JENNIFER LYNNE ROBERTS
WRITER AND ARTIST |
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The boring stuff
I'm a Bay Area playwright and occasional producer, an art writer and self-teaching artist. I earned my MFA in Creative Writing from California College of Arts.
Currently, I'm company member playwright and 2017/2018 Brady Fellow at 3Girls Theatre .
STFU , a collage I made on women rebelling on the silencing of their voices, was part of a juried exhibition, Fun Size, through Jen Tough Gallery.
The story stuff
Getting a writing degree in an art school fueled my passion for the arts, which began as an overly chatty child. I was influenced at an early age by my mother. She loved art and writing and always encouraged my imagination to manifest through artistic expression. It didn't matter to her which medium as long as I was true to my weirdo self. My grandfather was a talented and known artist residing in the Philippines after WWII. Although we never met, I thought often about sitting at an easel with him, yet it was those early years watching my mother typing on her olive green typewriter in our living room that left the biggest impression; I wanted to write. By third grade, my playwriting career had begun.
I focused on writing most all of my life and shied away from art. I was always intimidated by it and thought I should "stay in my lane." Then in my early fifties, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II with an addiction to alcohol. Once therapy and medications kicked in, I started collaging and making small clay pots as therapy. As a person living with bipolar and a playwright my struggle for perfection led to a lot of distress. My artwork was a way to accept imperfection and learn how to work with it.
My art was improving. The idea of being an artist, of starting a second path in my fifties sounded ridiculous. I wasn't taking it seriously to that end, but I wanted to help others with understand the arts as therapy and raise awareness for mental illness, so I created @imperfect_ing on Instagram to show my imperfect work. I received support and people telling me I was an artist and they I always have been. They encouraged me to submit to a show. Imagine my surprise when my piece was accepted. Still, I was fifty years old. Starting a new career at my age sounded...impossible and ridiculous. But, I'm different now. I have my illness more under control and can better reason out paranoia, self-loathing, and depression.
I shook off the ridiculous notions of age as a prohibitor. We have many lives to live throughout our years.
I am a writer and artist. I'm looking forward to whatever comes next.
I'm a Bay Area playwright and occasional producer, an art writer and self-teaching artist. I earned my MFA in Creative Writing from California College of Arts.
Currently, I'm company member playwright and 2017/2018 Brady Fellow at 3Girls Theatre .
STFU , a collage I made on women rebelling on the silencing of their voices, was part of a juried exhibition, Fun Size, through Jen Tough Gallery.
The story stuff
Getting a writing degree in an art school fueled my passion for the arts, which began as an overly chatty child. I was influenced at an early age by my mother. She loved art and writing and always encouraged my imagination to manifest through artistic expression. It didn't matter to her which medium as long as I was true to my weirdo self. My grandfather was a talented and known artist residing in the Philippines after WWII. Although we never met, I thought often about sitting at an easel with him, yet it was those early years watching my mother typing on her olive green typewriter in our living room that left the biggest impression; I wanted to write. By third grade, my playwriting career had begun.
I focused on writing most all of my life and shied away from art. I was always intimidated by it and thought I should "stay in my lane." Then in my early fifties, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II with an addiction to alcohol. Once therapy and medications kicked in, I started collaging and making small clay pots as therapy. As a person living with bipolar and a playwright my struggle for perfection led to a lot of distress. My artwork was a way to accept imperfection and learn how to work with it.
My art was improving. The idea of being an artist, of starting a second path in my fifties sounded ridiculous. I wasn't taking it seriously to that end, but I wanted to help others with understand the arts as therapy and raise awareness for mental illness, so I created @imperfect_ing on Instagram to show my imperfect work. I received support and people telling me I was an artist and they I always have been. They encouraged me to submit to a show. Imagine my surprise when my piece was accepted. Still, I was fifty years old. Starting a new career at my age sounded...impossible and ridiculous. But, I'm different now. I have my illness more under control and can better reason out paranoia, self-loathing, and depression.
I shook off the ridiculous notions of age as a prohibitor. We have many lives to live throughout our years.
I am a writer and artist. I'm looking forward to whatever comes next.
"You're never too old to be what you might have been."
- George Eliot
- George Eliot