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

Jennifer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

I donate a portion of each sale to Ocean Conservancy typically, but also other environmental or animal causes. It is so important for me to give back what I can to the planet. Because I find so much of my inspiration from the natural world, as well as the ways in which we as human beings have impacted it, it feels fitting to give back to our planet/my muse.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in Florida near the water and was able to observe so many natural wonders in the world and how they have changed. Through my career in fashion, I was able to travel the world and take notes about the natural – and man-made – beauty that I found. Though I studied visual arts in college, it was going to culinary school in Paris that enabled me to craft something of my own and see how taking raw ingredients can turn into something not only delicious, but artful. That’s what brought me back to my original focus of just creating images that (I hope) will impact people to think of their environments and how alluring it can be wherever you are.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of creating any piece of art is being able to share a tiny little piece of yourself with the world; not only your worldview or your hopes and dreams, but also how you see life through a lens only you can possess. Every single artist sees aspects of life in a slightly different focus and I feel so blessed to be able to allow people to look at the world through my eyes.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As someone with many career pivots, it’s hard to start. I have been an artist, a pastry chef, a model, an event planner, and an-all around great party host. But art has always been the passion of my life and it’s why, no matter what life path I was on, sketching in my notebook was always my sanctuary.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.jenniferforrestart.com
• Instagram: @jennifer.forrest.art
• Other: tiktok: @jenniferforrestart