Day 80/100: Jeanye Mercer
Encouraging a Texas Mixed Media Artist who Practices Whole-Heartedness in All that She Does
For my 100 Days of Encouragement Project, I’m celebrating Jeanye Mercer, a mixed media artist from Texas who loves, creates, and risks with her whole heart.
Like many of you, I’m sure, I’m a big fan of Brené Brown. When I first read her book, The Gifts of Imperfection, I immediately signed up to become a trained facilitator for her psycho-educational curriculum. (I was secretly sure that we would be best friends if Brené actually knew me. But her TEDx Houston talk, The Power of Vulnerability, had already gone viral with several million views, so that train had pretty much already passed me by.)
In February 2014, I attended an advanced training with the Brené Brown organization to be certified as a mentor for other facilitators. In a small hotel conference room in San Antonio, surrounded by 10 other like-minded souls, I met Jeanye for the first time.
I was instantly struck by her smile, twinkling eyes, and the kindness that emanated from her like an aura of goodness. To be honest, sometimes “super-nice” people cause me to raise a slightly cynical eyebrow and wonder “Really???” But when I encountered Jeanye’s genuine through-and-through kindness, I knew I was in the presence of the “real deal.”
I didn’t know then, as we were both training in shame-resilience practices for our professional lives as counselors and educators, that we would later connect again over our shared passion for art and creativity.
Jeanye hails from just outside of Waxahachie, Texas, where she lives on a beautiful country property with her beloved husband of 37 years. There, surrounded by pecan trees, wildflowers, and a profusion of birds, she finds continuous sources of creative inspiration. Her kids and grandkids also bring her endless delight.
For more than 20 years, as a professional counselor and educator, Jeanye shared her effervescent spirit and creative approaches to exploring courage, kindness and compassion with kids of all ages. Her students’ enthusiasm for living bravely inspired Jeanye to discover the transformative power of making art. She dove in wholeheartedly!
Several years ago, her art was more figurative — stylized women and inspirational sayings, which were darling, and a balm for weary souls. Over time, she has experimented with many styles and approaches to art-making — with each iteration bringing her closer to her unique voice. Recently, she landed on her current intuitive abstract painting style, using acrylic paints, beautiful handmade papers, and delicious mark-making tools and mediums.
Jeanye’s paintings embody her energy, enthusiasm and freedom of spirit. Like their creator, her works foster deep connection with the hearts of her viewers and collectors.
She says that her work is dedicated to celebrating life's glorious messes. Jeanye knows that being wounded, sad, broken, lonely, awkward, or anxious can create shame — which feeds us with the false messages that we are simultaneously too much and not enough, and that we will never quite belong.
But Jeanye fervently believes that we are all glorious messes, and we are all worthy of love and belonging. Her training and practice have demonstrated that — with a little grace and courage — we can sweet-talk our inner critics into getting out of center stage (her inner critic is named Griselda, by the way). She knows that connecting with others and practicing giving and receiving empathy can loosen shame’s grip. And she’s a powerful advocate for the idea that we all can find more freedom if we can accept what is rather than clinging to the “should be’s.”
Jeanye believes that being a healing presence in the world is her life’s mission. And she is grateful for the opportunity to share that healing presence through art. Her bold colors, energetic brush strokes, intuitively placed shapes and textures, and playful use of materials are a testimony to courage and vulnerability in action!
I think you will find her delightful, too!
How You Can Be an Encouragement
Please check out Jeanye’s offerings on Instagram and her website, follow her, and send her some encouragement today by commenting on one of her posts or sending her a direct message.
Instagram: @jeanyesart
Website: www.jeanyesart.com
