Meet Jeanne Rietzke

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jeanne Rietzke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jeanne, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?

My optimism comes from everything I surround myself with, especially music. I have never been drawn to angry or sad music, art, or people. I prefer to be around energy that lifts you up, inspires you, and makes you smile. There are times I like to ponder serious issues, but I protect my positive energy and mental health.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I started my art career with simple watercolors of marine life. My style differed from artists who had been creating with watercolor. I remember being asked how I kept my colors so vibrant. I don’t mix my colors on a palette. If I mix them at all, I mix them on the paper. It was never the traditional way to use watercolor. My work has developed into a realistic edge with an abstract soul. My colors are still vibrant, but my subject matter can be anything that catches my eye. Patterns have become a theme recently. I have always worked from my photographs and prefer to paint in the studio.
Moving to Wilmington ten years ago took me away from my home of twenty-five years, Columbia, SC. I moved there for college in 1989. After college, I was a full-time artist for a few years, then started working in customer service, marketing, and sales with an art career on the side. I had a solid base of friends and clients, and leaving was hard. Wilmington has been very welcoming. Besides, who doesn’t want to live at the beach?
Unfortunately, art is hard to sell here. Most people are retired or relocated, and they don’t buy art. We have a vibrant tourist population in the summer, but most want smaller souvenirs of their travels. I knew there were buyers in Wilmington, so I contacted commercial brokers in May this year and asked if artists could use their walls to display art. Out of this was born Free Art Wilmington. We now have four buildings with twenty-two artists showing their work in hallways and lobbies of multi-tenant buildings around Wilmington. We are finding buyers where they work. It’s free for the building owners. The artists handle their own sales and keep all the money. A true win-win!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Never take no for an answer.
2. Never give up.
3. Learn from your mistakes.

If you can keep these three skills in mind, you can accomplish anything you want. That doesn’t mean you won’t fail, but don’t let that stop you from trying again.
I always take “no” as “not now” or “not this.” So your follow-up question has to be, “Why?” If you don’t know why they said no, you can’t come back again later. That feeds into never giving up. You can’t try again if you don’t grow, learn and change.
Learning from your mistakes is priceless. As an artist, there are ways to understand why your art isn’t selling. Why do people always want to haggle? Why do they mention my presentation? What stopped them from buying? Feedback will help you adjust or move on. Sometimes, the mistake is location or people.

Art is personal, and artists find it difficult to accept even constructive criticism. Keep an open mind and listen. You can always pick and choose the advice that works best for you.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Artists are always looking for collaborators. I would love to find places near and in Wilmington to display my art. Some of the collaborators could be a group of artists who want to put together a group show, artists in Raleigh (for example) who want to start Free Art Raleigh, a group of artists putting together a pop-up art festival, building owners who need art to enhance their building, restaurants that want fresh art every month—the list is endless.

Artists need to spend time creating, but our art needs to get out in the world and be seen by others. Gallery representation is the dream, but we need other options, too. I am laser focused on finding creative and inexpensive ways to get art in front of potential buyers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jeanne-rietzke.pixels.com
• Instagram: @painted_by_hand_ilm, @carolinethepaintedturtle @freeartwilmington
• Facebook: Painted By Hand, Caroline The Painted Turtle, Free Art Wilmington
• Linkedin: Jeanne McIntosh Rietzke
• Other: I am also on Threads.

Image Credits

All photos taken by Jeanne Rietzke.