There is an invisible web that unites all of us. As a artists who co-creates with spirit, in an intuitive process, Jes walks between worlds and her art and originally composed music are shared experiences from the other side.
Jes Wen’de (Waters) – Artist Bio
Jes is a 7th-generation artist whose creative journey is deeply shaped by her experiences of healing through the arts and spirituality. Her work is birthed from her unique process – a Sacred Triune of quieting, creating, and reflecting – which guides her interdisciplinary, mixed-media creations and musical compositions.
Jes’s current body of work explores the intersection of interdisciplinary mixed-media fine art with digital art and originally composed soundtracks, resulting in motion graphic fine art videos. Other work has exhibited her work throughout North America, including prominent venues like Canyon Road in Santa Fe, NM. Jes was selected as the 2024 Official Artist for the Kansas City Parade of Hearts, where she showcased her piece Confluence: Where All Paths Find Home. Her work has also been featured at the KC Fringe Festival, Mosaic Life Center's Healing Art Gallery, 80 Santa Fe, and Interurban Art House.
Over the past two decades, she has released more than 23 albums under various performing names, including Magnetic Wind, Wen'deya, Mesawzee, and Jes12Crows. Her compositions were featured in the film short, The Cabin, that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released in France.
Jess is a 7th generation interdisciplinary mixed media artist trained in transpersonal expressive arts, holistic creative arts and trauma informed expressive arts, as well as, arts in health and palliative care. She’s completed advanced graduate work in art history and digital art at Lindenwood University and music technology at Southern Utah University and MFA IA work from Goddard Collage, her Phd (Transpersonal Counseling), Masters in Applied Psychology and Bachelor’s in Education. She is a certified chaplain and ordained Reverend and has studied interfaith ecospirituality, practiced Bhakti yoga for more than two decades, engages in Buddhist practices and Quaker stillness as well as indigenous and animist practices of ceremony and spirit. As a trained and mentored Curandera Espiritu she has worked providing spiritual care and creative wellbeing expressive arts educational experiences to individuals around the World.
She was a 2024 Official Artist for the Kansas City Parade of Hearts, featuring her work Confluence: Where All Paths Find Home.
Jess's work in deeply influenced by her ancestry, women's history and the mystic as well as contemplative, spiritual practice. She is the former owner of Creative Mind Health (Colorado) Counseling, Mindfulness Based Creative Arts Institute and former executive director of The Center for Therapeutic Expressive Arts 501c3. She has decades of art education experience in public and private schools and expressive arts counseling in mental health.
Artist Statement
In the vast landscapes of cow country outside Kansas City, I discovered my artistic voice amid the quiet fields and open skies. Born into a lineage echoing with the resonance of art and music, I found solace and expression through the medium of abstract, expressive, meditative, and stream of consciousness art, a journey that would define my life.
Art, for me, began as a refuge in my timid youth, a place where expression found its form without the need for words. Process and expressive artmaking unveiled a world where colors danced and canvases breathed with a mind of their own. "The paint has its own mind... it knows where it wants to go," I often mused, surrendering to the flow of creation.
My journey evolved into a lifelong exploration of the spiritual dimensions of art and music. As an art and music teacher for over two decades, I immersed myself in the realms of expressive art therapy, healing arts, and creative expression education. Drawing inspiration from dreams, nature, and the deep well of my familial ancestry, I discovered that creativity is a spiritual practice—a connection to the flow state where messages from the spirit world reveal themselves.
In the realm of music, I weave original compositions in a stream of consciousness flow, employing soft synths, melodies, pianos, world percussion, luscious voice effects, field recordings, beats, and organic instrumentation. The resulting arrangements possess a cinematic depth, resonating with the unseen forces that guide my artistic intuition.
Amid the challenges of the pandemic, I channeled my experiences into more than 500 works, documenting my personal journey through COVID and the socio-political conflicts of the time. Spirit images and shamanic figures emerged, guiding the creation of "Voices from the Other Side," a collection reflecting the unseen voices that influence my art.
In tandem, I unveiled a powerful exhibit celebrating the Yoni—a testament to my healing journey from sexual abuse. My work, whether gentle, powerful, shocking, or healing, defies categorization, residing within the realms of Interdisciplinary and Intuitive.
For me, everything is spiritual—a manifestation of the interconnected dance between the seen and the unseen, the known and the unknown. Through my art and music, I invite you to join me on a journey where expression transcends boundaries and embraces the boundless expanse of the creative spirit.
Credentials:
M. A. Art and Design: Studio Art (anticipated summer 26) - Lindenwood University
Specialization in Graphic Design- CALArts
Advanced graduate study in Film Scoring - Southern Utah University
Phd, Transpersonal Counseling
Ed.S., Professional Studies in Ed - Educational Leadership - Capella
Masters of Fine Arts Interdisciplinary Arts - Goddard College
Certificate of Fine Arts: Mixed Media - Kansas City Art Institute
Post Graduate Certificate: Trauma Informed Organizations and Clinical Foundations, University at Buffalo
Post Bachelor’s Certificate: Transpersonal Studies: Creative Expression, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology
Master of Arts: Psychology - Regis University
BSED - University of St. Mary
Certificate of Chaplaincy
Certificate in EcoSpirituality
Certified HeartMath Clinical Provider
Certified Sound Solution and Sound Healing Practitioner
Certified Integrated Medicine for Mental Health Professional
Registered Advanced Yoga Teacher - E-RYT 500 - Yoga Alliance
Certified Restorative Expressive Arts Practitioner
Certified Mindful and Meditative Arts Practitioner
Certified Therapeutic Art Practitioner
Certified Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapy Practitioner
Certified Shamanic Art Coach
Level 1 FOAT Expressive Arts Therapy
Certified Somatic Embodiment and Self Regulation Level 3 Therapist
Certified Mindfulness and Meditation Coach
MBSR and MMFT Year Long Program Completion
Certified Primordial Sound Meditation Coach
Certified Therapeutic Guided Imagery Practitioner and Clinical Hypnotherapist
Licensed Alcohol & Drug Counselor
Licensed K-12 and K-9 Art Educator