Jessica Waters, Living In Creative Spirit
This week on “Living in Creative Spirit,” we welcome artist Jessica Waters. Jessica is an artistic lovechild of a career in teaching art and a deep affinity for working with different types of ceramics, paints, print making methods and materials. She is a seventh generation artist coming from a long line of illustrators, musicians and glassworkers.
With sound, she performs under the name Magnetic Wind (instrumental/meditation/ambient) as well as singer songwriter under Jess Mesawzee Waters. She has been heard around the world on public and independent radio stations and can be found on retailers such as iTunes, Spotify and CD Baby. She is self taught predominantly, with a diverse background in education encompassing education, psychology, creative expression and art. Her formal art training is from the Kansas City Art Institutes continuing education program.
“My work reflects my emotional and conceptual interpretation of the world, my autobiography and elements of genealogy and nature, celebrating spirit.” – Jessica Waters
- What is one of your favorite quotes?
“We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.” – Marianne Williamson
- What is one book that has inspired you?
Well my top three are Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarrisa Pinkola Estes and Illusions by Richard Bach. All three of these books have had a deep impact on my life and spiritual development.
- Do you have a favorite flavor of ice-cream?
Birthday Cake Halo Ice Cream. Low Calorie and tastes great!
- If you were a super hero what would your name and super power be?
I don’t know what the name would be but my super power would be to heal the broken hearted and reignite hope.
- What role does spirituality play in your creative work?
All of my creative endeavors have spiritual elements and are inspired by the divine. When I was young I’d sing and play piano to what I called God. As I grew up and through my adult journey I found that I work in a state of meditation and through stream of consciousness, even when shooting photographs. I call this the Divine. A lot of my work focuses on love, light, angels, nature, all of it is inspired by the Divine and all of it is autobiography. It’s the same process for visual art and the sound art that I make under the name Magnetic Wind.
- What is your favorite creative outlet?
Painting, printmaking and photography as well as composing music are my favorite outlets. I consider myself an abstract expressionist working in expressive arts. My workshops focus on introducing people to the expressive arts and allowing them to play with visual arts while looking deeper into the Self. I’m a self taught artist coming from seven generations of self taught artists and musicians. I took my courses at KCAI after teaching art for 14 years. My education in creative expression and transpersonal psychology has taken me far artistically and professionally creating music and visual art to go with it.
- Do you have a daily spiritual practice?
Breathwork and meditation are cornerstones of my spiritual practice.
- How do you move through creative blocks?
I spend a lot of time thinking about art during those times. I went through a time after some severe trauma where I used creation of music and art as therapy. After the death of my brother I processed grief through my photography and digital art as well as my sound art. It wasn’t all pretty but it expressed what I couldn’t in words. A couple years later I found myself at a point where I just wasn’t inspired anymore and that was the signal that I was in a spiritual crisis of sorts. I started doing breathwork and learning about different types of meditation and this helped me get back into the creative headspace that I needed. Taking workshops at KCAI helped inspire me as well.
- What are you currently working on?
Right now I’m working on linking my musical compositions to specific selections of art for a total visual and aural experience for the viewer. I’m thinking of ideas for showings intermixing the two. I’ve started this on my web page www.jesswatersart.com. I’m also formulating workshops based on expressive arts, healing through art and archetypes.
- What tip would you give readers to help them nurture their Creative Spirit?
Try to do something every day that is creative. Even focusing your mind on “seeing” the creativity or beauty in something can inspire you if you can’t get to creating. I’m starting to work with art journaling and find it much like the morning pages that Julia Cameron speaks about. The other thing I would say is don’t let your inner critic win. Allow yourself to play and to explore. Not everything will look like you want it, but trust the process.
- Where can readers learn more about you and your work?
You can read more about me and find my work at www.jesswatersart.com and www.magneticwind.com.
“Living In Creative Spirit,” is an online interview series featuring creative individuals who blend spirituality and creativity in their lives and work. Interviews are published weekly on Monday at 12:00 CT. The Summer 2018 session features registered members of Unity Artists Coalition. Follow this link to learn more about membership: Unity Artists Coalition.
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