Visual Language Magazine Contemporary Fine Art Vol 3 no 9

VL
Artspan Spotlight Jan Sasser
ARTSPAN Artist Spotlight
Getting to know you Q&A
What is your favorite color in your closet It’s tough for me to choose a single favorite in almost anything.
My mind doesn’t work that way. There is a wine purple I am partial to, but also a teal, and a rich
royal blue. I tend to wear solids with black or blue pants.
What book are you reading this week Right now, visual vertigo makes reading tough. Recently, I
enjoyed “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. It’s a memoir that reads more like a novel about a young woman’s
experiences hiking the the Pacific Rim Trail alone. A very compelling read.
Do you have a favorite television show No, but a few I like are The Newsroom, Fargo, Homeland,
and almost any period piece that is well written with well developed characters such as Larkrise to Candleford.
What is your favorite food Ugh, favorites again! How can you possibly choose just one Fortunately,
I like a lot of the foods I’m able to eat - grains, beans, green veges, fresh fruit, lean seafoods, and white
meats. But, OH how I miss rich cheeses, buttery baked goods, and applewood smoked bacon!
What are you most proud of in your life Artistically, simply that I’m still here, still painting, still showing
up for shows and obligations with whatever small collection I can manage. Due to health problems
and family roles it would have been very easy in recent years to give up and go back to hobby painting.
In the past decade I have seen so many artists come and go, often those with real promise. It’s easy to
become discouraged by a tough marketplace or be forced by circumstances to stop and put your time
somewhere else. To be a working artist is to be a small business owner in difficult industry and most
small businesses fail.
Who would you love to interview Possibly Da Vinci. There’s been so much hype and speculation
around his life and work. It would be fascinating to the compare the publicly embellished persona to the
real man. I’d love to hear him share the realities of his ideas and studio, to hear his reaction to art trends
that came after him, and to explore his views on current controversies over the integration of technology
in the artistic process.
Do you have a passion or hobby other than painting What is it I love almost any quiet activity
outdoors that lets me “soak in” the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of nature - hiking, birdwatching, photographing,
gardening, crabbing and shrimping, sitting on the beach, etc.
Share something with us that few people know about you. I met “the man of my dreams” at a
birthday party for Mick Jagger (who didn’t show.) As an ex-mental health worker, I was pretty cautious. I
had him pick me up at my sister’s house for our first date and I didn’t tell him where I lived til I was pretty
confident I wanted him to know. Turned out we lived 2 blocks apart. We’ve been married for 25 years.
http://www.jansasser.com
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