(Image: "Map Tile No.1" by Jonathan Mess)

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Jonathan Mess studied art at the University of Toledo and received a BFA in studio art at the University of Montana and later received an MFA at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Jonathan states: “I am interested in the physicality and reality of land, the evidence of time and age in the layers of earth, in contrast with contemporary human relationships with land through usage, manipulation, ownership, and division. I am concerned with our responsibility as humans living with the land—collectively and individually.”

In 2004, Mess was commissioned to create a major installation at the Bates Mill Complex for the Governor’s Conference on Maine’s Creative Economy. Jonathan’s artwork is featured regularly at Highwater Gallery in New Orleans and Two Point Gallery in Portland, Maine. In addition, his work has been showcased in various venues including Aarhus Gallery in Belfast, Maine, Fertile Ground at Santa Fe Clay for NCECA’s Critical Santa Fe Symposium, Rooted In Place at The Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft and online at Santiago Gallery. Jonathan currently teaches art at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle.

When did you first realize that you were going to be an artist and when did you first start making art?
Conscious art making first happened for me in Toledo, Ohio around age 19. I was a sophomore in college taking art classes for fun and It just hit me, college actually had a major for me, and I was good at it. I was living with a bunch of guys in a house off campus and I set up my first makeshift garage studio. It felt good, it felt natural, it felt real.

(Image: "Distance" by Jonathan Mess)

Before that, I was always creative; I made skim boards and snowboards in my basement at age 10. I even sold a couple. I loved to spray paint them wild colors using masking tape techniques that I thought I had invented.

I was a kid who struggled academically in high school, but ruled the ceramics side of the art room every day all four years, I even went to art summer school to get my GPA up in order to graduate. My teacher was not a 3D guy so let me just go for it. I picked up the wheel quickly and was making pretty large forms by my junior year. I learned to load kilns, experiment with color and temperature, and to set up, throw 3 pots and clean up in one hour. The next day was for trimming. I was making sales and getting requests from family and neighbors—I was selling work.

Who or what inspires you?
Location, nature, Earth, rivers, maps, geology, the ocean, tides, current, the life cycle, history, struggle, a good fight, love. My students, my family, my lady love Kate Bauman.

Is (was) anyone else in your family in the arts?
I come from Midwestern farmers. My grandmother was a skilled seamstress, My grandfather was an extremely creative person in so many ways from gardening to building his own fishing equipment. He was one of these Depression era guys that grew and preserved his own food to last the year, built things with found materials, reused everything. This was 50 years before any “Green” movement; it was just common sense. We have so much to learn from this generation. He was a serious calligrapher and also dabbled in painting. My brother Luke is an actor in NYC…

(Image: "Landfill No.12" by Jonathan Mess)

Are you self-trained or did you go to art school?
I did go to school—to find my way at the University of Toledo, for a BFA at the University of Montana, a Teaching Degree at Ashland University, and an MFA at SUNY-New Paltz—but for some reason I feel self-trained because my working style is so experimental. I went to class and worked hard in the studio... I was a late night studio guy. In a way I believe that you’re responsible for educating yourself, even in school. Motivation, observation, and a healthy level of material curiosity were my best teachers. Art school challenged my ideas and taught me to speak clearly about my work and to consider my position in the context of artists who came before me as well as those working now. I always strive to make really honest work, free from pretenses and pseudo-intellectual explanations. I want my work to be accessible.

Is the process of creating your art long or short?
It’s a lifelong pursuit. Every decision, mark made, penny spent, kiln fired, every finished piece informs the next. I still feel like I am a beginner, there is so much to learn, to play with, to try… If I feel bored or stuck, I just change the situation, material or method. So many possibilities… If the process was short and easy, everyone would be an artist.

Tell us something about your work.
It reflects my life, my patterns, my rhythm, my thoughts, my concerns. The surface is the last word.

(Image: Bates Mill Installation)

Do you have a subject matter that defines you as an artist?
I don’t know? Yes? Time? Layers? Nature? No, I am a maker that works with a purpose, with ideas, with meaning but I never feel comfortable with a direct image of “something.” That is way too literal for me to swallow. I like it when imagery or an object invokes the viewer’s own ideas of what it is, means or is saying… to them. I want to make compelling objects and imagery that will draw viewers in and reward them both initially and over time.

What makes you stay with a particular subject matter? Why are you drawn to it?
Nothing makes me stay with a particular subject matter I just work and my thoughts and concerns are reflected. I usually work in a series, I set parameters, like “I am going to make 30 tiles this month” and then I go do it. I follow my making instincts, try to add variety layer upon layer of decisions all the way to a product. I have found when I look at the work as a body, as a group or series, it is a reflection of the time and it works as a unit. The things I am concerned with in the world come out in my work.

How do you stay motivated?
I don’t make year-round or every day. I can’t, I actually don’t want to. I work full time teaching during the school year. I go through cycles of not wanting to make, then craving making and expression compels me to get in the studio. I get outside, I go home to Ohio, I live life like anybody does, but I try to take notice. Then life feeds me and I need to express myself in return.

(Image: "Erosion Tile No.2" by Jonathan Mess)

What have you been working on lately? Are you experimenting with anything new?
I have a show that opened in February and wanted to make new work that was fun to make, colorful and saleable for it. So for all of January, my goal was 30 tiles in 30 days—a great but challenging way to usher in the new year. I have been making slip-cast, press-molded, monoprint wall tiles with colored casting slips, glazes, clay bits and pieces and my favorite material, Gerstley borate. The body of work is titled “Traces” and is showing through March 19, 2011 at Two Point Gallery in Portland.

Has your medium changed from when you first became an artist?
I found pottery in early high school and fell in love. Clay was my gateway material into the art world. I have since drifted to painting, sculpting, printmaking, video… but have always returned to clay. I eventually realized that I can paint, print and sculpt with and onto clay. I love the versatility of the material and its surface qualities. With skill, you can make it look like anything. Not to mention, the ability to play with fire and take work up to over 2000 degrees with liquid glass melting all over the surface leads to exciting surprises (and failures) as I work.

What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
Find a good partner and/or art friend or two who can talk with you about your work with brutal honestly and non-jealousy. Stay balanced, have other hobbies, take time to enjoy life. Travel, taste and experience the world, move outside our comfort zone, talk with all people, try everything—without life experience what will you have to make art about? And be ready to work hard.

What kind of comment do you despise the most when overheard at one of your openings?
What is this stuff?

What kind of comment pleases you the most when overheard at one of your openings?
What is this stuff?

(Image: "Maine" From the States of Clay Series by Jonathan Mess)

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?
Early on, my rule was every sale profit went back into the art. I bought tools, equipment, and rented space with the money. The goal was to break even. The best thing you can do is take great pictures of your work, get a website, blog, etsy store, email list, twitter, tweek, flickr, trickle, twiddle, whatever… if you can’t or don’t want to do the computer time yourself, hire somebody you trust. I am extremely lucky to have a best friend and lover who is good at graphic design, and is patient with me.

Do you have any outside interests other than art?
I love any kind of outdoor activity, especially those involving water, or an element of danger. Now toss in some good food fun from the garden and homemade music with good people and I am a happy man.

Are you disciplined about your creative process (in other words, do you treat the process like a job, where you keep particular hours in the studio), or are you more spontaneous?
I set goals with timelines and I try to achieve them with spontaneous chunks of large and small creative time. If there is a deadline, I make sure I am hitting it.

How would your life change if you were no longer allowed to create art?
I would feel bored, worthless, purposeless, I would watch TV, and I would go crazy. Or at least more often.

(Image: "Gothic" by Jonathan Mess)

What's the best part of being a full time, working artist?
I teach, so I am not a full time working artist… except in the summer and on holiday breaks. These are the sweet, sweet, highly valued times when there is absolutely nothing else scheduled to do. I can sleep in, stay up late, go in and out of the studio at my own will with no time limits. This is the best way for me to submerge my entire self 100% into my work.

What's the worst part of being a full time, working artist?
The ups and downs and self-inflicted pressure of making new work, especially when it feels forced.

Do you have any upcoming shows?
Two Point Gallery in Portland is showing my new series of wall tiles titled “Traces,” up until March 19, 2011.

Where can we find your work?
On my website, www.artmess.net, Santa Fe Clay in New Mexico, Highwater Gallery in New Orleans, Two Point Gallery in Portland Maine, www.ArtAxis.org.

- Brenda Bonneville, editor

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