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Layered Blend Jaycee Oliver shares her perspective through her non-objective abstract art, where she believes we are all beautifully interconnected. STORY BY R. JILL FINK, MFA PHOTO BY BARBARA DOBBINS
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ndy Warhol said, “I see art in everything. Your shoes. That car. This coffee cup. It’s art if you see it as art.” Throughout queer history, art has been an undeniable link that speaks to us and for us. I pose the question: Without it, who and what are we? Thankfully, our local leadership is promoting and embracing art as a draw to our ever-growing city. Ocala has been re-inventing itself since the Great Fire on Thanksgiving in 1883. The addition of the Art District, located in and around Tuscawilla Park, further solidifies the proof that our lovely town is truly growing up and advancing like never before. Jaycee Oliver, a long-time local, has been an Educator in the Marion County School District for over twenty years. She’s also an accomplished Contemporary Abstract & Equine Artist and a truly genuine, lovely individual. Her paintings reflect her own personal, emotional and spiritual journey through life. She produces “expressive pieces painted with thoughts, feelings and experiences,” according to her artist statement. Jaycee works primarily at her second home in Mayo, Florida in a loft studio overlooking the Suwannee River. She married her longtime partner, Barb, in 2015. Barb hand-builds Jaycee’s canvases and frames smaller works.
Jaycee’s work is intuitive; not planned out. She adds, removes, layers and blends oils and acrylics, combined with graphite and other mixed media to produce paintings that draw you in and speak to you. She doesn’t call a work complete until, according to her, “the seen and the unseen harmonize with my spirit and resonate with my soul.” On her enchanting website, Jaycee states, “I truly believe that we are all interconnected, moving through similar experiences with common hopes and dreams.” In our community, our cities and our country, we are interconnected, but we need more ways to create common ground between social divides. Art can do this for us as it can bring us together to enjoy beauty, creativity and the talent that surrounds us, but it can help us delve much deeper than mere discussion. Attend a gallery opening. Go to First Friday Art Walks. Reach out to people who are different, and you will find that our differences can provide positive change if we open ourselves to starting those conversations. With over 55,000 followers on Instagram, Jaycee has had gallery representation in three different spaces in Florida, most currently Gallery Vibe at 851 Vanderbilt Beach Road in Naples. You can find her beautiful work at jayceeoliver. com.
R. JILL FINK is a professional writer and artist from South Florida. She has lived in the Ocala area most of her life. She possesses two Master of Fine Arts degrees from Full Sail University; one in Media Design and one in Creative Writing.
PHOTO BY: BARBARA DOBBINS
ANNUAL
2020
ART&CULTURE
