Meet Jenny Lu | Illustrator & Artist

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

Hi Jenny, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
The most important lesson I learned from being an artist is that you can learn from everything and everyone. To do that, you need to be open and always strive to see the world with a fresh eye. Then you can always take that as your inspiration for your next project or treat it as a little something that will add pure joy to your life.

I used to take art lessons offered by the Guggenheim museum called “Artists and Nontraditional Materials”. The class introduced us to artists who use strange materials and processes, such as Jenny Holzer, Hanna Wilke, Sol Lewitt, Tino Sehgal, and Alfredo Jaar. These artists have pushed the boundaries of what art can be by responding to their particular sociopolitical contexts with their work and challenging traditional art conceptions.

Overall, this class changed how I see the world, awakened my senses, and made me pay more attention to the surroundings and people I’ve encountered. The power of art is that it can help communicate an important or even an abstract message with clear visual metaphors or in unprecedented ways that can often surprise people. Also, the beauty of art is that it allows people to slow down and be keenly aware of the world that we are living in right now. This is the most important lesson I’ve learned from my career.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I decided to become a professional illustrator at age 15 and consistently sought to create art that would make people smile. Along the journey, I found circus and gorilla themes to fascinate me the most. My goal is to create work that can make people feel accessible and willing to listen to the stories behind each painting to discover things they haven’t noticed. Hopefully, they will be inspired and find some things that resonate with their life. Oh! I write an art blog, too. It’s called Art’s Wonderland, and you can find it on my website.

As a recent graduate, you should check out some of the best advice from the legendary Adam Caldwell. You will get lots of inspiration from reading interviews of successful artists on my blog and more artists to come early this year. Also, complicated painting processes are broken into simple steps that are easy to follow to introduce different painting techniques, and one was called an oil-wash technique. You can also find some essential art principles and book recommendations there.

I am convinced that one’s life would be much more interesting if there’s art, so it’s important to let more people access it. I also think that drawing and painting skills can be taught through understanding basic art principles. So I hope my blog can become a place for art enthusiasts of all levels to build their artistic skills and appreciation of art. So please stay tuned and subscribe to Art’s wonderland!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I used to live in San Francisco for five years, then moved back to Taiwan during Covid, and am currently living in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. If you ever get a chance to visit Kaohsiung, you should check out Weiwuying, it is the largest performing art and music center in East Asia. The Pier-2 Art Center is also a great place to spend a day in Kaohsiung for an art lover. If you are a beachgoer, you should check out Kenting. And if you are a nature lover, you should visit Alishan Forest in Chiayi, Sun Moon Lake in Nantou, and Taroko Gorge National Park in Hualien.

Don’t forget to book an appointment to check out Chia-Hsing Chang and Yu-Ling Wu’s pottery studio in Meinong if you come to Kaohsiung. Sometimes, an artist’s studio can be as fun as these tourist attractions! I was lucky to be invited to their beautiful studio once. We sipped delicious tea, looked at ceramics with hand-embellished calligraphy, and had a delightful conversation about art. It was always a treat to have one-on-one conversations with artists since learning how an artist sees the world fascinates me. So I highly recommend you put visiting an artist’s studio on your to-do list the next time you travel.

I hope these guides help with your travel plan to Taiwan and wishing you a fun and memorable trip here.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m grateful to have had such a caring teacher like Adam Caldwell. Adam is a gallery artist who has shown his work worldwide, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, etc. He also teaches at Academy of Art University in San Francisco and has been my mentor, support, and guide for many years. He taught me the basic knowledge of drawing and gave me the lessons I will carry throughout my life’s journey. So I wish to thank him from the bottom of my heart.

I also owe a shoutout to a lovely family in Taiwan. They have been super supportive and have collected almost all of my artwork since four years ago. I will never forget their kindness and will always appreciate their generous support. Without them, I wouldn’t have had enough courage to believe in myself and my paintings.

Website: www.jennyluillustration.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jenny.ichenlu?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Other: Art’s Wonderland: www.instagram.com/artswonderland.blog/