Today we’d like to introduce you to Judith Simonds.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
At the age of twenty, I was a high school dropout and I was still living with my parents in Wisconsin. I was working at a local nursing home and trying to save money to move to Milwaukee. I had thought about college, but I needed my high school degree, I got my G.E.D. instead.
In 1985 I decided to take a drawing class at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. I did so well in the class, that I felt confident enough to enroll in their B.F.A. program. Upon graduating in 1991, I moved to Texas after being accepted into their M.F.A. program at the University of Texas at Austin.
After graduating from UT in 1994, I began looking for teaching positions at various universities. I received many rejection letters and became very discouraged. It was almost impossible to find a teaching position during that time. I eventually gave up and for the next six years I worked a couple of retail jobs. I supplemented those jobs by teaching art to children and adults at the Laguna Gloria Art School in Austin. It was there that I met the Art Chair from Austin Community College. He asked me if I would teach a three dimensional art class, and of course I said, “Yes!” To date, I have been teaching art there for over twenty-five years. I sometimes tell my students that I’m a high school dropout who graduated college with honors.
Because I teach only two classes a week, it has given me time to focus on my own studio time. I used to work only in clay, by creating ceramic sculptures. I have now since retired from ceramics, and only work in oil painting and drawing.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been anything but a smooth road.
Ever since my childhood I have always known that I was an artist. My mother always encouraged me to do art. Unfortunately, she was incredibly discouraging when it came to pursuing art as a career. Fortunately, I had a very rebellious spirit.
Growing up in a family of four siblings in a small house was rather difficult. My self-esteem was very low because of my upbringing. Finding the courage to pursue a teaching position and an art-making career, took a lot of courage on my part. But by doing so, it only validated what I was actually capable of. While in college I thrived on inspiration, knowledge, and creativity. I loved learning new things!
It took me six years to get my B.F.A. because I had to work full-time to pay the rent on my apartement, etc. I put myself through college without any help other than grants, loans, merit awards, and one scholarship. After graduating from UWM I got into the fine art, graduate program at UT. I got rid of almost everything I owned and drove to Austin, Texas with my boyfriend. We had a $1,000.00 between the two of us and didn’t have jobs.
After my graduation at UT, I couldn’t find a teaching position, so I worked retail for six years. It was incredibly depressing and frustrating. During that time my husband and I began flipping houses. It just the two of us doing all the work. After selling our first house we were able to pay off my student loans. But the cost was that I wasn’t able to work on my art as much as I would’ve liked to. It prevented my artwork from being in a lot of shows and getting the recognition that I felt I deserved. Today, I am close to retiring from Austin Community College. I have a strong body of work and I’m feeling confident and ready to approach a few local galleries.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I started college, my major was painting and drawing. After taking a ceramics class my professor encouraged me to declare a double major by adding ceramics, so I did. The ceramics classes were very demanding, the result was that my paintings began to suffer. My body of work in ceramics was very strong, so that’s why I focused on large scale ceramic sculpture in graduate school. After graduating I continued to work with clay and that’s how I became known for my ceramic sculpture. After several wrist and hand surgeries I decided to retire from working in clay and have rediscovered oil painting. I literally had to reteach myself how to paint using oil on panel. I believe that more people are now identifying me as a painter.
The imagery that I’m known for has always been influenced by the forces and forms found in nature. I am fascinated by the complex beauty of all natural forms. The natural world is one of never-ending inspiration for me. I realize that many other artist’s work has also been based on animals, flowers, landscapes, etc., but much of that work focuses on formal painting. My work goes beyond just the physical beauty of it all. I focus on the tragedies faced as a result of their shared environment with the human race. My paintings are meant to honor and a memorialize animals affected by human encroachment. The imagery is centralized in a dark space or on dark silky fabric, reminiscent of Victorian funerary imagery. Some of the most devastating slaughtering and extinction of animals on our planet was during that era.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Being a rebel and never giving up. Being brave enough to take risks and being confident enough to put myself out there. Also, believing in myself and not listening to other people telling me that I’ll never survive as an artist. Getting my MFA, so that I could teach art in higher education was the best decision of my life. It has helped me remain surrounded by other creatives, to teach and inspire young students, and to live my life authentically and on my own terms.
Pricing:
- $2,000 – $9,000
Contact Info:
- Website: https://judithsimondsart.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judithsimondsart/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-simonds-41754028a/
