Jess Trainer

This weeks last Artist Feature is from self proclaimed Feminist Artist and amazing MOTHER FUCKING WOMAN Jess Trainer. We have known eahcother for a few years however Jess has recently ventured into commissionable artwork and doing her own creative THING…

Keep reading to find out for more!

Q1: What is your Name, Age, and Where are you based?

A: I’m Jess or @_femininefeminist_ , I’m 25 and based in Sheffield.

Q2: How did you first get into your creative practice/ work?

A: As I grew up as an only child, I did a lot of drawing and painting as a kid and creative subjects like art, dance and literature were always my favourite at school. Those were the things I enjoyed so I worked hard at them. I then followed them through GCSE/A Level, did my degree in BA Fine Art and ended up teaching and supporting in creative classes for adults and teens with disabilities. I actually used to want to design album covers or work in high fashion but now I’m more interested in using art to improve the lives of others.

Q3: Are there any main or overarching themes you explore in your work?

A: If you couldn’t guess by my instagram handle, my work is mostly about women’s issues, particularly identity, how we’re perceived by others and how we’re expected to be. My work is usually very personal and responsive and one topic that I always come back to is the female body and sexuality. like so many other women I’ve dealt with varying degrees of sexual assault, I’ve been on ridiculous diets trying to fit myself into the ideal body, and very recently I suffered a miscarriage. All these things have led to a complicated relationship with myself and I think anyone who identifies as a woman, even if we haven’t shared experiences, will share that relationship with their own body. I find I’m constantly working on forgiving my body, loving my body and looking after her and that’s something that feels very important.

Q4: How has the COVID- 19 Pandemic affected your work?

A: I moved to Sheffield just before we went into lockdown so I have been out of work for a few months now and having my art practise has been a blessing. I’ve spent lockdown mostly focussing on ways I can move forward with my own art and create a proper business out of it that I feel genuinely excited about.

Q5: Highlight one of your biggest inspirations!

A:Tracey Emin! I was always told not to reference Emin at University because she’s too obvious and every young female does. But I find that so important about her, her work is so so personal and raw and you feel like she’s talking to you and telling you her stories of grief and pain and love and sex and I think its something a lot of young women relate to.

Tracey Emin for Tate Talks

Q6: Where can you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

A: I’ve been accepted onto a MA in Art Therapy which I’m so excited about, it’s something I’ve wanted and have been working towards since I was a teenager so hopefully in 5 years I’ll be helping others use art to process their own trauma and understand their own emotions a little better.

Q7: If you could share a message with the world, what would it be?

A: ‘You can’t change other’s actions but you can change your reactions.’ It’s something my yoga teacher and long time friend said recently and it really resonated with me and allowed me to be a bit more mindful, relax my shoulders and carry a little less anger and grief around with me.

If you would like to follow Jess and support her work you can find her on Instagram + Her ETSY store!

-THANKYOU FOR READING. STAY SAFE GANG-

Emily Coulson

We are proud to feature another creative today from North Norfolk, where the Orange Peel is based!

Keep reading to find out more about Emily, her artwork+ Lino Printing!

Q1: What is your Name, Age, and Where are you based?

A: My name is Emily Coulson, I’m 21 and currently living in North Norfolk, (while searching for a house in central Norwich).

Q2: How did you first get into your creative practice/ work?

A: I started carving Lino Prints towards the end of my A-levels in 2017, then forgot about Lino printing for much of my first year of Uni. I started again during the summer between 1st and 2nd year of university after I realised I had been working mostly digitally during 1st year, and this was just not fun to me. Lino printing was something that allowed me to enjoy the process as well as the result. This has become really central to any work I produce – there has to be some hand-made element of unpredictability o surprise to the result, which there almost always is with Lino.

Q3: Are there any main or overarching themes you explore in your work?

A: Increasingly my work explores+practices sustainability (:the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level. And avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.) I have a recycling bin in my studio that isn’t really even a recycling bin as I dip in to it for materials to collage with. Or I use my misprints/ notes etc and then shred them to create packaging filler. I’ve recently been trying to make new paper out of the old scraps too. It has become a fun challenge for me to create work from the old, because I don’t see simply throwing anything out as an option anymore. As for the work I actually create, I almost always look to the past for the imagery I like to produce. Objects that are made with good craftmanship, a story behind them, things that are one-offs, unique. I prefer to look to the past, before the era of plastic mass production!

Q4: How has the COVID- 19 Pandemic affected your work?

A: Prior to Covid-19, I was working 5 days a week in a restaurant, then squeezing in making things either in the early hours of the morning or the other 2 days a week. Since lockdown started though I do feel like I’ve had the most productive 3 months of my life… I’ve been able to focus on my practice, how I want to create work, without any other disruptions whatsoever. It’s kind of been like having a years’ worth of personal creative growth crammed into 3 months!

Q5: Highlight one of your biggest inspirations!

A: One of my favourite artists/ printmakers is Eric Ravilious. His way of creating ‘pure pattern’ within his watercolour paintings is something that I completely adore. Ravilious had this ability to include so much pattern within one work, but make it so that the whole piece is still beautifully balanced. The same goes for his woodblock engravings, so many shapes and patterns within one piece but the compositions are so well thought out that it works wonderfully.

Q6: Where can you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

A: I’d ideally like to be a freelance Illustrator, without a part time job by then! I’d hope to have really consolidated the way I want to work, and then be in a place to manage creating both work for myself to sell, and creating work for clients. I would really like to do something to help others like myself, starting a career in the creative industry. Teaching Lino print classes maybe? Or mentoring a local creative? I don’t know, but it’s definitely something I’d like to be doing by 5 years into the future, so I can give something back to the creative community.

Q7: If you could share a message with the world, what would it be?

A: Right now I’d say… Please do your research before you buy things – everything and anything! No fast fashion! Re-use and recycle! Buy second hand! OR buy it independent! Spend that little bit more money to make a small business grow AND get something that will actually last you a lifetime and means something!

Everyone knows the drill by now…To find more of Emilys work and support her you can go to he Instagram! Where you will also be able to find her Etsy store!

-SEE YOU AGAIN SOON-

James Lissimore

Today on the Orange Peel, we are featuring yet another talented Photogrpher, James Lissimore! Continue reading to discover more about his alternative subculture imagery…

Q1: What is your Name, Age, and Where are you based?

My name is James Lissimore, I’m twenty years old and work between Brighton and Colchester, Essex

Q2: How did you first get into your creative practice/ work?

Funnily enough I originally only took photography in college because I had to select four subjects and photography was one that took my interest more! Starting out working on abandoned buildings and creating source images for my oil paintings but as I matured I began to find interests elsewhere. mainly street photography and portraits.

Q3: Are there any main or overarching themes you explore in your work?

My most popular work has been exploring the themes and ideas around subculture, titled ‘Revival’ Looking more specifically at Skinhead and Punk culture. As many people know skinhead culture is a very complex one; with the origins being a coming together of cultures. Where music (reggae and ska), dressing “properly” and being apart of a bigger collective of poeple, it developed into the football terraces and the coming together with punk culture lead to the creation of Oi! music. This development meant taller boots, harsher cropped hair and more experimental dress styles. I personally love both of these parts of the culture, but some identify with one or the other.

There has since been complications with the stealing of the culture by those who don’t hold the true values of what a skinhead really is, leading to the stigma to us all being nazi, racist thugs!

I aim to create work that educates the general public to what we really represent.

Q4: How has the COVID- 19 Pandemic affected your work?

With the lockdown it has completely shut down all operations; having no opportunities to travel the country to find potential subjects for my work. I’ve tried to create work on my own but there are only so many photos that you can take of yourself in your own home. I’m intensely looking forward to lockdown ending and being able to resume my work.

Q5: Highlight one of your biggest inspirations!

When looking at the history of skinhead culture there is a photographer’s name that comes up very frequently; Gavin Watson. He was just a teenager with a camera who fell into one of the most explosive subcultures in British history. He’d photograph the day to day situations of him and his friends, these photos would see the light of day in his book ‘Skins’ that reaffirmed his name as the definitive skinhead photographer

Q6: Where can you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

With the current unpredictability of what’s going on it’s really hard to imagine what I’ll be doing in a few months let alone years. But the best case scenario is traveling Europe photographing the many different factions of skinhead culture throughout countries such as France, Belgium, Germany and Italy. Worst case scenario is dying I think…

Q7: If you could share a message with the world, what would it be?

No one is lesser than another; we cannot judge entire groups of people by the actions of some and there needs to be changes from politicians and the rich before there can be real and true justice for those who need it.

To find more of James’ work you can go to his Instagram!

THANKYOU FOR READING- STAY SAFE