Janet Yazzie Speaks

In this episode, we talk to Diné (Navajo) painter Janet Yazzie. We talk with Janet about how she developed the courage to be a full-time artist, the inspirations for her work, and her favorite parts about her job. Janet even did the art for this very podcast!

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TRANSCRIPT:

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Janet Yazzie”: So I was, okay, I'll do this. I think I can do this. And I kept hearing from my family, you can do this. You're really good at it. I was like, okay, fine. Okay. I'll do it. I'll do it. But then I just I had to believe in myself first to become an artist and to embrace this gift that I was blessed with.

Ranger Melissa: Welcome to Grand Canyon Speaks! My name is Ranger Melissa.

Ranger Jonah: And I'm Ranger Jonah.

Ranger Melissa: Hey, who did we interview today in this episode?

Ranger Jonah: Yeah, in this episode, we talked to Janet Yazzie. It was a really unique program in person. We had to initially cancel because of lightning, but by the time the program came around, the weather cleared, a big rainbow came out, and it was just a beautiful evening.

Ranger Melissa: Yeah. We actually moved under a shade structure by the parking lot to get away from that extra rain that was just ending. And we had a great time talking with Janet. It was good to hear about her life and how she only recently labeled herself as a full-time artist after taking some really big leaps.

Ranger Jonah: Yeah. Even though we were by the parking lot, and this was actually one of our first programs, I was really happy with our conversation. So, without further ado, Janet. Hello!

Janet Yazzie: Hi.

Ranger Jonah: Well, Janet, thank you so much for coming to the program today.

Janet Yazzie: Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

Ranger Jonah: So, my first question is, where are you from?

Janet Yazzie: I am originally from the Navajo reservation called lower Greasewood. It is like 100 miles away from here, northeast, but I live in Flagstaff, Arizona, currently.

Ranger Jonah: A little bit closer. Very nice! And so, you are an artist. And how did you start your career? Could you kind of tell the story of when you first decided that this was what you wanted to do?

Janet Yazzie: Okay, well, it took me a long time to get to where I'm at right now and to figure out that I wanted to be an artist. I did start as a child. I remember working on something in my class when I was in the third grade, and it was a bluebird and I entered it into a contest. From there on, I decided that I felt like I could draw but I didn't really take on that I could really draw. I doodled along the way with pencil, charcoal, not knowing that that was my medium yet, or I couldn't find what I was really interested in. I did woodwork, I did ceramic. I did a lot of craft art. And then somewhere along the way, I started working with acrylic. And acrylic seemed like it was a little bit hard to do at first.

Ranger Jonah: Sure.

Janet Yazzie: I did buy some canvas and paint, and I just kind of storaged it away and then didn't look at it for a long time because I went to school. You get busy with your life. Went to college, had various jobs. And then even when I was in high school, I took art class, and I found that it was pretty interesting, just art itself, and some of my art teachers, they would get us to do different projects. But then again, I didn't think, oh, art, should I do art? When you're a kid, you don't know that's the way you want to go, to be an artist. So, I just left it as that. Still had my canvas and my paint storage away, and then took some classes in college and then took an art class for an elective because it was, like, the easiest class to take. And I just kind of coast right through it because my teacher wasn't challenging enough for me. And she used to put, like, just still life items in front of us, and then