MELISSA JACKSON: Portrait of an Artist

Written by AARON OGLESBY | Photographed by REBECCA LEFTWICH

You might know Melissa Jackson as a published poet and author of two anthologies, or you might have encountered her work in feature writing. You may have even sat in one of her writing or literature classes at the University of West Georgia. But you likely have yet to meet Melissa Jackson, the artist.

It might be surprising to learn she holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Auburn University as well as a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. During her tenure in New York, she produced and sold works of her own as well as other artists in galleries and exhibitions. And though her reputation in our community is that of a writer or teacher, she is, and always has been, an artist.

While she enjoys painting in a broad range of genres – her abstract work in form, colors, and shapes can be seen in venues such as the Serenbe Showhouse – her passion is portraiture. Given her career in English and literature education, it’s not surprising that she particularly enjoys painting literary figures.

“Painting them is just another way that I can absorb, appreciate, and share the remarkable work they did and celebrate the ways they inform culture and enrich our lives,” explains Jackson.

But as anyone who attempts it will tell you, facial anatomy is notoriously difficult to paint. In recognizing and distinguishing friends, family, and loves from strangers, our brains are hard-wired to note the finest distinctions. As even the most casual observer will agree, in portraiture, “close” is not close enough. Portraying the proportions and details of the human face requires mathematical precision. There are wonderful painters of landscapes who choose not to attempt portraiture simply because they find it too difficult to guide the palette and brush in finding an accurate likeness.

A portrait, though, is more than precision. A reasonably good portrait is precise. A wonderful portrait reveals some of the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the subject, and Jackson tries to capture these qualities in her paintings.

“So far I’ve done portraits of Frederick Douglass, Flannery O'Connor, and Kurt Vonnegut,” says Jackson. “I’m working now on paintings of John Steinbeck, Zora Neal Hurston, and Shirley Jackson. I’d love to paint Octavia Butler, too. She was just so cool… and Philip K. Dick; he was such a bizarre character!”

Of the portraits she’s painted, one particularly, that of Flannery O’Connor, has special significance to Jackson. During her years as a student at Auburn, she was especially influenced by English professor Robert Overstreet. His influence was so important, in fact, that her oldest son is named in his honor.

“My teaching is largely informed by him,” says Jackson. “I try to extend the patience and faith he had in me to my students.”

As O’Connor, a noted author from Milledgeville, was a favorite of Overstreet’s, Jackson’s portrait of her is not only in memory of the author but also in honor of an educator and mentor who so influenced her life and career.

As an educator herself, Jackson’s efforts in transferring some of her passion for the literary greats to her students has contributed to her enthusiasm for portraiture.

“Since I teach American Literature,” Jackson says, “I revisit my favorite authors each semester with a new group of students. People like Flannery O’Connor, Kurt Vonnegut, and Zora Neale Hurston feel like part of a family tree that I get to introduce to eager new cousins. Since I share their biographies and stories every semester, I’ve come to love them like grandparents who left mysterious journals behind. I feel compelled to paint them if for no other reason than to spend a little more time with their faces. It’s another way of remembering.”

A related niche of “remembrance” painting that Jackson finds satisfying is memorial portraiture. In this style, Jackson creates a portrait of a departed loved one from a recent or vintage photograph. The aim in the painting is not just to show the person in a specific moment of time, but to allow their character and personality to emerge; to look at the portrait is to enjoy a visit with someone you love, whose face you know as well as your own.

Another of Jackson’s more recent efforts involves creating portraits which capture the power of women in the prosaic. This effort, the Warrior Woman project, invites women in the community to allow Jackson to paint them unadorned or, one might say, in the most honest representation least appealing to one’s vanity. As Jackson puts it, “imagine climbing out of bed at six o’clock in the morning and immediately sitting for a portrait.” As opposed to a candid shot that might capture one in an inconvenient moment, it is an act of intentional exposure and confidence. To some this might seem spectacularly unappealing, but several women have accepted this empowering challenge.

If you’re interested in seeing some of Jackson’s portraits – literary, memorial, or Warrior Woman – as well as her work in other styles, you’ll have the opportunity to do so when some of her pieces are displayed at the Boyd Gallery in Newnan in March as well as at the Sharpsburg Community Center in April. NCM