As told to Taylor Colby<\/p>\n
Jacksonville native Brette Petway is a self-taught artist who has been creating artwork for more than 30 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tell us about your art and gallery. What inspires you?<\/p>\n
My art has always been about connection and healing, but right now I\u2019m especially excited about my work as a philanthartist, combining art and philanthropy. I create original artwork for local nonprofits and donate it for them to use in fundraising, merchandise and awareness campaigns.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m inspired by the incredible organizations in our community and love using what I create to help them tell their stories and further their missions.<\/p>\n
What first sparked your interest in art?<\/p>\n
Grief, actually. I began creating after losing my younger sister, Mandi, to cancer when she was just 25. I discovered that making art helped me heal, and I never stopped.<\/p>\n
What mediums do you work with?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m currently on the second exhibit of my retrospective, \u201cLife of a Self-Taught Artist.\u201d As I\u2019ve been putting it all together, I’ve realized how many mediums I\u2019ve worked in over my career. Painting, collage, sculpture, metal, animation, even dolls!<\/p>\n
What do you like best about what you do?<\/p>\n
The connection of collaborating. Art helped me through some difficult times, and now I get to use it to bring joy to other people. My philanthartist work has made that especially meaningful.<\/p>\n
What is a typical day like for you?<\/p>\n
Watching sunrises and walking with my husband Jeff and my dog Georgie on the beach, a Pilates class at Celestine, matcha at Makenu, then off to work in my studio. Weekends are for family time and church.<\/p>\n
Are you from this area originally?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a Jacksonville native. My family has deep roots here, and I grew up with parents who believed strongly in giving back to this community. Northeast Florida has always been home.<\/p>\n
What do you like best about living here?<\/p>\n
The people and the sense of community. I especially love the beauty and charm of the Beaches area. There\u2019s a wonderful combination of beach life, creativity, family and small-town connection while still being part of Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
How do you like to spend your free time?<\/p>\n
Creating is honestly what I love to do, so the line between work and free time gets pretty blurry! I also love being with family and friends, being near the ocean and finding inspiration in everyday life.<\/p>\n
Learn more about Brette Petway\u2019s art on her Facebook page and Instagram @brettepetway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As told to Taylor Colby Jacksonville native Brette Petway is a self-taught artist who has been creating artwork…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-423413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}