Tea With... Susan G. Jokelson

Hello Lovelies!

Blackbird

I'm happy to announce that my "Tea with... [insert name of artist here]" series will now become full-blown interviews with living artists whose work I admire! Their art is also somehow related to my visual obsession, esp. tea scenes, Japan-inspired art, and insect drawing.

'Heavenly Bodies' 

I'm honored to introduce you today to the body of work by Susan G. Jokelson, a web-friend I met through flickr. We first exchanged some ATCs (artist trading cards), then happily emailed back and forth. I sent her some of my insect art, while she sent me one of her 'Kyoto' collages.

Here is the interview. All art is scanned collages by Susan G. Jokelson. Enjoy!

Q: Hello Susan! Make youself comfortable & have a cup of tea with me today.  Could you please describe your perfect morning?

    A: That would be Sunday.  Get up early as I always do.  Exercise first
    in bed, then at the gym in their pool.  Afterwards hot tub & sauna,
    after showering.  Then home where the New York Times awaits.
    Make my husband his omelette & orange juice & bring it to the
    'T.V room" where's he's watching some sports show.  Make myself
    French toast w/ apple slices stewed in butter & cinnamon, a
    capuccino, and sit at the dining room table slowly eating & reading
    the New York Times while looking occasionally out the window
    at the jungle that is our back yard.

Q: When did you start making vintage collages?

     A: In the '70's, I combined watercolors with old stamps and
     maps, using trompe l'oeil.  Slowly, the watercolors disappeared
     until I was using solely old ephemera.

Twosome

Q: Where do your find inspiration?

    All over the map.  Just walking around my city (that's Berkeley, CA), looking at
    gardens & trees, at cast offs on the pavements.  At the
    museums & galleries here.  Also from the magazines &
    newspapers I read: the NYTimes, the New Yorker, the
    World of Interiors.  From poetry, novels  and art books.
    From images I see on Flickr of other artist's works.  From
    places traveled to on vacation.

Chinese battle scene

Q: How long has Asia, more specifically Japan, been on your
   mind?

    A: Since we moved from the East Coast to California 40 years
    ago. Living in the Pacific Rim one is surrounded by Asian
    & Japanese culture; the art, the cuisine, the philosophy are
    all pervasive here -- much more so than on the East Coast.

Buddha II

Q: Where & when did your love for typography & calligraphy
   arise?

     A: I've always been interested in and attracted to handwriting,
    "a fine hand," as a calligrapher friend of mine would put it.
     Again, it was not til we came to the West Coast that I
    came in contact with people who were involved with
    calligraphy, graphic design and book design.  Their skills
    and interest inspired me to learn more and to try to
    emulate what they were doing.  I made my first artist's
    book, "Le Sorcier Malgre Lui," at the invitation of an
    Italian friend from Milan to participate in a show there
    in '82.  That was Betty Danon who also got me involved
    in mail art.  What fun we had corresponding via snail mail!

Don' miss Susan's Flickr photostream. You can get in touch with her through Flickrmail.

Thanks you so much, Susan!

Mes amitiés,

-Vic from TeaButterfly.