Story & Lesson Highlights with Jessa Gilbert

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jessa Gilbert. Check out our conversation below.

Jessa, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
In addition to being a full time artist, I’ve been working as a full time backcountry snowboard guide during the winter months for the past 8 years. At first this role for my winter season was something that I saw as allowing me to reset, so that I could come back into the studio with renewed energy. However, the balance became more demanding each season with trying to juggle 100+ days guiding people in the backcountry AND creating artwork for myself and clients. This winter I’ve decided to take a step back from guiding, and will only be working part time in the field. It’s been something I’ve been thinking about for a few years now, but I’ve been afraid to step away from a career that I deeply love and feel a sense of purpose when I’m doing it. In some ways, I’ve been afraid to step back because I worked really hard to get all the skills and certifications to do the work, and have been excited about that growth. That said, I’m really excited to have more time in the studio this year creating, and shifting the pressure so that I can spend more quality time in the guiding role, rather than quantity.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My artwork is all about celebrating the tones of awe, joy, and wonder experienced while playing in the outdoors through the use of expressive color, shape, and line. Balancing life in the studio and in the mountains, where I also work as a backcountry guide, has afforded me some breathtaking moments within nature. I aim to bring those sensations of wonder into my artwork to share those moments in the mountains with the viewer, and, in a way, bring them along the journey. Whether it’s working to take a complex scene and pair it down to the most minimal of compositions, utilizing one single line, or create a full color expression to emphasize the enormity of the scene, my work is a celebration of movement and play.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
My father is one of the most playful, hardworking people I have ever known, and his drive has absolutely influenced how I approach my process in life and art. For better or worse, I’ve rarely seen him without some sort of project – he’s a builder who specializes in historic home renovations and bring the life back into beautiful yet forgotten structures. He’s also a man who has always loved being a part of theatre, is a voracious reader, and can make friends with the highest or lowest brow of people. He showed me and my brothers the importance of work ethic, showing up daily, and remaining an eternal learner. He also demonstrated the importance of play, levity, and curiosity as not just being essential for individual growth, but something that will seep into the work you do and the people you work with. He’s a dreamer, and his sense of wonder and “well, let’s see what happens if we x, y, z” has inspired me to try new things, go into the unknown, and find the levity in the gongshow that can sometimes be working as a creative.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering has been an incredible teacher, as it has forced me to build stamina, grit, and, in the best of times, grace. As a professional snowboard athlete I had some challenging physical set backs – torn ligaments, concussions, broken bones, etc. Each time an injury happened I was sent back to the ground floor and had to build my way back up physically – relearn how to walk, manage pain, and ask for help. Each time I had to reconfigure my life and reset my expectations for myself, which meant taking stock of what was and was not working. That practice of trial, error, failure, and rebuilding is a lesson I first learned in sport, but I have integrated into my studio practice. If a painting composition isn’t working I don’t blame myself for getting it wrong, but I work to rebuild and reconfigure it until it feels whole. The grace I had to learn to give myself through healing is essential within my art studio, because without it there would be no growth. To grow and/or change requires taking a risk, and the process of having to work through failure so many times has given me more confidence to keep trying.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I believe that we have more shared values than we do different ones, but how we choose to exercise them varies. I think about connection a lot in my artwork – physical things, lines, and people. I’m well aware that we have intense conflict within the world and that we have differing opinions on how things should be done. At our core, though, I think we agree on wanting the same things. I believe that, regardless which side you ask, people want to feel love, connection, joy, and have shelter for ourselves and our loved ones. Our worlds become complicated and we lose track of that core truth, we stop asking questions, and we lose our curiosity towards another’s experience. My hope is that my work can show a moment of awe, play, wonder, or joy in hopes of creating shared connection with the viewer, and bringing us all closer to harmony.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
That creativity belongs to everyone, not just the chosen few. We just need to give ourselves permission.

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