For me, painting is one of those magical activities that makes time completely irrelevant – I can spend hours sitting, listening to music, literally elbows deep in paint and not give the clock a second look. It is something that I can do without thinking, but still requires this really odd sublime focus. Unfortunately, it also is something I have done a lot less of recently. While I love painting, writing has taken priority during my creative periods. Painting also just takes a decent amount of physical space – which, when sharing a one bedroom in New York is pretty limited.
However, while I was on Long Island a few weeks back I caught the inspiration bug for a new project that I could not seem to shake. I found myself eyeing my mom’s totally rad hand-painted denim jacket. I have long been trying to steal this little piece of Kathy Jaget history. Featuring Jim Morrison, it was painted by an old boyfriend and now serves as a memento from her raccoon toting, ’64 Ford Falcon driving, overall wearing, high school years. She no longer wears the jacket – it actually just hides under various other jackets in the laundry room of our basement. Regardless, it was made clear that there is zero chance of me ever taking that piece of nostalgia to call my own. Thus, I thought – why not just make my own?
I headed to Blick – bought some supplies and began to work. Nervous about ruining my favorite jacket, I decided to treat the fabric as I would a canvas. I painted the back panel with a layer of gesso to prep. I then prepped acrylics, but mixed them 1:1 with a fabric medium to ensure hold. From there, it was time to get down and dirty with creativity.
Wanting to remain true to the original, I chose Van Morrison as the subject. Maybe it is because it is what I've grown up listening to – or maybe it’s because it's just really good freakin' music – but I have actually always had a real connection to music by Singer-Songwriters from the 60’s and 70’s. It's the lyrics – and how deeply connected they are with tradition and culture. Van Morrison and his Irish ways are no exception. Whether dancing, painting, cleaning my apartment, writing a paper, or even working-out, his soulful vibes and knack for lyric have always been my easy go-to. With my favorite albums being Astral Weeks and TB Sheets – I drew inspirations from each as I painted free-hand.
The project did not take too long to completely – I actually finished in about 3-days, with a total of 8-hours of work under my belt. I mean, it is definitely no Kjags original Doors jacket, but it's pretty darn close – and overall, I am pretty happy with the result. It definitely has me thinking about its future – like, if could I start a small business making them. I do love it, and I work quickly, so maybe? But, for now I am just excited to have a new piece in my wardrobe and to have had the chance to focus on something I love.