meet the intern.

student work from NYU

So as I have mentioned a few times this semester I have the privilege of having an intern working with me.  Jael is a current NYU student that I worked with as a guest artist in May. (a few of the images are from this visit.) I was delighted when she contacted me and am so happy to have her help and get to know her over the next few months.   And of course this here little blog is a huge part of how I function as an artist so I thought it was a great place for her to learn and share too. While she is working with me she will be writing a once a week post featuring artists that inspire her. I look forward to seeing the work that she shares with us.  But first I asked her to introduce herself to all of you. So meet Jael...

What a va va voom picture! love it!

"First and foremost, I am honored to be able to be a guest writer for Joetta’s blog! I look forward to contributing my thoughts to the art community, and I hope you, her readers, will look forward to hearing from me as well!
   
 My name is Jael, and I am a student of the arts; more specifically Creative Art Therapy. I am currently a senior in college, preparing to graduate and move onto graduate school for my masters degree in Art Therapy. 

I met Joetta nearly a year ago when she acted as a guest lecturer for my class, Women’s Textiles at NYU. Our final project was to create a textile piece that somehow represented our experience of the course as a whole. Joetta joined our class for three sessions, teaching us basic embroidery and applique techniques and inspiring us with her work. She also helped lead our final critique offering us feedback and encouragement. I was instantly struck by Joetta’s work. It has inspired me to expand my own artwork into the vast and intriguing world of fiber art. I have included a couple pictures of my artwork along with a picture of myself so you can hopefully get to know me and what I love to do! 

I contacted Joetta about six months ago inquiring about an internship- finally the time has come! In addition to being a guest writer for her blog, I will be assisting her in preparation for the Down To Sleep exhibition. I look forward to learning along the way, both from Joetta as an artist, but also someone who brings many different artists together. I chose to intern with Joetta in particular because her work is often deeply personal, which connects beautifully with my love of art therapy - which is an inherently personal form of artistic expression. Working along side of her while building and shaping the Down To Sleep exhibit will hopefully inspire and inform my work with art in  the community. My plans for the future not only include working as a creative arts therapist, but I also intend to invest myself in community art projects and programs.

As a guest writer for Joetta’s blog, I will be sharing the stories of young and new artists. The majority of these artists will be students, some independent artists, and hopefully a few prominent artists who have inspired me and my work.  It will be an honor for me to be able to share these artists’ stories and work in my weekly blog post. Some of the artists I feature will run in the same vein as Joetta and be connected to the fiber art world in some way or another, others will be artists whose work contains various other mediums, but has touched me and inspired me to share their art. 

I am chomping at the bit to begin sharing my thoughts and words with you through Joetta’s blog, and I hope you enjoy my writing, musings, and photographs!
-Jael