Meet Jade Lascelles

We were lucky to catch up with Jade Lascelles recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jade, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?

I was lucky to be raised in a family and household where generosity was the default. Both of my parents modeled a way of living where being kind and generous to others was always the first and best way forward. As I grew into my own creative and professional life, I could see how this foundational generosity helped me to understand what it is to be in community and collaboration with others. Whether it is attending someone’s event, performing or reading my own work, or playing music with others, to begin from a place of a generous and open heart will always allow more space for something magical to flourish. Maybe it’s also part of being an artist. To willingly investigate and share your own curiosity, vulnerability, and creative impulses feels like a very generous act to me.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am primarily a writer and musician, though I dabble in other modes as well. I have two books of poetry out—The Inevitable from Gesture Press and Violence Beside from Essay Press—along with the collaborative project All Things Born | Proximate Seams with photographer Todd Edward Herman. I play drums in a new band called You Again (keep an eye out for forthcoming Denver shows!), as well as provide drums, percussion, and vocals to various musical projects that excite me. My collage work has been featured in juried group shows in Colorado, including Shame: Radiant, Joysome, and Disgust: Unhealthy Practices.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The number one quality in all parts of my life is curiosity. To be interested in and curious about the world around you will never lead you astray, and it will usually lead you to bigger places than you could have imagined. Tied closely to that is listening. As I follow the threads of my own curiosity, I understand the importance of closely listening to what arises before me. It is less about what I know and more about receiving what I couldn’t possibly come up with myself. And the third is devoted attention. To go deeper into whatever your goal is will require devotion and focus. There is rarely a quick and easy way forward into something truly meaningful. If you’re struggling with how to move forward, I’d say notice what grabs your attention and piques your curiosity, listen closely to what arises when you look into it, and show up as often and for as long as you can manage.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Very much so! I am very interested in collaborating, as I get so much from learning from the ways and interests of others (there’s that curiosity again!). Working with visual artists has been particularly exciting to me lately. And music, for me, is always a collaboration since I play the drums (which is hard to do as a solo act).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.essaypress.org/lascelles/
• Other: https://www.gesturepressandjournal.com/press/p/theinevitable

Image Credits

Main microphone (pink dress) photo by Dona Laurita. Dancing photo by Heather Goodrich. Drum photo by Kelsey Cruz Martin. Two reading photos (purple scarf) by Todd Edward Herman.