ARTS
Local mosaic artist Jen Jame shares her thoughts through tiles By Samantha Molina
T
he mosaic art medium is a laborious and expensive one, says artist Jen Jamē. But the feeling she gets knowing her artwork will be a part of someone’s life makes it all worthwhile. “Art from department stores is just decor. There really is no story behind it,” Jamē says. “I believe every house, to call it home, needs to hold real art, made by real people with a story worth telling.” The English-teacher-turned-artist was born and raised in Santa Monica. As a child, Jamē knew she had a creative spirit and established her talent with the help of family and friends. “I would say I found my artistic voice from a close family friend who was a professional artist,” Jamē says. “She would babysit us a lot, and I remember us always sitting around the dining room table coloring or working on an art project.” Jamē says her love for mosaics blossomed during a trip to Venice Beach, where selfproclaimed “hippies” were selling handmade mosaic mirrors on the boardwalk. “I just instantly fell in love,” Jamē says. “I looked at the mirror and thought, ‘Wow, I need to make this.’” When Jamē was 20 years old, she moved to Arizona and put her artistic dream on the back burner to teach junior high and high school English. It wasn’t until around 2015 that Jamē committed to art full time and began to take her talent on as a business. “What sort of reignited my passion was a gorgeous fireplace I had seen while house hunting that was completely made up of mosaics,” Jamē says. “That’s when I was like, ‘OK, enough is enough. It’s time to
Jen Jamē, with a mosaic of Johnny Cash, says she’s not afraid to make mistakes. It’s all a part of the learning process. (Photos by Pablo Robles)
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85085 | JULY 2020
