Natural High with Jess Le Clerc
From discovering art in the bush as a child to founding Australia’s largest art school, Jess Le Clerc has carved an extraordinary creative path. Rebecca Jamieson Dwyer chats to her about inspiration, motherhood and forging her own way…
Have you ever gazed out at an expansive view or looked up at the twinkling stars and experienced a profound sense of wonder? That’s the feeling our cover artist Jess Le Clerc thinks we all need a bit more of in our lives – and it’s what she aims to create through her atmospheric, luminous figurative landscape and portraiture oil paintings. Jess believes the role of the artist is to remind people to look up.
“People love art that makes them feel something,” she said. “I aim to romanticise reality so people will get outside and remember we’re part of something bigger.”
It’s no surprise that the natural world is Jess’ muse. Growing up on a dairy farm deep in the bush, she was homeschooled, with limited access to paint or other art materials. She learnt to draw using simple coloured pencils and her curiosity blossomed.
“My very first experience of creativity was being outdoors and having to solve problems through play,” she recalled.
“Later, a family friend taught me to draw, and then when I was about 16, I began teaching kids illustration – mostly manga, Pokemon and stuff like that.”
Jess fell in love with teaching art, adding more classes to her offering, and eventually creating her own art school while working hard on her personal craft.
“Seeing how art transformed both kids and adults, I was driven to expand my own skill set,” she said. “I wanted to teach them gouache, so I learned gouache. I needed to stay ahead of my students and my staff, so I fully immersed myself in the process, practicing art all week while also teaching all week.
“I wanted my students to have trust in my abilities as a teacher, so I started entering awards, and have since been recognised as a finalist in the Archibald Prize, the Shirley Hannan Art Award, the Lester Prize and many others.”
Twenty-seven years later, that once-fledgling business is now Art School Co. – the biggest art school in Australia, with over 800 students attending weekly classes with ages ranging from eight-years-old to 98-years-old. From beginners to practising creatives, there’s something for everyone at this wildly popular space where the passion of the teachers shines through. Jess’ level of success across both her own practice and her business is striking, and I ask how she’s managed to flourish in both areas at once.
“It became like a river – one thing supported the other,” she explained. “But I’m also a mum of four, and I really believe women have to write the story of career and family differently.
“I don’t employ based on education – I employ people who are truly kind and good at art. I make sure our classes and products are worth more than we’re charging for them. And we don’t make a massive profit, because if you do, you’re going to be cutting corners. Everything I do goes against that conventional, masculine-energy approach to business.”
Over the next few months, Jess is stepping back from running Art School Co. to fully focus on her long-awaited first solo exhibition. Titled Natura, which translates from Latin to ‘under the natural sky’, this innovative, immersive show is a love letter to the natural world and her children.
“It’s an entire show about what happens to humans when we’re part of something vast – when we aren’t looking down in the rubble, but remember we’re part of the bigger story,” she said. “Being in nature encourages us to remember that it’s ridiculously infinite, and that we’re just here for a tiny amount of time. It urges people to go outside and soak up the wonder that is all around us.”
The exhibition will feature around 25 large-scale works, all painted from photos Jess has taken in environments across the Sunshine Coast and hinterland, painted in oil on linen. A mix of figures in landscape and portraiture, it features people close to her heart – including her own kids – captured in time as she sees them.
“I’m inspired by the impressionist movement in the late 1800s, where the models featured in the paintings were always loved ones. It was very rare they painted someone famous, unless it was a commission,” Jess said. “I think you get the best depiction of the breath and life of someone when you truly know and see them. Plus my kids are all teenagers, so it’s a really cool time to get them outside climbing mountains and remind them of the joy that brings.”
A poignant example of this is our cover artwork Jewel – an existing piece which won’t be part of the upcoming show, but features one of Jess’ daughters against the striking backdrop of the Glass House Mountains. Overall, Jess wants Natura to make people feel hopeful.
“I want people who see it to remember that they really like being alive,” she says. “The internet and the amount of information coming at us is overwhelming, but we get to control how we see the world – and the only way to do that is to go out and be in the world. Chase the moments you find beautiful.”
Artist, business owner, mother: for years Jess’ focus has been pulled in many competing directions, but every day she makes the active choice to honour her own creativity in order to live the most fulfilled life she can.
“I’m a mother and a business owner, so I can’t just disappear and paint for 12 hours,” Jess says. “Sometimes that means I’m painting in my bedroom while chatting to one of my kids, or painting while cooking. Being brave, for me, isn’t about the act of creating art – it’s believing it’s possible for me to be a decent human being who’s present for my family and can keep the art school alive, while not having to give up the idea of being an artist.”
In a world where we’re fed the myth of the ‘overnight success’, Jess urges fellow creatives, especially women, to let go of any sense of competition and follow their passion for the pure joy of it.
“I paint because I think it matters and because it makes me happy,” she said.
“But this idea that you have to be the best, I think it’s a story that needs to go away, because it makes women forget what’s important. Creating art makes me feel rested. It’s my meditation and my prayer; it’s how I decompress. The fact that other people enjoy it is a bonus.”
DISCOVER NATURA!
Natura is a quiet rebellion – an invitation to pause, exhale and remember what it feels like to be truly present in the company of nature. Experience Natura – an exhibition like no other this August, featuring work from author and screenwriter Anna McGahan and composer Brett Anthony Shaw, who
have each created original pieces in response to the artwork.
Invite only! Sign up to Jess’ mailing list to receive your exclusive invitation. Visit www.jess.art
