Cori Jacobs, The Heart of an Artist

the heart of an artist

the heart of an artist

BY D I A N A H OW S O N

Cori Jacobs is an artist who has come of age. Step into the Cori Jacobs Gallery one block off the Plaza in Sayulita, Mexico, and be transported into a color-saturated world. Vibrant paintings on canvas, prints, and beautiful hand-painted dishes line the walls. Her most recent passion, Leaf Love, is an exploration of natural dyes and botanical colors, alchemized into a new line of gorgeous silks and linens—pure flowing elegance.

Cori Jacobs’s work is beautiful, fine, contemporary art. It also exhibits an uncanny segue into brand magic. The two don’t customarily fraternize, making her artwork that much more extraordinary.

Once you dip your toe into the vast waters of Cori’s masterful and playful art, you will experience the desire to—submerge.

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Learn how to see.

Realize that everything connects to everything else.

LEONARDO DA VINCI

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American Modernist Painter, Georgia O’Keefe, is well known for her love of New Mexico and the inspiration she drew from the sweeping landscape and its Navajo people. Not by design, Cori Jacobs has walked a similar path in her career as an artist. After graduating with a BA in Anthropology, she left her home state of Oregon and traveled south to Mexico. Destiny took her to a small community near Tepic, in the mountains of Nayarit, where she was welcomed into the family of Huichol artist Jose Taizan.

This connection with the family through their art, spirituality and traditional culture marked the beginning of her decision to stay in Mexico and continue developing as an Artist. The diverse layers of Cori’s enchanting art, evidencing her love and respect, reveal with winks and nods this formative time immersed with the family and their visionary culture’s beauty, strength, and resilience.

Filling space in a beautiful way that is what art means to me.

GEORGIA O’KEEFE

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One afternoon, while visiting Cori Jacobs Gallery, I observed that the customers were quite curious, asking many questions about her art process, her inspiration, etc. It was as if they all wanted to see more deeply into the Artist and her Art. Perhaps, not unlike me, they were looking to understand why this art moves and stirs them in an undeniable joyful way. We are all beguiled - and want to understand the spell we are under. That’s the hitch with great art; you often can’t put a finger on why it is so alluring. The magic pulls us in, staring and hypnotized. The mind wants logic, so it sets out on a detective-like mission searching for an explanation. To no avail. As Pablo Picasso once said, “The world doesn’t make sense, so why should I create pictures that do.’’ I asked Cori Jacobs what she finds rewarding about her work? Her answer was, “It’s the unknown mystery of it all.”

moment

Later in chatting, I asked what is most important to her growth and development as an artist, to which she replied, “Letting myself experiment and wander. I love walking, reading, taking dance classes, and learning new art forms. Botanical colors currently captivate me. Different mediums influence each other in surprising ways, so new practices spark my curiosity and make me wonder ‘what will happen if I try….’. I love asking those questions and seeing what happens”. I asked where she thought she might expand or evolve with her work?

Cori thoughtfully replied, “The whole thing for me is ever-evolving ..... it’s so hard to know. I would love to make bedsheets! Or design a special tile collection. Continue learning about local plants and these amazing natural colors. Maybe workshops someday?” Sitting in her atelier-studio, one could easily imagine all of this materializing for Cori Jacobs. Her work so easily flows into an endless river of possibility.

From the I held the box of colours in my hands, I knew this was my life.

HENRI MATISSE

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Many artists and aspiring artists look for creative courage throughout their lives. I ask Cori, “What advice would you offer an aspiring artist today?” She promptly responded, “... be prepared to work hard and carry lots of stuff around! I’m always hauling bags of materials or boxes of supplies from the studio to the gallery and vice versa. Also, what made all the difference for me starting was the support of my local community and friends. Whether it’s an online network or the neighborhood you live in, being part of a supportive and nurturing community will change your life and work. Give your all while also establishing boundaries. Learn to balance the push of production with rest and recharging. It’s a way of living.”

striving,

I am seeking, I am I am in it with all my heart.

VINCENT VAN GOGH

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Creativity takes HENRI MATISSE

courage.

I asked Cori Jacobs, “What does it mean and take to be an artist?”. Articulate as ever, she answers, “It takes creativity, discipline, honesty—you have to mean it!

It’s an obsession! It’s a deep process, and you never quite know where it will lead—which can sometimes be deeply uncomfortable and other times is the ultimate bliss. Independence and time to think and be alone are necessary. There is a fine line between what is nourishing and generative and then pushing it so hard that it becomes depleting—this becomes clearer the longer I keep up this practice. Working with extreme focus and also lightness and play. I always bring curiosity to whatever I am working on. That’s important to me.’’

One could determine that it takes a relentless tenacity to be an artist. There is a daringness, a chaotic line between creation and destruction. Oscillation from doubt and uncertainty toward boldness. The bravery of the heart. A willingness to be seen from the inside out. Despite the romantic appearances of an artist’s life, it also takes a lot of courage to reveal oneself and be vulnerable. The word courage comes from the Latin or French word for heart, le coeur. To be courageous means to follow one’s heart or to live from the heart. Cori Jacobs; lionheart.

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When I slowed down, alone with time to wonder, I fell in love with botanical colors, natural dyes, and plant pigments.

I found amazing magic in a simple leaf collected along a morning walk.

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the heart of an artist This book is a collaborative effort by artist Cori Jacobs, author Diana Howson, and graphic designer Debi Bodett.

This collection of words and pictures intends to inspire the unabashed love of leaves and natural dyes from nature.

View Cori’s work online @ CoriJacobsGallery.com.

Diana is a local author in Sayulita, Mexico.

View Debi’s work online @ DebiBodett.com. ©2022

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