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

Hi Alaysia, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
The most important lesson that my business has taught me is to stay true to myself and what I believe in. At first, I didn’t think my art would sell in any way and I honestly thought I was bottom of the dumpster trash when I first started. I continued to stay consistent in improving my art through each new piece I did despite the fact that my work wasn’t getting any feedback. I continued to make vibrant art because I wanted to and it wasn’t because of what people wanted to see. It’s important to create what you want and be true to you because eventually the right people who are your intended audience will see it and rock with it. No matter how many times I fall down into that “imposter syndrome,” my art reminds me of how far I’ve come and really how amazing my mind is!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

SO my art is a mixture of fantasy, afro-futuristic, and a crazy amount of colors. I went to a predominantly-white college where I felt that I was constantly regurgitating Black trauma and pain from different angles especially within my art which was exhausting. It then came to a point where it felt like I had to create that type of work so that my voice/experiences could be heard. It was also as though my work wouldn’t be digested fully by the art community if my work didn’t have that type of theme or a deep message in order to elevate in the art world. I then decided to just start making art that looks ethereal with lots of amazing colors and to make it beautiful because Black is beautiful and always will be.
I create photoshop pieces using a method called photo manipulation which I didn’t discover until my first piece in 2017. This method is basically like where you take a bunch of random images and combine them into one cohesive piece. In the beginning, I created pieces of music artists that I listen to and resonate with so that when people saw how I created their favorite music artists in ways that I saw them, they would feel a different type of connection and understand my connection with them and their music! As of now, I am starting to grow out of that as I continue to push myself because I want to know what other other-worldly people I can create and how! Lots of trial and errors with different mediums brought me to where I am today because without using other mediums I wouldn’t appreciate as much the things that I do with my current pieces. Aspects of other methods such as painting, drawing, photography, etc have all had an impact on how I do my current art style and learning art history has influenced my work as well. One of the biggest things that sets me apart from others is my color usage and how I create these images because (not to toot my own horn) I haven’t seen anything like it before honestly. I shock myself sometimes at how these pieces turn out because I honestly never know what the results will be since they are constantly changing as I create.
I graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design and without it, I probably wouldn’t even be doing this right now. I started creating photoshop pieces because of a project in college and most of the programs we had to learn mostly ourselves. Photoshop is my child in a way and really anything is possible to be created with it which is why I love it so much! There are of course plenty of challenges with this especially in regard to how to stand out as a photoshop artist to the world. I am heavily engrossed in “Art Twitter” and my group of friends (they know who they are) have also helped push me and give great advice artist to artist to help me continue to grow efficiently. Seeing how we all are starting to reach thousands of people every time work is posted is motivating to me in many ways and they truly are amazing people. Along the way, I’ve learned that being genuine as a person and within your work will take you miles down your career. I create what I want to create and stick to being me and I’ve made some amazing connections with people because of it.
AJetterDesigns is me wholeheartedly and is a good representation of me. At first I was worried because my art doesn’t say anything therefore doesn’t “speak” for me; however, I now realize that it embodies everything that I am. The main point of my work is to provide an ethereal experience for the consumer. I want people to actually look at the details and take in the theme(s) of the piece and what it contains. My work is unique and only continues to push boundaries with every piece I create!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
WELL if my friends knew me, they would know that I am a super homebody so they would already have an itinerary for me. I am so indecisive so usually that is not my lane whether I live in the location or not. However, anything margarita related is always a plus for me. The Vortex has great burgers and really any club in the city is a go time for me! Me and my friends are very “we’ll just pick somewhere and hope for the best,” but since I’m not originally from here I usually ask my friends from here suggestions on places that we pick (love you guys truly). One place that I try to go to every chance I get (isn’t in the city BUT it’s amazing) is Mom’s Creole Cookin’ in Grayson. Their food is amazing and I would literally go everyday for the whole week if I could. Bars and such in Midtown or on Edgewood was always a fun time with my friends. Any artsy events that I can find, game arcades like Dave & Busters, laser tag, etc are my ideal hangouts since I am a very chill individual. Don’t think my friends are boring though because like I said, they usually are the ones more in the know on the type of fun I SHOULD be having when we all go out.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Everyone around me is so amazing, but I want to give a special shoutout to my 6th grade History teacher Mr. Andrews! I say this all the time to people that he is one of the biggest reasons that I am where I am today in my art career. 6th grade was when I started to get serious about art, and he let me express it in his class anytime I wanted to. I used to be able to color history images in his class and he would print sheets out for me to color on (which has influenced my color usage in my pieces overall). He gave me a space to express my creativity and continued to encourage me to push myself more each piece. He even gave me projects to do such as create artwork to be hung in the hallway and he didn’t realize how motivating it was to be able to have outcomes such as those as someone who barely saw themselves as an artist at that time. He was a wonderful teacher and I truly saw qualities of myself in him when I was that young. I continue to look up to him because he IS the standard. I wouldn’t have continued down my art career without his active push everyday honestly. In my last year in middle school, he promised me I could have all the coloring books that I used once he retired (which I honestly didn’t remember he told me that after a while). When I reached my senior year of high school, he gave me those books; it meant so much that he even remembered and honestly gave me that push again to persevere into the arts seriously.

Website: www.ajetterdesigns.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ajetterdesigns/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaysia-jetter/

Other: https://linktr.ee/ajetterdesigns

Image Credits
August Alsina, BIA, Sam Ramirez (Ye Ali Self-Portrait), Kirko Bangz

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlanta is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.