Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jasmine Drake. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Jasmine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
The biggest risk I have taken was literally sharing my talents to the world! (online) Since around the time I started sharing things to different platforms in 2016, it was not “normal” to pour out your creations of who you truly are in the spaces I was surrounded in. For YEARS I felt like I was living a split life from doing regular day to day duties, but when I would get time to have to myself I would be consumed by different things like my artwork, modeling, and overall experimenting with anything that kept my soul at ease. Since a child, all I knew is I did not want to have any regrets when it comes to not doing things that bring me inner as well as outer peace. As I started to get older, this fire started to grow even though I did not know how far my creations would lead me, I had to try no matter what.
As I started to post and feel comfortable to the point where this split life feeling became one, I fully understood that friends as well as family might not agree or even like what I create & choose to do with my life, but as long as it completed me as a person that is truly all that mattered. The more I continued to organize & make portfolios for the things I was posting, the more I started to understand why people say your journey is not for everyone. It was a lot of friends I had to slowly let go because of negativity or them trying to get me to stop something as simple as drawing! now that I look back, I think it is truly silly how people are afraid to be themselves. There was even times where people would tell me that nobody would notice my artwork or I would not even make anything from my art pieces until I was dead which came from people close to me, but I told them it is more than just money! I express in my creations what I could never form into words & hope that people can resonate & understand my story as a whole.
The best part about taking a risk is the warm moments! the times where I have had companies, celebrities, & other artist around the world that inspire me more than they ever know like or compliment & tell me to not stop what I am doing is something that will melt this heart of mine forever. Never in my life would I have known I would have people on the other side of the world from me tell me how amazing I am not only for what I create, but how I carry myself. In my eyes, if you could spend 5-6 hours binge watching a show or 1-2 hours just scrolling online, you can have the same discipline to spend those hours finding your way on how you will create things for yourself FIRST so that no matter what, you will have a calm mind. There is still a lot to offer to this world & I still have stepping stones that I want to achieve like having my first solo exhibition, getting my artwork into more museums, working with those same companies & artist with collaborations showing my style blended into a beautiful masterpiece of whatever we decide to create I mean, the creations are limitless!
I would have never thought coming from my small hometown of Rocky Mount, North Carolina that I would have gotten to experience what I have leading up to even this beautiful moment in time & I am always grateful for what has been placed upon my life.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am Jasmine Drake but majority of people online know me as Dreadful Desire. This name was created for myself in 2007 to describe how people are not only towards what I create, but also how people are towards me. Dreadful Desire means to be sad off of something you can not have which I thought was very fitting towards being my pen / artist name since I am a pretty open minded person with a caring nature, so once I pull back to focus more on my own trials & tribulations, some people do not take it well & tend to have a moment of sadness hence the name Dreadful Desire. Originally, I started just in the culinary world cooking at 6 and later in life getting into the field at a Country Club at 16. Fast forward to me going to The Art Institute of Virginia to graduate & get my Bachelors in Culinary Management in 2017, being in a school with a bundle of amazing art classmates is what pushed me to work not only just the culinary side of art, but other fields as well.
While I am still working in the culinary field full time, I also do freelance commissions & opportunities when it comes to my artwork & modeling trying to stretch what I love to do further into the world until bigger deals start to come my way. A few times each year I open up shop to sell limited items that vary depending on the projects I am working on. The biggest thing that I think helped me have discipline is being in marching band (year round) throughout high school (Alto Saxophone Section Leader) & the crunch time when it came to working full time while still making sure I stayed on the Dean’s list in college that opened my eyes to if you really want to make something happen, you will make the time as well as dedication to get the ball rolling. The biggest thing that makes me proud is even though I came from a small town that does not have the best reputation whenever I bring it up to anyone, I as well as other phenomenal homies I grew up with are changing the narrative! we are living proof with each breath that we take that just because you come from a certain environment does not mean you have to keep acting in a way that does not serve your life’s purpose.
The main goal behind Dreadful Desire is to spread peace no matter what industry I choose to dip my feet in. I believe my crafts can go as far as I want them to, from murals on buildings, to artwork on a bottle of water you are drinking, to seeing the art style in motion at a fashion runaway on the other side of the globe. We need more soothing vibrations on earth & I will gladly be the one that provides it.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A BIG lesson I had to unlearn was to not bother others. Growing up in a black household & seeing not only your parents but your grand parents work hard for what they had to provide without complaining or asking ANYONE for help is just something that was learned by nature. To be honest, I did not know that this lesson was stunting me from growth until I turned 22 and I had started to surround myself with people who actually wanted to see me grow & prosper in life. No matter how much I was struggling financially, emotionally, mentally, or physically, I would not ask a single person for help or even a lending ear since I know everyone goes through their own battles with life, I did not want to bother them with my issues & make the baggage on their back heavier. This lesson I did not understand at the time wasn’t good all around since people need to be heard & you should not be ashamed to ask for help. How would anyone know you are going through anything or need support if you never show it? We can’t read minds & we are not robots so it is ok to lean on someone whenever you feel like life is feeling a bit heavy on your heart. I still battle with this, but I am learning daily to work through the motions.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
My biggest thing I always tell people is to work with what you got! You do not have to have the latest tech drop or highest style of art materials to create. When I first started funding into my brand, I started off just coloring with Sharpie markers & ink pens from your regular grocery store supply aisle. When I was able to start saving a little bit of money from cheffing it up, I would eventually start to research what I would like to buy for myself that I felt like would aid in the further production & quality of what I wanted to pursue. To anyone first starting in ANY industry, please look online & do your research for free software programs or cheaper alternatives to supplies you need until you can afford to get what you want down the road.
Majority of the art supplies I have now (88%) were literally given to me by people who saw that no matter what, even if I just had some pencils and some regular pens, I was still going to create my art pieces. If I had to estimate how many supplies were donated over the years, it would definitely be well over a thousand dollars & these same supplies are just now starting to wear down after using them for well over 5 years. When I had to get something that wasn’t art supplies to further my journey, I would always either save up or wait until tax time to purchase bigger pieces of equipment like a new laptop or a I pad /pencil since I prefer to buy things out at once then to pay per month. Having to also save for what you want to invest in will also in my experience makes you grateful & to me it is the funnest part to do research behind the brand I am gonna invest in to further my own path. To see their background story, what they believe in, & what quality they will provide with the price makes you more appreciative of the whole process leading up to you finally getting the supplies & equipment you need to keep creating.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/dreadful_desire
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreadful_desire
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DreadfulDesire
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-drake-dreadful-desire-2a9b99165/
- Twitter: https://x.com/DesireDreadful
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DreadfulDesire
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dreadfuldesire
Image Credits
Something In The Water Fesitval (2019), Venice Beach, California & Camp Flog Gnaw Festival (2019)- Johnathan Chambers
NC Muesum Photoshoot (2024)- Maxx Komo