Last year, Jeremy Mann uprooted his entire life, trimmed some of the excess and moved the whole thing 6,000 miles away to Spain. Needless to say, he’s been busy. There was certainly some agony that came with moving out of his Bay Area home, but the ecstasy hit him when he saw another way to live in a distant and beautiful place. He and his wife, the painter Nadezda, are still trying to sort out their full studios and they have some unpacked boxes here and there, but their work has barely stopped. Mann has been turning his attention to plein air work in his new surroundings, but he also has completed new oils and been very active in his sketchbook. He also just recently released MANN: Vol. 3, a new entry to his popular art books showcasing his work across numerous media. He also has a documentary, A Solitary Mann, directed by artist Loic Zimmermann. I caught up with Mann for our podcast, the American Art Collective, during which he talked in-depth about the last several years of his life, what he’s working on and the state of his still-in-the-works studio. Afterward, we corresponded further. Our second interview, none of which aired on the podcast, appears below. Enjoy!
What ultimately led to your move to Spain? Were you worried your work would change at all? Or was change the point?
Life is change! And yes, I needed some intense change…especially one with less gunshots in the din of my sleepless nights. Aside from the continuous stream of inspiration coming from the Barcelona Academy of Art and the multitudes of nearby cultures to add to my life experience, I needed what I considered to be the most important technique required for artistic growth: time. The work ethic which I was raised in prepared me well to never to give up, and now it was the moment to sell everything and live a debt-free life which opens a more pure path for whatever creative outlets one yearns to express.
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