“If the message touches the heart, it never dies.”
Jay Kruse
“I consider all art forms ‘delivery systems’…potent and intentional means of transmitting info and feelings, from the (most) subjective to the (more) objective. My current focus on visual art, on painting, is for the immediate impact on people’s minds – that it be instantly received. I find it is the perfect tool for expressing positive and even therapeutic ideas. I aim to create images that are soothing, uplifting and potentially empowering. I think our country, and the world, needs more of that in their lives right now.” (JK)
Jay Kruse was the youngest of three children, born in Houston, TX on Sept. 29, 1968, into a family that fostered his early artistic abilities. His father was a gifted artist, carving “in the round”, and it was always assumed that Jay would also be an artist. Jay began making complete figurative drawings before preschool. In elementary school he took painting classes, learning about colors and mixing, so it was a shocking turn of events when he turned to music as his primary focus as a high school freshman.
He was a passionate bassist, moving quickly from rock and blues to jazz. As he was establishing himself locally as a professional musician another twist soon surfaced that would again alter his trajectory: he became smitten with the bamboo and reed flutes from other parts of the world. Eventually he sold everything he owned and got a one-way ticket to Turkey to study with his flute teacher’s teachers. Although it was an exciting time, life was not easy there, and Jay moved to Las Vegas with his fiancé in 2005, and married the following year. In 2010 the couple relocated to Oakland, their current home.
For the decades that followed, music was the driving creative force in Jay’s life. The joy and companionship he found in music overshadowed what he emotionally got out of art. He not only played flutes and percussion instruments, but soon began constructing them, calling upon the early influence of his father. For years he catered to those seeking out reed flutes of various Middle Eastern traditions as well as bamboo flutes in the style of the Indian Subcontinent…all while performing with a variety of music groups His gigs ranged from belly dance ensembles to medieval music groups and even a long stint playing percussion for a Scottish bagpipe group. Underneath all this activity was a constant deepening of the love of crafting instruments, and the math and magic hidden within them. As he began to synthesize different flute dimensions into his own personal designs, he discovered what would become the bedrock of not only his music and instrument crafting but also his art: geometry.
It has only been in the past few years that Jay found the passion of creating 2-D art again. He muses that as a child it was expected of him, and although he enjoyed the attention, praise, and approval he got for his efforts, he did not necessarily enjoy the process. He turned down scholarships coming out of high school, as he simply “wasn’t feeling it.” Now, he sees his artmaking as his raison d’etre, feeling a connection to the act, intention, and purpose of the art form, and only now really loving the entire act of saying something deliberately with his art. Inspired by Sacred Geometry, much of his work is spiritual in nature.
Whether developing new art, making instruments, or teaching those interested, Jay is happy to be producing good things for the world. Creating balance and harmony, and uplifting people with his art and music is his clear and coherent intent.