Meet Jensen Russell | Illustrator & Claymation Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jensen Russell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jensen, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I feel that my life purpose is to be a mentor, whether to children or perhaps those less spiritually mature. I find that art naturally lends itself to be an endless medium where I can infuse intentions and guidance. I have discovered that it is a way to preserve and protect emotions that I or others may be processing and growing through. Of course, this can be a challenge. Not every client or viewer will understand or even be ready to receive the messaging or ideas. Even so, that is where I feel that my creative pursuits can fill in gaps in different markets. Pursuing an artistic career has allowed me to operate my business from a position of encouragement rather than restraint.

I also believe every person needs to have their inner child cared for. Mine doesn’t necessarily need a weighted blanket to fall asleep but has that undying love for coloring outside the lines, writing on the walls and building things out of clay that don’t exist in reality as we experience it every day.

I also believe that creativity is a love language. In my art, I encourage the viewer to feel more all the way through. If I can do so through a painting, a stop motion, or just a doodle… there is nothing in the world that is more rewarding.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art is crucial to my identity, especially as I am flirting with several career paths and passions. By starting and ending my projects with music, my artistic process has different limits and boundaries than other peers I have worked with.

All right, my career started out a little bumpy but led to revolutionary discoveries- certainly eccentric ones.

Right now, I am making my second stop motion short- it is a goodbye song to the state of Georgia, where I have spent the last four years getting my BFA- which seems to clarify the statement of several careers and passions and has opened a whole new world of possibility for me.

This kind of spark from claymation work is my current light and wildness, and freedom-seeking that feels like the most divinely held creative outlet as I close one chapter and enter another.

And so, it really does feel like a moment where I am especially emboldened to do something different from other creatives.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend were in the area, I would feel the need to experience the city radically uniquely.

The week would be full of disruption and using persona and identity to make plans.

So, at the beginning of the week, there would likely be a plan. And the plan would be to take her to my favorite coffee shop each morning- Foxy Loxy. Then, by day 2, the plan would probably be derailed, and I would take her to my friend Bryce at Savannah Ink to get a tattoo for no good reason at all. I would design them for us, of course. We really have kind of to manage the food adventures by daily moods/cravings- that’s how you find the best places… BUT! I would NEED to take her to my favorite vegan restaurant in the world, The Haunt.

This is something that I would have to break down completely- because it is a completely mushroom-based menu. The plant-based dining world needs some reinvention- and this place gets it right 100% of the time.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
With my college graduation around the corner, I want to dedicate my Shoutout to my family, who have taught me that no matter how far I run away- I will always have a place at home. As a creative, I have changed my mind repeatedly in my work life. Even as a senior in college… halfway through. My family, especially my mother, and sister, has been a great support in letting me know it is ok.

Instead of trying to force myself to stay in love with children’s book illustrations, I took a bit of a turn. I found that my storytelling passion actually lies in stop motion, and I have a mentor here at the Savannah College of Art and Design who helped to encourage me to follow that passion and see what happens. Her name is Casey Nelson, and she helped me to discover that my greatest insights strike me when I am in the flow of creation.

Website: https://jensenrussell.wixsite.com/mysite

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowherejen/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jensen-russell-4a61a1188/