We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jacquelynn Perkins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jacquelynn , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents demonstrated what sacrifice, dedication, and ingenuity look like when you stick to a personal dream, and then kept doing it anyway. In the 1970s, my parents left Iowa to start a waterbed company in Colorado.The furniture company was founded when I was one; I grew up knowing my parents’ dream was also our livelihood. It was a different time, yet still, my parents were different for their time, and this was so important to witness as a creative child. When we filled a waterbed mattress with helium to garner attention in the parking lot of our store in Boulder, CO, 1984, I knew I was going to be an artist. I watched my mom roller-skate in costumes decked out with elaborate sandwich signs she hand-painted to advertise the beds I watched my dad design and build. As the trend of waterbeds faded and most furniture manufacturing moved out of the U.S., our furniture company expanded and remains in Colorado. Growing up with creative entrepreneurs as parents set the foundation for my lifelong quest in the arts.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The act of painting helps me personally connect to myself and others; it is a way for me to attempt to capture what I find beautiful or to challenge and release social programming to see beauty through my own eyes. Through painting, I have facilitated a new relationship with my body. After years of disordered eating in my 20s, years of challenging the acceptance of my postpartum body in my 30s, and struggling with a body that no longer moved due to autoimmune disease in my 40s, I realized I wanted and needed to accept and champion my body. She is much more than her physical appearance, and that thought led me to understand that I am more than her. For now, I want to continue to nurture my relationship with my body out of toxicity.
I love to paint the human figure—my own and others—more than I love painting anything else and this is what I am currently exploring in my work. As my curiosity expands beyond our physical bodies, it is growing into our individual energies, ancestral energies, and cosmic energies. I feel composed of aspects that seem contradictory—I am both grounded and ethereal. I am on a mission to discover my own language through paint to find where this convergence occurs for me.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In February 2022, I was at my sickest. I had been housebound for over two years and was now bedbound. I had heard the term “bedbound” but never thought deeply about it until it became my life. I could only walk to my bathtub and back twice a day. Then attempt to make a meal. I couldn’t touch my fingers together, nor could I sleep on my side because the weight of one knee on the other was unbearable. I couldn’t hold hands with my young children or let them rest their heads on my shoulders. I couldn’t hold a pencil, but I could loosely hold a brush.
As I became sicker, severe depression and cognitive issues followed. I cried because I couldn’t remember what a salad is. Things were getting scary. Through it all, I did not waver in my commitment to art even though it too was causing so much anxiety and I continued to paint daily. I worked on the same three large pieces for three years. I fell out of love and back in love with myself and with art in the depths of fatigue, depression, and physical full-body pain. The moments with the canvas were mentally barely sustaining me.
Unfortunately, my story is not uncommon—it took seven years for a diagnosis. A naturopathic doctor eventually conducted extensive blood work and identified the root causes of my condition—Hashimoto’s, Fibromyalgia, and ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I experienced both nervous and mental breakdowns, and my organs began to shut down.
Now, 2.5 years later, I am transformed. I meditate daily and have overhauled my diet, thoughts, behavior, and exercise regimen. I’m now in a position to begin to help others. I recently held a solo exhibition featuring the artwork I created during this period. The collection, “Rebellious At Heart: Self Portraits of My Sisters,” included nine paintings of myself and my sister, my muse, who was diagnosed with RA during this time. The show was a tremendous success, celebrating both the art I created during my crisis and my intertwined health recovery.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Following my intuition daily, rather than conforming to what society deems productive and right, is both challenging and rewarding. After our kids head off to school, I aim to enter a flow state to create space for my subconscious to surface. Regularly spending hours alone allows me to get to know myself and trust myself in profound ways I wouldn’t otherwise. My healing journey has led me to this solitude, and I feel fortunate that my professional career has as well. As the years go by, I am experiencing the value of the relationship I am building with myself and my work. I must hold myself accountable while still honoring an openness to curiosity, which requires treating myself with gentleness. Myself and my paintings. The reward lies in honoring my own thoughts and continuing to pursue my dreams. The more I connect inward, the more connection I find outward with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jacquelynnperkins.com
• Instagram: @jackieperkie

Image Credits

Brooke Austin Photo