in digital…so a lot of my surreal is really nothing more then a study in textures. In some of my portrait work, I am simply enjoying the technical aspects of postwork…not saying much socially. Sometimes the technical aspects of digital art in 2D is all that is needed to challenge me to create a piece. Suddenly I look up and there staring back at me is a surreal piece that started from nothing other then the desire to see if I could create a 5 sided box in 2D …or see if I could go wacky with scale and perspective etc.

Supporting the Arts

How has the online community (Renderosity) enhanced your work, relationships, and learning?

This site allows all of us to experience life and perspectives through the art of others. There are some amazing artists here which many of us would never have seen without a community like this. I also love to see the evolution of the new digital artists that find Renderosity in their online travels. Those just learning the digital art software and finding their inner voices through the medium. Although I strive for a different level in my art, I strongly believe that ALL creativity ..no matter the form should be honored, celebrated and protected. Renderosity is a wonderful place for that. You could say that Renderosity and RuntimeDNA are my digital parents so to speak. They gave birth to my digital art and my “surreal” self awareness. For that I am continually grateful!

The people I have met through my gallery here are wonderful and their support of my artistic efforts never fails to delight and humble me…as well as inspire me -- each in their own ways. That includes the artistic Vendors who create the beautiful content we all use everyday. My heart felt Thank you goes out to them and to Renderosity for allowing me to share my creative perspective.

Do you have any parting comments, or advice for other artists?

Creativity is both a personal thing and a public thing. Personal desire to create has to be strong in order to bring that creative desire forth and public acknowledgement is necessary to fuel the spirit of creativity. However, your artistic spirit and creation belongs to you first, so create in the pureness of that desire. Try to avoid the propensity to dilute your artwork for the sake of popularity or the accepted social norms. Even if you create a piece that may be unacceptable to the social norms of any gallery and may not be seen by others…create it anyway. Put it in a folder on your hard drive. Burn it to a CD. It now becomes part of your life’s history and as much of a keepsake as your family photos and heirlooms. It also marks your artistic evolution.

We invite you to have a further look at Jollyself's Renderosity Gallery!

Be sure to also visit:

• Renderosity Poser Community
• Renderosity Marketplace
• Renderosity FreeStuff
• Renderosity Tutorials

**Have a tutorial, animation, demo reel, or MarketPlace product to demo and share with the community? Consider posting your clips to Renderosity's newly revamped Video Center!**

Artist of the Month is highlighting a talented Renderosity artist that has been nominated by mods and admins, and voted by the community. Recognition is given to this member for their collection of works for that year.

Since we only select one AOM per month, it is not about their works for that particular month. Instead, it is about highlighting a talented artist's works for that year, and they are recognized during that month.

To learn more about Renderosity's Artist Of The Month [AOM] award, and to view our past AOM's, please visit the AOM page, which can also be found on the sidebar under Highlights.