OKC lesbian artist comes home for gallery show

Jamie Pettis will exhibit her work in Oklahoma City for the third time on December 13 on the Plaza in OKC. Pettis returns to her native state from Phoenix, AZ where she is currently pursuing and exhibiting her artistic expression as a trade.

After Pettis moved to Phoenix in the summer of 2010 she discovered her core inspiration in art would be the very thing that she left behind: Oklahoma City. She left during a time of cultural growth and when OKC’s only professional sports team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, would have its best season. She ended up watching these moments from a distance.

“When I would come home to visit I would see that there was even more happening in OKC than before,” said Pettis” “Whether it was a new art gallery, a new restoration to an area downtown, or even the excitement I saw on the faces of our loyal Thunder fans, I would increasingly yearn to be a part of it.”

It was that yearning that led her to submit art to some OKC galleries and ‘bring her work home.’ She was born in Oklahoma and lived in the state until she graduated from college.

“I can’t explain what living in Oklahoma has done for me,” adds Pettis. “All I know is that it’s a big truth within me, and I miss it terribly when I leave.”

Today, Pettis lives in Phoenix with her girlfriend, Lindsay, and their three cats. “It’s interesting because what many of the talented artists are currently experiencing in Phoenix is what we saw Oklahoma City going through ten or so years ago,” she added in closing. “Now, OKC is on the rise; it’s booming in these areas and communities need this.”

Pettis hopes to create an environment of social and cultural awareness’s within her local community.

“I think it’s important that we all realize that we are all just people living on this earth looking to find our own paths,” adds Pettis in closing. “We all have good attributes as well as flaws, and it’s okay to come to terms with it all. It’s okay to look at ourselves, and live the lives that we want.”

Her art show will be the Sean Vali Gallery during ʻSecond Friday Gallery Walk,’ the 16th Street Plaza District’s regular ʻSecond Fridayʼ event. The event is from 7pm to 11pm, December 13. Sean Valiʼs is located at 1634 N Blackwelder Ave., Oklahoma City.

Jamie Pettis is an Oklahoma native-born artist who has pursued creativework for her entire life. Throughout her childhood, Jamie spent much of her time in her father’s drawing studio making art. In college, Jamie earned a degree in Fashion Design and Production at Oklahoma State University while taking art classes, theatre costume design, and acting classes. After college, Jamie moved to Los Angeles and pursued acting while still pursuing art. For the past five years, Jamie has been producing artwork in a wide range of mediums with much of her inspiration coming from Oklahoma, her father’s love for oil pastels, and fashion designer Marc Jacobs – for whom she did an internship in New York. Jamie is presently focusing on oils, most of which are abstract to realistic portraitures. Her oil portraits can be seen in various galleries in Phoenix and Oklahoma City over the next five months, and at www.facebook.com/JamiePettisArt.

The Gayly – December 9, 2013 @ 3:45pm