Focus on Female Skinners - Jsenn
interview by FOF

Joy Senn, is well known by her nick - Jsenn - at all of the main skin sites.

She is one of very few visitors to any of the sites who are known not for their skins, or their walls, or their frequent (mis)use of messageboards, but for their comments.

No-one who browses the wallpaper or art sections on any site can have failed to have missed her eloquent, poetic posts. Her responses are always positive, and frequently works of art in their own right. I look forward to many people's next skin, or wallpaper, but there is only one person whose comments I actively look forward to reading.

I asked Joy when and how she discovered the world of desktop customisation.

Jsenn: 2 years ago, LaunchKaos was the first skinnable program I saw, got excited about, purchased, and it was the first time I heard the word "skinnable".

I was thoroughly taken aback by the artistic talent of skin makers. Art is something I have always been interested in, and art created by these artists, most of whom were untrained formally in the arts, was astounding to me. I had such respect and awe for their work.

My first comment was on (Trevor M) BirdE230's work. His work indulged fantasy, like "Dashboard", "Offering", and "Three Flowers". I loved that, skins which changed my desktop from the boring windows to one of interest and delight, one in which imagination could flourish.

I met (Lorene Lalonde) lorenela, in that section, and she was the first to show me excellence in a skin; not only was it beautiful, but there was a level of intricacy in which each tiny element had a purpose, it 'did something'. "Altima" and the "Alumina" series stand out as the first examples, in which I began to understand more fully what a skin really could do. Since then there have been many discoveries, (Tim Dagger) timdagger, (Zeljko Skropanic) zts, (The Stuman) Stuman, and the wonder of imaginative LaunchKaos skins, (John Boyd II) OGG.

Tek: Your comments are to be found far more frequently in the wallpaper sections... how skinnable is your desktop, in terms of the programs you use?

Jsenn: Well I have tried many programs, but the one's which I use most often are LaunchKaos, WinAmp, ICQ2000, and QuickNotes. The venerable (Randy Bradbery) Koasati talked me into using ICQ again, but if you have my number, you know I am terrible at using it every day, and often only boot it to try out a new skin, or ask a question of an artist.

I do use QuickNotes every day, and keep a list there of Wallpapers I want to comment upon. I have never used 'themed skins' because I prefer to see the wallpaper on my desktop

Tek: Your presence at the skinsites is most noticeable in the wallpaper sections. Have they always been your main interest?

Jsenn: Yes the Wallpapers sections of skins sites is my main interest; and it is, even after a year of going there every day, my favorite section of Skinz.org; but it was not always so. My first visit to Skinz.org was to find skins for LaunchKaos. I am afraid, LOL, that modifying my shell is just more work than I will make time for, but I must say that they are very tempting, especially when (Renato de Carvalho) Treetog, (Russ Schwenkler) Dangeruss, and that 'mighty trio' in Treetog, Dangeruss and (Deven Stephens) Dmer, as TheSkindicate, send those lovely themed suites to be displayed.

I do regret not commenting more often on the skins I use. I am like many users who admire a skin, download it, unzip it, install it, try it, and then go someplace else without returning to comment to the artist. And, don't tell anyone, LOL, but I do go to the NextStart section and snitch the wallpapers out of those themes fairly often. I don't always comment there either, because I always feel I have to 'fess up'.

Tek: How far can creativity be detrimental to the functionality of a skin?

Jsenn: In my opinion, an artist creates a skin. Granted there are those brave enough to create and post photo skins, where little creativity is exhibited, but they are not the one's I will use, and I usually consider them to be just a 'rumble' in the heart of one who wishes to be creative.

At the same time, there aren't many skin makers who are professional 'media developers'. Most skin makers, even those who excel, are not 'trained' to be artists, and that element of skins sites, is what I find fascinating enough to go see every day. It is that element, the liberation from a person's heart, of an unbridled creative spirit, which I find absolutely astounding.

Tek: Do you have a tendency to use functional skins, or skins that are more unusual, that have something of a "wow" factor about them?

Jsenn: I use both 'wow' and 'functional' skins, but I think I tend to use a 'wow' skin more often, since I don't leave them on my desktop all the time. For instance, I have many WinAmp skins, and when I use WinAmp it is set to change skins when it begins a new song, but if I need to 'see' clearly what a button says, or even find a button, LOL, then I will turn that option off and use a 'functional' skin. Functional skins are, to me, always beautiful, and are usually created by the more experienced artist.

Tek: Do you have a particular "desktop style"?

Jsenn: My apologies to the Iconist's in the audience, but I like my desktop clean of anything except a piece of wallpaper art and the windows 'start menu' bar. I use DeskSweeper to toggle icons on when I need them, but usually I like only the wallpaper to show. I like my skinnable programs to windowshade or return to the taskbar when they are 'in waiting.' I suppose, what I have created on my desktop would be considered, a 'private art show for jsenn'. Wallpaper Changer and WinCycler are set to change the wallpaper as often as 30 minutes and now, after having amassed a huge collection, it would take days to see each one.

Tek: Your own comments clearly betray an artistic soul. Have you created any digital art of your own?

Jsenn:This is a question I am often asked. I do have a creative 'bent' within me. I discovered it as a child, and it is an important part of my being. I love to 'play' with fractal art programs, and I am tenuously learning The Gimp, but I've not strongly considered sending a piece in because I just love what I do at the skins sites. I comment on art. I have found in doing that, a creative side of myself, which I'd not known, existed. It is the ability to, I hope succinctly, express in words, my feelings about an artist's work. My comments seem to do two things. They create a dimension, for the viewer, to the art itself, which seems quite satisfying to the artist; and they encourage and inspire the artist to continue working. I have written probably four poems in life, but since I began to comment at skins sites, I have written close to two hundred. It is the art which must be complimented, though, because it 'is' the art which inspires the words, and it's an enormous humbling experience for me when an artist writes me personally and says that my words spurred him or her to create again. When this interaction between the artists and myself is no longer a positive experience, maybe I will send in a piece of art. I believe it takes a brave and determined person to do that. I'm not sure such bravery exists within me. Part of life should be FUN! For myself, this is one of those parts.

(Since the interview has taken place, Jsenn has uploaded several of her poems to DeviantArts poetry section. One of which, "The Knowing " was the first piece of poetry to be awarded the honour of their "Daily Deviation".)

Tek:Would you like to see more wallpaper artists try their hand at skinning, or are the two completely different arts in your eyes?

Jsenn:I think the two are alike in that it does take a creative person to do either, and do it well. Of course I speak only as an observer, since I've not created a skin, but I should think that there is a level of precision which must be met to be a skinner. That certainly seems true if one were to do it with creative satisfaction

I think it is interesting that wallpaper artists will sometimes progress into skinning, and I don't think I have seen a skinner who could not create excellent wallpaper. One can see that in the NextStart section, and look at tierne's (John Allen) and kyte's skins. They both create very precise skins and then match them the most wonderful free flowing wallpapers.

In the last year I have watched two artists move into the skinning arena, and they both seem to have a knack for that secondary discipline. Randy Bradbery (Koasati) created 'Kopper n Green' for ICQ which I use all the time. And a fairly new artist, who has become very popular in wallpapers, mrmercury aka BoXXi (Bryan Cook) is also skinning. Bryan's QuickNotes skins are the only one's I use because they are big enough for me to use a 10 or 12 pt font. I had quit using QuickNotes altogether because the note skins were so tiny. Now I use it every day, skinned by Bryan's 'Technon' for QuickNotes.

Tek: I amagine that you are quite excited by the newest skinsite, DeviantArt. I would imagine its breadth of arts coverage is something that very much appeals to you.

Jsenn: I am very excited about DeviantArt. Run by jark and matteo, the site is a wonderful outlet for those artists who create wallpaper art. Skins have also begun to enter that site in abundance and I find it much easier to see new skins there than I do at Skinz. Although Skinz.org carries a listing of new skins, one must go to that section to see them. At DeviantArt the main page can be set to see all new 'deviations' which is any piece, skin or art, that may have been submitted that day. I like that, and I think that skin artists get greater exposure with that system.

Also, the level of interaction is such that nearly all pieces get helpful critique. I've seen beginners grow in a matter of a few weeks because advice about technique is freely, and more often than not, graciously given. I am very pleased with DeviantArt. I have never used nor cared greatly for the word 'community' but I am beginning to see the meaning of that word and its connotations at DeviantArt. I have always felt that Skinz.org was my 'first love' and I don't, though I have had some difficult times here personally, ever see myself leaving this site. But I think it is good to have another site in friendly competition with Skinz.org. It is fresh and lively, and, LOL, I think most every Skinz.org member that I know frequents it. Skinz.org members know a good thing when they see it.

I'd like to thank Jsenn for taking the time to answer these questions, and for the fantastic and unique service she provides for digital artists everywhere!

1-1-2001