artists in jackson portrait

My portrait project featuring artists in Jackson, Michigan.

Artists In Jackson: Audra Lockwood

Audra Lockwood

“My favorite thing to hear is people laughing. As long as people are feeling something, then I’m doing something right. My work is quirky and a little bit out there.”

Here’s an idea: take an old landscape painting. You know the kind – one is probably hanging over your grandparents’ mantle right now.

Now grab that bland landscape painting, and add the fantastic. A monster, a UFO, a mystical creature. 

Better, right?

That’s what Audra Lockwood thought, too, when she saw a simple seaside landscape and thought, “What if I put a mermaid there?” She’s developed a fan base for her revamped paintings (as she calls them) and reaches a particular market for her work at comic book conventions and art shows. 

She doesn’t need much to get started.

“I’ll see a piece, an ugly old landscape, and that alone tells me, ‘This needs a crazy old dude in it,’” Audra says.

Audra and her husband, Cody, were into the geek community and often went to conventions. After seeing the artists who were regulars at cons, she thought her unique landscape creations would find an audience.

“And I did, thank the gods. It’s been amazing,” she says.

Now the duo travels all over the Midwest and all over the country, selling art and meeting artists at the shows. They started local, and as they met other creatives, their travel range broadened. 

“It’s a great community of people,” Audra says. “We’re like little art gypsies, hooking each other up with great shows and great info. We scratch each other’s back.”

And it all started with that mermaid. Or, more particularly, grabbing vintage landscapes at thrift stores as an affordable way to grab a gorgeous frame. That’s when she saw the waterscape.

Audra has that first revamped painting hanging in her stairwell, the seaside spark that launched her niche. Several years ago, she saw that old surf scene, and figured a mermaid would make the whole thing better. 

“It’s like 11 years old. I’ve been hooked ever since,” she says. “And I thought, ‘What a great time saver.’ It’s framed and ready to hang. You can’t go wrong. Then, everywhere I went, I imagined what it was supposed to be.”

The raw materials are old landscapes and lithographs, plus Audra’s own sci-fi and horror movie imagination. She researches landscape artists, many of whom were from the 1960s, and Googles the creator to make sure she’s not painting over a masterpiece.

“It’s like my collaboration with an artist I’ve never met before,” she says. 

While she finds success all over through the convention scene, Audra and Cody stick around Jackson because of the affordable living, its central location, and because their friends and family are still here.

Audra sees the Jackson art community as a close-knit group and credits The Singularity for helping her reach out to a local audience. 

“It’s a young community. Jackson is a blue-collar city, and I feel like a lot of 30-somethings are reaching out for something cool and unique,” she says. “They’re at that age where they’re starting to buy art, and they have homes. I think all these weirdos that are coming together are doing something good.”

She finds resistance from local art buyers, however.
 
“Some of the art shows aren’t ready for what I’m doing. Maybe what I do is a little too strange,” Audra says. “But what I go to shows in Ferndale, it’s full of weirdos like me. And we’re all incredibly successful. There are so many people like me here.”

“It kind of blows my mind that I can do what I do, and I can be successful at it. So that gives me hope.”

Buy the Artists In Jackson book | Audra Olivia’s Attic

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Artists In Jackson: Ashley Smith

Ashley Smith, Photographer

“Communities need art, so we have to be there. We can’t kill each other off.”

Back when people used to print their photographs, they were kept in albums and hung on walls – a way to remember moments and events through snapshots.

It’s still that way for photographer Ashley Smith. For her, every photo is a memory.

“Every little snapshot reminds me of something,” she says. “It reminds me of the music playing that day, or something we did earlier. It helps me remember and relive my life. It’s a sensory thing.”

And while many people don’t really look at what they’re photographing, Ashley tries to take it all in. The whole scene is important, not just what she sees through the camera’s viewfinder.

That outlook started when Ashley was young. Her dad handed her a Pentax 35mm film camera early on and taught her about exposure and light.

“He was always the designated family photographer,” she says.

When she was starting, Ashley took close-ups of piano keys and flowers. She was making memories.

Now, Ashley helps make memories for others, too. She does a bit of family and wedding portrait work, although she has slowed down on the family photography business because she sees a glut of photographers in the market. To set herself apart, she’s taking on commercial clients, like Allegiance Health, for public relations and advertising campaigns.

“That’s pretty fulfilling. I enjoy doing that,” Ashley says.

Along the way, Ashley had to learn about things like posing subjects and using artificial light to get the look her clients needed. With her commercial shoots, she feels more like a director.

However, learning new techniques is something Ashley embraces, like when she became a graphic designer for her aunt’s newspaper in Stockbridge, or the Jackson Citizen Patriot. From there, she worked at Ray Printing but has recently switched careers to run promotions for McKibben Media Group. She’s a true Jackson native.

“There’s a lot of great stuff to do here, and a lot yet to be done,” Ashley says. “And I want to be part of that. Jackson is my forever home.”

She embraces the collaborative and sharing artistic community in Jackson, especially among photographers. She also works on shoots with local photographer Seth Duimstra and swaps techniques.

“It seems like we have a lot of camaraderie that you don’t find in other places,” Ashley says. “It can be pretty cutthroat out there in the world. But in Jackson, if anybody asks for a photographer, we help each other out and recommend each other. That’s really nice.”

“Communities need art, so we have to be there. We can’t kill each other off.”

Buy the Artists In Jackson book

 

, , , , , , , , ,

Artists In Jackson: Andrew Hall

Andrew Hall

“I don’t want to be a ‘company.’ I want to be underground.”

If you see a random painting tucked away in a downtown Jackson alley, chances are Andrew Hall made it. 

It’s one of the ways Andrew gets his graphic paintings out in the world: he’ll drop one somewhere in town with a note on it. If someone finds it (and they do), all he asks is that they support him.

“I lay the guilt on thick.”

Andrew takes his guerrilla marketing inspiration from Michigan music artists of the ’90s. Underground shows and swapping CDs were some of the few ways Michigan hip-hop artists could get their name out in the market.

So Andrew takes his paintings – Captain Jackson, comic scenes, graphic gorillas – and hides them around town.

“Not everyone is the next Andy Warhol. I’ll be who I’m going to be, and I think that’s the way to achieve it,” Andrew says. “I like putting in the effort in the shadows.”

His work is certainly attention-getting. Andrew uses Liquitex heavy-body acrylic paint and canvas to make his art, and the colors pop like a mix of pop art and comic books.

“I thickly coat stuff to get very bright colors into blocks and shapes,” he says. “I want it to look as close to something that was printed as possible. I’m definitely getting there.”

He draws inspiration from comic artists like Frank Miller and David Aja and the screen print work that his dad used to do. For technique, Andrew is totally self-taught. 

“I figured it out my own way,” he says. “I didn’t want help. I can learn quicker if you give me the tools and let me do my own thing.”

He learned his guerrilla marketing techniques on his own, too, trying out different strategies, like Etsy stores and Instagram. He also works with Medical Panda, designing pins, shirts, and posters. 

The word is starting to spread in Jackson, too, with Andrew getting into shows and collaborating with other creatives in town. The key, he says, is to keep things fresh.

“There’s only so many people in Jackson. And not everyone is going to want to buy your stuff every time,” Andrew says. “If your core audience is Jackson, you do well by having your stuff change frequently.”

Collaboration is one of the strengths of Jackson’s artistic community. Everyone is willing to work together, he says, and promote other artists’ work.

And for Andrew, competition takes on a different meaning in town.

“I’m not a competitive person, but I see other artists as competing to be awesome,” he says. “Just to see their drive, it’s a good thing to apply.” 

Andrew says he makes art to please himself first. But it is a great feeling when he finds an audience. 

“I like to please people,” he says. “I don’t want everyone to like it, but someone would love it.”

“If my son likes it, I know it’s sweet.”

Buy the Artists In Jackson book | OddSoul517

, , , , , , , , ,

Artists In Jackson: Justine Melville

Justine Melville

“Any way I can express myself, I’ll do that.”

Justine Melville enjoys the process of making: the experimentation, the trying out new ideas, the techniques. Learning something new.

And having something to show for it is a great side benefit.

“Putting the energy into my work – dying fabric, taking the color out, ice dying – there’s a lot to it,” she says. “The process is a good focus for me. It helps calm me. And I really enjoy the product I get.”

It’s easy to get lost in the work. That’s the fun part.

“We’re so busy these days and expected to pay attention to so much that it doesn’t matter. It’s nice to zone out,” Justine says.

As a fabric artist, Justine has found a new way to express herself creatively. She discovered dying fabric after a boyfriend taught her how to screen print. 

All it took was trying to tie dye with a mixed berry print.

“Ever since, I’ve been kind of addicted.”

Justine has always been creative, using many media to express herself. She’s tried printmaking and dabbles in photography.

“Any way I can express myself, I’ll do that,” she says. “I felt like, for the longest time, I was a little lost with my creativity. I’ve always bounced around.” 

Now that she’s settled on fabric, Justine has found success participating in exhibits, from booth shows to warehouse shows to gallery shows. She has an Etsy store and promotes her work on social media. 

The creative community in Jackson has also helped, and Justine has become increasingly involved with other artists in town. She traces much of that collaboration to The Singularity, which introduced her to other open-minded creative types.

“It showed me what can really happen in this town,” Justine says. “We’re very supportive of each other, which is the biggest thing in my eyes.”

She thinks Jackson could better support artistic pursuits and be more open-minded about the kinds of art that are possible in town. She also thinks Jackson could use more community-oriented spaces for artists to work on projects and collaborate. 

As someone who has lived in Chicago and returned, Justine doesn’t understand pessimism about her hometown.

“Some people think this town is a black hole. I don’t see that. I think they’re the black hole,” she says. “There’s a lot of people who get out and come back and still enjoy it. This is a nice place to call home.”

Buy the Artists In Jackson book | Mercurial Threads

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Artists In Jackson: David Flack

David Flack

“It’s a good outlet for depression. I’ve always been able to show myself something solid and tell myself, ‘You’re not a bad person. Look at what you can do.’”

It’s funny how life lessons can go awry – like the summer that David Flack’s parents had him work in the shop at the family business, SALCO Engineering.

They figured two summers on the shop floor would make David hit the books and not want to come back. 

“The exact opposite happened,” David says. “I fell in love with getting dirty.”

And while the guys on the floor would never call themselves “artists,” David absorbed their craftsmanship and resourcefulness. They taught him how to weld. Now he makes metal objects big and small, and he traces that back to growing up in the shop.

“It’s captivated me since I was a little kid,” he says. “I’d watch these monsters eat metal and spit out these amazing things.”

Amazing things. That’s what he wanted to do. David wanted to be around creation.

After graduating from Albion College in 2009, David started working with his father at SALCO, updating the technology at the shop and taking on design work and estimates.

Then he hooked up with a collaborator, Kyle Huntoon, and started building art pieces- Kyle took on the woodworking, and David handled the steel. They put their reclaimed art in festivals and art shows, traveled the country, and made a good business. 

“Kyle opened my eyes to the idea of being a reclaimed artist – of taking junk and bringing it back to life,” David says.

While the pair have amicably parted ways, David took that spirit of junk-to-art and developed his own style. Grand River Brewery had him make their tap handles, and the City of Jackson commissioned him to make bike racks around downtown. 

David enjoys making furniture, too, but he’d like to try more large-scale sculptural work in the future.

“I like driving down the street and being able to say, ‘I made that,’” he says.

It’s the making David enjoys, coming from a part of his Midwestern upbringing. He stays on with the family business to preserve the craftsman culture.

“It’s in the Midwest, it’s in our blood,” David says. “We come from this line of people who pull themselves up. After all the auto industry changes, we still have hopes and dreams, and all the knowledge and work ethic is still there.”

Steel is great because it’s a very forgiving material but with limitations. That’s where David finds creativity comes in handy – taking something with an inherent shape gives you pre-defined parameters. The parts of the whole shape his artistic pieces.

“You have to let it come together as organically as possible,” David says.

Much like Jackson. David has seen the artistic community come into its own in recent years, and he’s happy to see it. Enough of the low expectations and lack of pride.

“It’s nice to be a part of the scene where people are going for it and not sitting on their hands,” David says. “I want to try to motivate this city to make it a better place.”

“I want to be visible.”

Buy the Artists In Jackson book | dFlack Craftwork

, , , , , , , , , ,

It’s Here: Artists In Jackson

Today I’m releasing my portrait project Artists In Jackson to the world. Since June, I’ve interviewed and photographed 15 Jackson-based artists about their talent, their challenges, and their hometown. The final product is a beautiful, 100+ page book featuring stories and portraits from the artists.

You can learn about the project at artistsinjackson.com. And the book makes a great holiday gift!

Thank you so much to the artists who participated. Through painting, or photography, or metalworking, or tattoos, they’re making my hometown of Jackson, Michigan, a more beautiful place. Support them!

And thanks to all of you who have supported and shared this project.

, , , , , , , ,

1 2