We were lucky to catch up with Jeanine Murch recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeanine, appreciate you joining us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

I started my career when I landed my first job, fresh out of college, as an art assistant in the children’s division of a large publishing house in New York City. I ended up staying in publishing for ten years, working my way from mostly administrative duties up to a senior level, where I got to design book covers and art direct illustrators and photographers. It was a dream come true, for so many reasons—it was my ticket to living in NYC, which in and of itself was a life-changing step in my path. But I also worked with the most creative, genuine, fun, and inspiring people who became like a second family to me, and of course—it gave me the opportunity to learn about the publishing business from the inside out and bottom up.

Everything I learned there has been applied to they way I work now—from all the administrative tasks of running my business, to my creative process and working with clients. I gained an understanding of contracts & billing, learned how to communicate professionally, how to work with a creative team and take direction and criticism, how to collaborate with creative directors, editors, authors, illustrators, photographers, & sales teams, learned print processes, production, & file preparation, and so much more. I really can’t overstate how incredibly invaluable it was for me to start my career this way. Now that I work as an independent artist, I can offer my clients so much more due to all the knowledge and experience I gained then.

Jeanine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a freelance illustrator who loves creating whimsical & colorful art and hand lettering for book covers, greeting cards, magazines, ad campaigns, and home decor products. I live in Pittsburgh, PA with my husband, my 7 -year old son, 5-year old daughter, and the world’s most snuggly rescue pup, Freddie Pickles.

Ever since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be an artist. But it took hopping around a couple of art schools to figure out that I really wanted to be an illustrator, and I finally landed at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where I graduated with my BFA in Illustration. From there, I moved to New York City and started my career, designing and art directing children’s books in the big publishing houses of NYC. I always kept my passion for illustrating though, so after about a decade of working in the corporate world, I made the leap to running my own freelance business, which also allowed me to return to my hometown of Pittsburgh and start my family. In recent years, I’ve begun to create and sell my own line of paper goods and products at art markets and online—including greeting cards, art prints, & home decor items. I also teach hand lettering classes and hold a board position at my local community art center.

My work is a unique mix of hand lettering and illustration, executed with bright colors and a whimsical style. I use both digital and traditional materials, always starting with pencil sketches and allowing the project to speak to the best medium for my final art. I often colorize my images digitally using Photoshop or Procreate, but I also love to paint with acrylic gouache and metallic inks. I love collaborating with clients both big and small, and have had the pleasure of working with many publications and companies, as well as teaching both adults and kids. I feel so very lucky and proud that I am able to have a career doing what I love, and the opportunities to share my work with the world.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Without a doubt, the biggest pivot in my career was after having my kids. It sounds cliche, but there is really nothing that turns your life upside down more than becoming a parent (though I don’t mean that in a bad way!)

I had spent a few years growing my freelance business before starting my family, so things were going pretty strong—I had regular clients and a mostly steady income. When I had my first child, I took a few months off, but was able to eventually figure out a schedule that kept me satisfied with my career while still having some sense of work-life balance with my new little family.

However, that wasn’t so easy when baby #2 arrived, and that really threw me. My kids are just about 2 years apart, so the lack of time combined with the sleep deprivation of the baby + toddler stage left me neglecting my career a lot. But as an artist, not having time to create left me feeling very lost and I really struggled to even feel creative or inspired. And I just didn’t feel like myself at all without that outlet. My husband and I both knew I had to find a way to get that back, so once my daughter was about 9 months old, I started pursuing selling my work at art markets as well as teaching classes. These were both ways to get back in touch with my creative identity without having to rely on chasing freelance projects and juggling stressful deadlines.

Now that my kiddos are a little older, I’m pivoting again and returning back to pursuing freelance opportunities as well as opportunities to license my artwork. I still continue to teach and sell at art markets because I learned I really enjoyed these avenues. They give me a way to connect face-to-face with other people in a career than can often be so solitary. And as an extreme extrovert—I also need that!

So, though my pivotal points came about though creative-survival-mode, they led to me inadvertently carving out a multifaceted business with multiple streams of income, allowing me to fulfill more of both my creative and personal needs. It’s definitely been a lesson in being flexible and following new or unexpected paths—they just may lead to something even better than you knew before!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Honestly, I can’t even imagine not being an artist or creative—it’s so ingrained in who I am as a person. So, it’s all rewarding, I guess!

But some of the things I love most about it are the freedom to have my own schedule and be my own boss. This has allowed me so much flexibility to be with my kids while they are little—and though that hasn’t come easy or without sacrifices of both money and career goals, it has ultimately allowed a happy middle ground that I don’t know how I would have found with a different kind of career. And being in a creative field, there is the opportunity to constantly grow & evolve in my work. allowing me to pivot and seek new outlets and applications for my work as needed, to fit the changing seasons of my personal life.

Another of the most rewarding aspects to being an artist is simply getting to share my work and seeing the impact or even ripple effect it can have on others is . I’ve been lucky over the last few years to create artwork for some charities and companies doing really great things in my local community—and creating artwork for a real purpose that can impact someone on a deeper level is rewarding beyond words. Even selling my work at art markets allows me the chance to connect with people, hear their stories, and know they are gifting my work or hanging it in their homes because it means something to them. I also see how my kids watch what I do, and how it makes the feel empowered to use their own creativity to bring their voice to the world in their own unique way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jeaninemurch.com
• Instagram: @jeaninemurch
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeanineMurchArt/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeaninemurch
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeaninemurch
• Other: https://www.behance.net/jeaninemurch