Who gets to call themselves an artist? Are there qualifications? Does someone else bestow that title, or can we give it to ourselves? Kyra and Jamin talk to painter Jess Velarde about the internal and external factors that shape how we think about our identity as artists.

Jess Velarde is a fine artist and art instructor who creates expressive figurative and botanical oil paintings. She earned her MFA in painting from Academy of Art University in 2020 and currently works and teaches from her studio in Los Angeles.

You can learn more about Jess and experience her work at jessvelarde.com/paintings.

Curious what phthalo blue looks like? Go here.

Now, you might look at this blue and say, “It’s not THAT bad.” And here we run into you not being able to see this color in person. Because if you were looking at it in person, you’d say, “That’s heinous.” Trust me. And also, to Jess’s point, this particular blue interacts with other colors in a really overpowering way. Like, if you try to mix in some white to lighten it, you have to mix in A LOT. It’s kind of a bully color.

Transcripts for The Artists & Podcast are available at RabbitRoom.com/podcast.