Ever see how something was done, and think—for better or sometimes worse, “How on earth did they ever think of that?” The thing is, ‘they’ might be a series of barely-connected individuals, and ‘think of’ might be loose terms also. It’s a good example of our human tendency to all-too-often give too much credit to intent and not enough to chance. Not to take away from any creator at the end of a complex process—only to clarify—creativity often looks more like resourcefully making and executing a compelling series of specific choices, than like having a single moment of ‘Eureka!’
Today’s presenter, artist Jeremy Rheault (“Ro”) of The Art Jar, told the story of how he came into his unique and most popular style: painted, poly-coated, layered, sometimes-lit large cardboard cutouts of fandom favorites and commissioned originals.
Just like we detailed at the top, Ro didn’t sit down one sunny day and decide that it would be a GREAT idea to start doing fan art in this unique style. Rather, it was a series of incidental interactions and decisions—sometimes years apart—that each slowly tuned his process to create the professionally-finished masterpieces we are accustomed to seeing today.
Without retelling the story in full, it’s by very rare chance that he even works with cardboard in the first place. As a now-retired teacher, he had asked students in the past to bring in unique surfaces to work on. A paraprofessional who worked with one of his students mentioned having the industrialize cardboard, which he initially dismissed because of cardboard’s known weaknesses with especially water-based paints—but upon their insistence, he gave it a shot.
It was in 2016 that he painted then-culturally-iconic Tyrion Lannister with oil onto the double-thick, extra smooth piece he was provided. Liking the feel, he decided to finish the piece—taking it to shows and eventually cutting, coating, and backing in increasingly-sound ways—responding in-turn to each new concept or problem he encountered.
Now, eight years and over 600 sold pieces later—he’s still learning, adopting, and improving on his work because creativity IS a process. And this isn’t only how a unique style emerges—it’s how it sticks around.
If you’re interested in purchasing or commissioning one of Jeremy’s works, you can connect with him directly or he has finished pieces available at State of Comics in Plymouth as well. To connect with local businesses and hear or potentially deliver more great presentations like Jeremy’s, visit one of our meetings any time, and consider joining to become a member!
