About
Hi. I’m Jessica. I was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and lived there with parents until I was twelve, when they split and I headed east with my mother and siblings to come live in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Mostly a self-taught artist, I stopped taking art classes after eight grade when one teacher required us to draw the same still life of half a mannequin, a stuffed duck and three oranges, over and over for weeks straight. (As an adult, I admit now I wish I had kept going as I would have likely become a lot more familiar with different mediums much sooner, but I am stubborn, and did not like being told what to draw, especially if it was boring).
Regardless of my lack of art education, I kept drawing and doodling throughout high school, and on into young adulthood, garnering just a few more mediums along the way (namely chalk pastels and charcoal).
Into my twenties, I picked up acrylic paints on a whim and for their ability and found another medium I thoroughly enjoyed. Right around that time, I met Clark Whittington, the founder of Art-O-Mat and got involved with that project (several years later I still submit fifty tiny paintings or illustrations on a regular basis for his lovely art vending machines).
I started to take art a little more seriously and began painting and drawing near daily. I managed to sell a few of my paintings to friends and acquaintances. I added watercolor and ink to repertoire and to this day they remain one of my favorites mediums.
In 2008, I met my now-husband (a filmmaker and motion graphics designer), who has been incredibly supportive of my pursuit of art. I opened up an Etsy store and put a few of my little illustrations in it, where they sat (and some of them still do).
The next year, looking for a way to make prints of my art to make it more affordable for the masses, I discovered linocut (or block) printing and started carving, inking and selling my cards in my shop. It became one of my most loved mediums, as I love the repetitiveness of pulling prints and the peaceful focus needed for carving.
Now, my artwork consists of a lot of printmaking with some original illustrations and painting tossed in between, and once in a very blue moon, a bit of bad photography.
I still live in Charlotte, NC with the husband, a fluffy white dog named Luca and a grumpy, old black cat named Crusty.
