Today we’d like to introduce you to Jess Burbridge.
Hi Jess, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Growing up in North Carolina, I was always an artsy kid. I loved to weave on the loom, create intricately beaded jewelry and paint murals on my bedroom wall. I even had a little art studio that I set up in my parent’s basement and I would spend hours down there listening to my music on cassette tapes while weaving baskets, building sculptures out of scrap metal I scavenged and painting in acrylics and watercolor. I took ceramics classes at our local community art studio in Winston Salem, the Sawtooth Center, and signed up for the AP Arts classes at the local community college when I was in high school. It was pretty clear that I was headed straight to art school for college and I completed my BFA in Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2006.
My love for ceramic art and working with clay emerged when I was a teenager and I was bit hard by the bug. I loved going to the clay studio after school. I can still so vividly recall the earthy smell of the studio and how profoundly it calmed my nervous system as soon as I walked in.
While I took ceramics courses at SCAD, it was not offered as a major at the time so I focused my creative work on photography, specifically as a tool for great ape conservation. After graduation, I worked with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and Gorilla Doctors as the Field Communications Officer and Communications Director in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was an immensely rewarding and exciting time of my life and I am grateful to have had the experiences in the field that I have had. While I was working with Gorilla Doctors, I also completed my MA in Communications from Johns Hopkins University, and learned valuable tools and strategies that I am able to employ now with my art career as well.
I became a mother at 31 years old and after my son was born, I knew I couldn’t continue to do the field work in Africa and be away from him for long periods of time. I was also feeling low grumblings of a “frustrated creative”. I was (and still am) married to a wildly talented musician and I found myself feeling envious of his creative outlet. I really missed creating art. It took a few years and a pandemic for me to return to my first love – clay. But by 2020, my ceramics creations were taking over my kitchen table and countertops and we soon moved to a new house where I could have dedicated studio space to explore my practice further.
I have since created several collections of work – sculptural coral wall art inspired by my love of the ocean and scuba diving, tall, hand carved stoneware totems and large porcelain dragon busts. I had my first gallery show in 2023 at the Hale Gallery in Islamorada, have completed several large scale installation commissions and recently moved into a larger studio to accommodate my growing body of work. I am now a Resident Artist at Arts Warehouse, a really special gallery and working studio space for artists in the South Florida area. It’s been an exciting few years of growth and exploration.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While the upward trajectory slowly continues, it has by no means been a smooth road. I like to joke that ceramic art is for masochists – there are countless ways for the work to be ruined during the many-stepped process – even if you do everything “right”! I’ve had pieces that I have sculpted for 20-30 hours crack in the drying process or the bisque kiln, pieces that I’ve become incredibly attached to get ruined in the glaze fire. Porcelain, my preferred clay, is a finicky medium but I love it because of its ability to create intricate texture and its soft feel in my hands. Experiencing disappointments and setbacks are apart of any process and while they would really throw me for a loop in the first few years, I’d like to think I’ve grown a bit more resiliant and can pick myself up and move forward after a setback a bit more quickly these days.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’ve spent the last 14 months sculpting large dragon busts from porcelain – fitting since 2024 was the Year of the Dragon. I am a voracious reader and I love to read fantasy in particular. I sculpted my first dragon after reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros last December. Those books left me with a massive book hangover and I felt totally despondent that I would never be able to bond with and ride a dragon! Though I had never sculpted a dragon before, I decided to give it a try in an attempt to make myself feel better and boy did it! I sculpted a small dragon head, about the size of my hand, first. I loved it so much that I decided to make a much bigger one and I have continued to create different dragons with various intricate textures and unique characteristics that convey their distinct personalities. I’ve even written narratives to accompany the dragon sculptures, giving the viewer a glimpse into each dragon’s story and what he or she symbolizes. I am very proud of this dragon collection and excited to exhibit them in a gallery space this year!
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Throughout the pandemic, I delved deep into Tim Ferris’ podcast and his book Tools of Titans – I love all of the valuable insight into people who are at the top of their game and I have gotten a lot of inspiration from him and his guests. There are also many books that have helped me grow and evolve as an artist – in particular Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic – I LOVE this book and I think it should be required reading for every creative. I have also loved Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act and Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art and the Artist’s Journey. There are so many great books out there to help restore flow of your creativity, maintain perspective and avoid getting swallowed up by your inner critic, grow your art business and overall become a more authentic and inspired artist. As artists, we are very lucky to have a contingent of elders who so freely share their insight and encouragement – we just have to seek out their work and let it imprint on our spirit and studio work to become the resilient, successful and happy artists we would all love to be!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jessburbridge.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessburbridgeart
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessburbridgeart
