Written by Joseph Lawrence
Duality, in nearly every culture, is accepted as a core truth in the interpretation of the mysteries of life and the functioning of the universe. Whether looked at metaphysically or taken as literal science, we’ve all heard that without cold one cannot quantify hot, without evil one cannot appreciate goodness.
In the analysis of personality traits, people are often described as either “right brain” or “left brain” dominant personality types. This duality is so broadly accepted that such labels are used by a majority of people to typecast others and even describe themselves. If you are pegged as a creative type for example, your overall persona is automatically stereotyped, with all the various connotations that come with such a label.
For artist Jamie Pettis, it seems, conventional labels and categories don’t apply. Pettis is both extraordinarily creative and logically pragmatic. She has been known to spend hours contemplating a single rendering for her latest art project, but has also remained grounded and practical. Well aware early on that the odds of breaking into the art world in a major way were slim, Pettis’ original career focus was medicine, a career path taken by her mother who was an R.N. and Professor of Nursing.
Duality in Pettis’ case has been the tapping into of universal opposites to suit her needs and further her life’s mission. It is therefore no surprise that the school-aged aspiring artist and creative type was also a gifted multi-sport athlete with collegiate recruiters expressing interest in her as a potential basketball prospect. But in one of her life’s pivotal decisions, her creative side won the day when she decided not to play college sports. “As much as I loved the physicality of athletics, creativity was always prioritized,” said Pettis. “One day I broke my finger playing flag football and realized that I needed to paint with that hand. It was one of many occasions where my priorities were brought into sharp focus. Art was my truth, it would be my identity.”
Jamie Pettis was born and raised in Holdenville, Oklahoma. Though a relatively small town at the time, Pettis likes to point out that Holdenville has actually been a center of sorts for creative types. “A lot of people refer to the area around southern Oklahoma as Woody Guthrie country,” said Pettis, referring to the iconic American folk singer. “The region, and Holdenville in particular, has produced many noteworthy talents,” Pettis says. Among the current crop of talent to come out of Holdenville is Pettis’ friend, filmmaker Sterlin Harjo. Harjo’s works, including the critically acclaimed Reservation Dogs, are all set in their home state of Oklahoma.
Growing up in Holdenville, young Jamie was raised with something of an artistic pedigree, tutored by a father who himself was an artist of some repute. When Clay Pettis wasn’t practicing law and tending to his duties as town Mayor, he could be found in his turn-of-the-century studio working diligently at his craft as an award-winning artist. Clay would bring Jamie and her younger siblings to the studio on weekends where he let them doodle away on their own while he worked on his latest potential award winner. Unbeknownst to Clay at the time, those days spent at the studio with his kids were having a profound impact on his eldest daughter in ways he could not foresee.
Glowing In The Dark
Fame During The Day
At the university level, Pettis’ artistic interests continued to blossom. Having focused more on her creative side by this time, Pettis would go on to major in fashion design and production at Oklahoma State. Pettis’ focus on fashion would eventually lead to a coveted internship with famous New York Fashion Designer Marc Jacobs. It was during her tenure with Jacobs that Pettis developed her signature art style, “Abstract Realism.” As Pettis admired the adornment and refinement of females in the fashion world, she developed a love for the female form and the depiction of beautiful and iconic women. “I had learned fashion rendering and life drawing during my time with Jacobs,” remarks Pettis, “and that would steer me in the direction that would become my signature style years later.”
As Pettis continued to evolve, refining her artistic style and technique, she supported herself by revisiting her love of athletics. She was able to earn a living while remaining committed to art by hiring herself out as a personal trainer. For over a decade she continued to train a select group of clients until the increasing demands of her art career made such work prohibitive.
The Hurdle
I Am In This With You
Brent Celek and Jamie Pettis
When asked about her art world influences, Pettis reflects on the many years she has worked along side and admired a host of individuals both famous and obscure. While she has no quick answers to the question, she will point to several contemporary artists from whom she has drawn inspiration, including Kehinde Wiley, Phoenix-based artist Jon Wassom (who shared both technical knowledge and spiritual guidance with Pettis) and painter Jon Moody. But inevitably, the conversation comes full circle and it is her own father, Clay Pettis, whom she cites as the primary inspiration for her career in art.
Pettis’ original medium was Prismacolor pencil, first introduced to her by her father. But with the passage of time and as Pettis evolved as an artist, she would experiment with new mediums, sometimes using several in combination. In fact, Pettis’ style would come to be associated with the use of many different mediums, substrates and implements bringing together compelling compositions in works that can be called the ultimate in mixed media.
Among the various materials used by Pettis, the average lay person is probably familiar with some like oil paints, acrylics, palette knifes and so forth. But Pettis’ work is complex, with a labor-intensive layering process. Textural patterns, grids and delicate tracery can be seen rising from the substrate, anointed by any given combination of washes, glazes, pastes and sealers.
Pettis’ palette is no less involved. A bold, vibrant and intense coloration meanders across her compositions, and where one would normally see flesh tones, intense pastels look just as much at home and naturally in their proper place. The explosion of color is so pronounced in a single work that it’s hard to imagine even the largest assortment of Crayolas containing more shades and hues.
When gazing at one of Pettis’ finished works up close, even seasoned curators and collectors find themselves entranced by the sheer intricacy that can be seen upon close visual inspection. When viewed from afar, a Pettis work takes on the more conventional feel of classic portraiture.
In selecting her subject matter, Pettis finds inspiration in iconic figures from the world of entertainment and sports. But she vets her chosen subjects, not necessarily for aesthetic value but based on how they have affected society as a whole. It is typically their stance on social issues that wins them consideration. In other instances, Pettis’ subjects are nameless and unknown. Ironically, these works have proven very popular with collectors who perhaps may ascribe their own familiarity to the otherwise anonymous faces.
As Pettis’ acclaim and appeal became more widespread, she was called upon to do commissions for a range of corporate and private collectors. Pettis jumped at the chance, for example, to depict an iconic moment in recent NFL history when she was commissioned to paint Philadelphia Eagle tight end, Brent Celek in a widely celebrated and often replayed career highlight. Known affectionally to Eagles fans as “the hurdle,” Pettis adeptly captured the moment when Celek took to the air to avoid a tackle by Ed Reed, one of the league’s premier defensive players of the time.
In the corporate world, Pettis was retained for prestigious projects on the highest levels. For the global IT firm, Capgemini, Pettis was tasked with painting a series of super heroes that the firm would be using in multiple applications. Unfortunately, after the submission of three works, Covid-19 shut down the country, hitting the pause button on the remaining works in the series.
Undaunted, Pettis launched a series of projects and self-promotion that would take her all over the country. Pettis became an early proponent of NFTs, exploring the technology in depth. “I was working with a team of creative and like-minded people and decided to follow their lead and delve into the digital realm,” Pettis said. “I was always used to working with my hands in the old-school kind of way, but also understood the unique attributes of showcasing art in the virtual and digital realms.”
At the same time, Pettis was showcasing her art at major art fairs. It was at one such fair that Pettis’ work caught the discerning eye of famed artist, Sir Daniel Winn. Winn, who is also a globally respected gallerist and curator, immediately saw something in the work that struck a chord. Pettis was soon brought on board to join the prestigious Winn Slavin Fine Art galleries, headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.
At a recent visit to Miami Florida’s globally popular Art Week, Pettis was reflective as she took in the massive crowds at the Art Miami & Context art fair. For Pettis, the glitz of Miami during Art Week seemed a far cry from her hometown of Holdenville, Oklahoma. And yet, as the admirers gathered around her work at the crowd favorite Winn Slavin Fine Art exhibit, Jamie Pettis experienced her epiphany. She realized that this day actually had its origins decades ago in a small studio in Holdenville, Oklahoma, where a loving father took the time to share his passion with a bright-eyed little girl who would one day have artistic dreams of her own. -
The Flow That's Inside Me
Who Will I Become