My Life & Artwork - April 2018

May 2, 2018 Teressa Jackson

Well, April sure has been fun and interesting!

The saguaros are blooming and it's spectacular (photo from Saguaro National Park West)

The desert has been in full bloom and it's been pretty spectacular. The palo verde trees are trimmed with yellow flowers, the yucca are popping out big stalks of white blooms, and the cacti are bursting with all sorts of amazing petal configurations. I'm enjoying every minute of nature's celebration. While April was mostly beautiful, May is looking toasty, with the first of the year's triple-digit temperatures set to hit this weekend.

Aaron and I did several interesting things this month, including attending a Mexican street food festival, stargazing at Kitt Peak National Observatory, glass blowing at Sonoran Glass School, and chowing down at the Pima County Fair. We especially enjoyed the glass blowing experience, and will very likely return for more fun with molten materials at some point in the future.

I took a day trip to Phoenix to visit the Desert Botanical Garden, Jerry's Artarama (art supply store - $$$), and my friend Kalisha. I also trekked all the way across Tucson to Saguaro National Park East, since I hadn't been there in over a year. It takes nearly an hour to get there, and although it's certainly nice, I confirmed that I am a bigger fan of Saguaro National Park West, which is a much closer trip from my apartment (about 20 minutes). And, I couldn't resist paying a visit to the blooming corpse flower at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, one of only a handful that will bloom in captivity this year. I thought that it smelled like dirty socks.

What else... oh yes, ART! :-)

I had a really lovely month in this realm. I began April by putting the finishing touches on a special piece for my dear friend's nursery, one which contains a lot of meaning and love. So while I never in my life thought I would paint a raccoon playing a guitar surrounded by fireflies, I ended up rather enjoying the challenge and the result.

Next up, I was commissioned to paint a dog portrait by a Tucson local who discovered me on Instagram. This was a really fun project because her dog Stella is a total doll, and I met a lovely person in the process (a.k.a. Stella's mom). It was also pretty fun to see the internet pay off in terms of both art sales and people meeting. So yay for the internet!

I was then commissioned (is there a theme here?) to paint a piece for my second cousin to give as a gift to a friend. My cousin Kim lives here in Tucson, and wanted to give something special to a friend who lives in Kino Bay, Mexico. We came up with one of my "reverse mermaid" scenes set in Kino Bay, with some special touches (i.e. heart necklace, paddle board, and wine glass) to make the piece unique to her friend's life and interests.

Some of these cactus flowers are just gigantic (photo from Tucson Botanical Garden)

My mother hired me to paint a portrait of her mother in front of her parents' hardware store as a gift for my uncle's birthday, and this project was next on the agenda. This was a bit of a departure from my recent work, but harkened back to pieces I've created in the past. It was fun to do and especially heartwarming to see all the lovely memories people posted on Facebook when my mom shared the piece on there. Apparently my grandparents' hardware store was full of special memories for a lot of people who grew up in Mason, Ohio.

Last, I took a quick break from commissions (yes, I have another one in the works) to create a piece inspired by spring in Southern Arizona, featuring the blooming ocotillos. These thorny, dead-looking sticks get happy, grow leaves, and bloom a few times a year, and this month has been one of those times.

But wait - I'm not done yet! (Sorry this is a long one...)

April was almost over, but I had another fun surprise in store. Another Tucson artist, Addy Cottle, contacted me via Instagram and asked if I would be interested in showing my work with her at Epic Cafe on Tucson's historic Fourth Avenue. Of course the answer was "yes," and I spent the last few days of April framing art and preparing to display my creations.

The corpse flower at Tucson Botanical Gardens

Addy and my show will run through the end of May, and while I know that many of my blog readers won't be in a geographically feasible place to see it, I appreciate the many well wishes I have received. I'm excited to have an opportunity to show my work publicly and connect with new people in Tucson.

I can't wait to see what happens in May. Stay tuned for my next blog!

And now, this month's creations. The only one of these still available for purchase is the last piece, and it's currently only available for sale by visiting Epic Cafe. If it doesn't sell during my show, it will be back online for sale starting June 1.

Shop now ›

Coonie's Reprise (special gift for my friend's nursery)

Gates Pass, Tucson, Arizona: 3/27/18, 9:13:07

Shop now ›

Teressa the Tucsonan

October 11, 2017 Teressa Jackson

"To be a human being is to be in a state of tension between your appetites and your dreams, and the social realities around you and your obligations to your fellow man."
~John Updike

I wasn't yet three years old when my family arrived in New Albany. Although I wasn't born there, it and the Louisville area are the only home I've ever known.

As a teenager, I couldn't wait to leave the area. I applied and was accepted to Chicago's DePaul University. At the last minute, however, I changed my mind. I remember that my mother was pretty upset, and she issued an understandable challenge given our family's financial situation. If I could persuade Bellarmine University to (re)award the scholarships that I had already declined, she would let me alter my plan. To both our amazement, I was successful.

Bellarmine was a good fit for me, and in retrospect, I think DePaul and Chicago would not have been. A couple of years after graduation, I continued my education at the University of Louisville, and my Master of Public Administration degree led me to work primarily in the human services sector. By the time those eight years had passed between high school and graduate school commencement, I not only had bought two houses in my New Albany hometown, I had a goal to work to actively help those who lived in the area. I was invested.

I can't believe that fifteen years have passed since then. My career has led me to meet some truly amazing individuals who comprise the bulk of the people in my life I refer to as friends. In fact, a humbling number of them have bought one or more pieces of my artwork and helped support my wandering over the past year and/or cheered me on instead of telling me I had lost my mind.

Although I have found great fulfillment in my life and career, I have also always felt that I missed out on something by never living anywhere else. Maybe it was the number "40" entering my life, or maybe it was just finally time, but I felt that my wandering over the past year was something I had to do. I didn't want to be someone who said they were going to do something "someday," but discovered that someday never came.

Once I set my mind to making the events of the past year happen, my determination drove me past hurdles and doubts. Many times, we spend more time thinking about why we can't do something than how to change that reality. I'm admittedly a little proud that I found the courage to set those uncertainties aside, stare the obstacles down, and make changes.

The places I have temporarily called "home" over the past year have provided me with many valuable experiences and inspirations. Staying in a place for a couple of weeks or even a month definitely provides a different perspective than a few days on vacation, but it's still a far cry from truly settling in and making a life there.

Now is the time to take that next step.

After leaving Saint-Martin, Aaron and I flew to Tucson. We had been to the area previously and enjoyed it. The prospect of living in a place with some of the mildest winters possible, beaucoup Mexican fare, a visually inspiring desert landscape, and a population around the size of our Louisville hometown lured us to consider it as a more long-term option. Aaron scored a job more quickly than we expected, and we hurriedly flew home and have spent the past several days driving our few remaining belongings from my mother's house in Johnson County, Indiana to the Arizona city also known as the Old Pueblo.

Me at Tucson's Saguaro National Park in January

I am tremendously fortunate to be in a position to casually look for local employment while I continue my contract work and creative pursuits. It will be interesting to see how we adjust to living in this city, but so far, people have been quite friendly and welcoming. So for now, and maybe even for good, you can refer to me as "Teressa the Tucsonan."

If I know you and you're reading this, chances are, I miss you. I hope to see you on my future visits back to Derby City when I should have more time for socializing, and invite you to look me up if you ever find yourself in this corner of the Sonoran Desert.

Living in an apartment instead of out of a backpack or vehicle, I'm looking forward to having the space and focus to create more and larger works of art. I have a lot of inspiration from this past year, and I can't wait to keep working through it all. Stay tuned as I continue to document my adventures as a new resident of this community, and stay in touch as I continue to keep you all in my heart.

Much Love,

Valley of the Sun

April 27, 2017 Teressa Jackson

Kalisha and me at Hole in the Rock at Papago Park

Two weeks ago, I meandered through the desert, past the beautiful blue waters of Lake Havasu, and into the Valley of the Sun. Phoenix has definitely lived up to its nickname, as UV rays have been in plentiful supply here, and there certainly hasn't been a single drop of rain.

I even got to experience a day at what they refer to as the "century mark" when the mercury climbed to 100 degrees on Sunday. You always hear people say that it's not as bad because it's a "dry heat." They're telling the truth. I'd take a million 100 degree days at 6% humidity over 90 degrees with 90% humidity back home. Heat is infinitely more tolerable when you don't feel like someone wrapped a wet blanket around your head. Sorry, Ohio Valley.

While I feel I've barely scratched the surface of what this city has to offer, I've definitely enjoyed my time here. I had visited Scottsdale several years ago, but didn't really get to do or experience much on that trip. I honestly had no idea how large the city was until I got here. With a metro area of around 4.5 million people, it's around 3 times the size of my Louisville hometown.

It's been especially fun to spend some time with my friend Kalisha, who relocated to Phoenix from Louisville at the first of the year. She was kind enough to tour me all over the metro area, and I truly got a more local perspective thanks to her. We attended a self-defense class, visited the farmer's market, saw the city sprawl from up high at South Mountain Park, gazed at Camelback Mountain, hopped up to the hole in the rock at Papago Park, went to a Young Nonprofit Professional Network event, and devoured a few delicious meals.

Blooming saguaro at Desert Botanical Gardens

Kalisha also scored me a free pass to the Desert Botanical Garden. As a self-described "plant nerd," I think was probably the highlight of my time in Phoenix. Other stops included the Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera exhibit at the Heard Museum, the Rose Garden at Mesa Community College, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. I took a day trip to Sedona and hiked in Oak Creek Canyon, and stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument's gorgeous cliffside dwelling on the way back to the city. I enjoyed lunch and olive oil tasting at Queen Creek Olive Mill (olives!!). South of Phoenix, I visited Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, a multi-story structure built in the 1300's by Ancestral Sonoran Desert People.

I also was really happy that my return to the Sonoran Desert unexpectedly coincided with the saguaro cacti's annual bloom. The white flowers, which open at night and only last through the following day, are Arizona's state flower.

One of the things I enjoy about being somewhere on a more extended timeframe is the chance to just spend time like a normal person. I ate some great Mexican food, spent a lot of time with my paintbrushes, shopped a little, enjoyed my Tempe neighborhood, and put some new tires on my car. After nearly 16,000 miles of traveling, it was time!

There remains plenty I haven't seen, done, or experienced in Phoenix, but I've learned to let that go and not wear myself out. Sometimes you have to walk the line between tourist and pretend local... between vacation and real life.

Where to next? I'm really excited to hit the road this morning and head toward one of our nation's least visited national parks, Great Basin National Park in Baker, Nevada. I'm very excited about the diversity of this remote park, which includes mountains, a glacier, ancient bristlecone pine trees, and a cave. Time to put some wear on these new tires!

Blog