Jasmine Novack is a Seattle-based artist. She’s a cold-water scuba diver and underwater photographer who collects photos and videos to use as references for her art.
Seattle Refined: How long have you been creating? What mediums do you work with?
Novack: I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember, but have really taken my art seriously for about three years. I’m self-taught and mainly work with oil paints. I also love watercolor and acrylics when I want to take a break from oil painting.
Can you tell us about your artistic process and how the different stages work into it?
My artistic practice is pretty extensive. I get the majority of my reference photos while underwater, so it involves scuba diving, underwater photography and time editing that footage on my laptop. Since the water here is so cold, it takes a considerable amount of gear to dive, thick wetsuit and lots of weight to help you sink. I always keep my camera filming for as long as I’m underwater so I don’t miss anything. Then, I get the footage back to my studio and scan through what I’ve captured until I see something that resonates with me. The conditions underwater are so unpredictable, and the lighting changes constantly, so I scan through my footage frame by frame as I search for an image. Once I find an image, I’ll edit the colors and shadows to my liking. As light passes through water, it filters the reds out the deeper you go (that’s why underwater photos can often look flat), so editing those reds back in really helps to bring images to life. Once I get the image edited, I’ll prepare a canvas so I can sketch the image onto it and start painting.
Tell us about where your inspiration for your art comes from.
I’m incredibly moved by cold-water creatures and the kelp forests here in the Pacific Northwest. They’re a vital part of our environment, but because the water is so cold and murky, it is mostly unseen and difficult to grasp just how magnificent they are. So, I’m compelled to capture that beauty and share it through my art.
Do you have one piece of art that means more to you or is extremely special to you?
I don’t specifically have a piece of art that means more to me. Each piece I create represents a moment I experienced in a place that is very dear to me, so there isn’t one piece I have that is extremely special. They’re all equally important to me.
What experiences in your life have affected your art the most?
Having grown up here in the Seattle area just blocks from the Whidbey/Mukilteo Ferry has made a huge impact on me and my art. My childhood was full of fun and adventure, and I was always at the beach swimming and exploring. As I grew into adulthood, the beach and the water became my haven, and I realized that it gave me peace and comfort when life was difficult. The coldness of the water forced me to be present when normally I was never present enough to see how much beauty was around me. My lifelong connection to the ocean and the solitude it gives me has had the biggest effect on me as a person and as an artist.
If we want to see more of your work, where should we go to find it?
My art is hanging at the SAM Gallery, located in the Seattle Art Museum. I’ll be exhibiting with the gallery at the Seattle Art Fair at the Lumen Field Event Center from July 25 to 28. My social media is also a good place to go if you want to see my process and underwater photography.
What is next for you? Anything you’re working on right now that you’re really excited about?
I’m currently working on a piece for the Seattle Art Fair, it’s a painting inspired from a dive I did in Southern California with an amazing group of scientists who also work with kelp. I am also super excited about a show I’m having in Encinitas, CA., where I am collaborating with an amazing artist and scientist who creates cyanotypes of kelp (cyanotypes of a photographic process that captures images through a chemical reaction and shadows). We’re combining our two very different art forms to create life-size art pieces of kelp. That will be coming up in December.
Lastly, how do you take your coffee? (We ask everyone!)
I take my coffee with cream and sugar!
About ‘Artist of the Week’: This city is packed with artists we love to feature weekly on Seattle Refined! If you have a local artist in mind that you would like to see featured, let us know at hello@seattlerefined.com. And if you’re wondering just what constitutes art, that’s the beauty of it; it’s up to you! See all of our past Artists of the Week in our dedicated section.
