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Artist in Residence: Jeanna Fearon

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For Jeanna Fearon, art is therapy

A few years ago, a good friend of Jeanna Fearon was struggling with personal issues.

"She needed time to get away, even for an afternoon. And she needed to laugh. So we took a day off and... well, we laughed. A lot. That was the inspiration for this," Fearon said of what has become one of her favorite works of art.

It is simple, really. It's a painting Fearon did after that day that depicts a pair of margaritas, their lime coloring standing out against a dark backdrop. She calls it "Girlfriend Day."

For Fearon, the most meaningful part of the painting is what it symbolizes. For this professional artist whose day job is that of an art therapist — perhaps the only art therapist currently practicing in Peoria — that is priceless.

"Art is very personal. Picasso once said that every painting is a self-portrait. I totally agree with that. It doesn't matter what it is, it says something about you or about a moment in your life. My art is about my moments," she said.

Being able to be there for her friend, to help her through a tough time, became one her most important moments. That's why "Girlfriend Day" means so much to her and why she displays it in her home studio and at art fairs.

Most of Fearon's art is fun; at least that which is seen by the public. Her moments aren't always fun, she admitted. But artwork she does as therapy from those darker or sadder moments go into a journal and remain personal. "I do use art for my own expression, for the sad, the hurt. But the art the public sees is fun stuff. I believe that art, the fun stuff, can be healing. It is for me when I do it and it can be for others when they see it if it makes them laugh or smile," she said.

You can find Mr. Potato Head in much of Fearon's art, perhaps wearing a Chicago Cubs or St. Louis Cardinals uniform. It was at a Cubs game several years ago that she got the inspiration, she said. She is a Cubs fan so apparently not all her painful art goes into her personal journal.

Neither did her recent painting of Mr. Potato Head in a Cardinals uniform holding a World Series trophy. "Now that one was painful to do," she said, with a laugh. And she has sold at least a few prints of that one so it has been a little lucrative. "I do have a few friends who are Cardinals fans," she said.

Another fun thing Fearon uses as art objects are mermaids, a lifetime fascination for her. "I struggled for years to try to paint mermaids and just couldn't seem to get it right. Now, interestingly, I do it well enough I was commissioned to do several of them for Senara Spa (in Peoria). I'm very proud of that," she said.

It was her biggest commissioning yet and certainly not bad for an artist who has been showing her work in public for only three years. And for one who repeated an art class at Lakeview Museum more than once before the instructor finally declared she'd had a break through moment. "He'd told me I didn't have it, but I kept going. I kept trying. Finally I had my break through. I haven't stopped and I am still learning and, I think, getting better," she said.

But Fearon is quick to interject that her personal art, which she sells more of all the time, is "my side gig, what I do for fun more than anything else to try and make people happy."

She doesn't expect to ever make a real living from her art. "And frankly, I never want to get to a point where I have to depend on my art to support myself. Then it's a job," she said. "Besides, I don't think I'm good enough for that."

Art has been important to Fearon since she was a child and became fascinated by the box of 64 Crayons she got for first grade. "I just loved all the colors. I became passionate about it," she said. "I grabbed every opportunity in grade school to do art, like doing the teachers' bulletin boards. I even won a national coloring contest once when I was 9 or 10."

And yet in her childhood home, music was the chief form of art the family focused on, largely because her parents were musicians. Fearon was in her 20s and a mother of Brea when she took her first art class, even though her husband Peter Fearon, whom she met at Illinois State University, was an art student.

"I was his biggest cheerleader. But I majored in sociology (in which she has a master's degree) and social work. Peter was the art superstar. It didn't occur me to take art classes until it finally dawned on me I needed a release and art was a good vehicle for that," she said.

Fearon was a counselor at Planned Parenthood in Springfield and had a second daughter, Meriah, before she learned she could get an advanced degree at ISU in art therapy. "I read the class description and realized, 'this is me.' It was a perfect marriage of my vocation and avocation."

It took three years but Fearon has become a licensed art therapist and is now in private practice with Mindock Counseling and Consulting in Peoria. A visit to that office at 2000 W. Pioneer Parkway is another way to see some of Fearon's work; at least one wall of each office is either original art or a duplicate of a famous piece. In her own office she painted a duplicate of the famous "Starry Night" painting by Vincent Van Gogh.

Fearon also teaches art part-time at the Montessori School in Peoria, which she has done for 11 years "because I love it." And she teaches private art classes in her home studio, including painting, drawing, clay and paper mache.

She recently hosted at her home studio and backyard a Jackson Pollock Splash Party. Pollock was an American artist known for creating abstract art using tools other than brushes, such sticks, trowels and foreign matter such as glass and sand and throwing or splashing them onto the canvas.

"It was a way to let people come over and splash colors together, however they wanted to do it, and find a creative outlet. It's great for families to do together and have fun. Messy maybe, but still fun. Kids love it," she said.

Her own daughters are into art, as well. Brea draws in ink and Meriah paints. Both are musical, as well. "I encourage them all the time," she said.

After earning her art therapy degree Fearon continued taking art classes herself, mostly at Illinois Central College. "I kept learning and improving. I felt I needed to if I was going to be more effective in my art therapy work, if I was going to help my clients gain insight from their own artwork. Art touches a part of the brain that words don't always reach, so I needed to be able to help them analyze what they draw or paint.

"My clients often don't realize things about themselves until we do that. I do believe I am usually in tune with their thoughts and often I help them get this emotional release. They usually leave here enlightened."

Art therapy can also be used to help people reach their creative potential and overcome fears of expressing themselves. "It really is very insight-oriented. I am very client centered and work very intensively with my clients. I do a lot of cognitive therapy because learning new ways to think about things can itself be healing."

A flier she produced about her practice describes how art therapy can be used to help people resolve issues, reduce stress, improve self-esteem and develop and manage behaviors. "People of all ages can grow and develop personal insight from the healing power of art. Art allows a person to express oneself symbolically, in ways words may not be able to describe," the flier states.

It also points out that art skills are not necessary. "Art therapy is about the process, not the product. The point is not to create the Mona Lisa but to use artistic expression to learn about oneself. Any piece of art that is a catalyst for insight is beautiful for that reason alone," it said.

Fearon said she never criticizes a client's art. "A person has to find what they like and work it. It's part of the process. I've always said art is a happy accident. But even if you don't like something you've done, paint over it. We can't start our lives over usually, but we can with our art. It's a way to find out about yourself. That's what is important."

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