We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Clark . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Hi Jessica , thanks for joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

While I was a student in college I felt like my classmates didn’t care for my artwork and that was really discouraging for me. I felt like if my classmates didn’t like my work then I had no real chance in the professional world. So I started painting what I thought people would like and they didn’t like that either so my plan was to graduate college and never paint again. Well, obviously I did paint again but it took awhile. Not too long after college I was approached by several companies to do several commissions and that helped with my confidence, but I was still doing work that felt forced and not me. Not until the last four years did I started to paint what came natural and what felt like me, and it’s been amazing to see the transformation. I love it even more and I’ve been getting a better response overall. I think it’s because people can see it’s authentic. So what I learned from this experience is to be yourself and the right people will accept you and it’s just overall a better experience.

Jessica , 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?

Like most artists I’ve been drawing since I was a kid. About time I was in high school I knew for sure that I wanted to be an artist but I didn’t really know what that looked like. Fortunately, I had great parents and during my senior year my dad took me to meet with a college professor in the art department and during that time that professor asked if I ever thought about doing illustration, which I didn’t since I didn’t know much about it, and that really opened a whole new world for me. I loved the idea of illustrating children’s books or even doing concept work for movies. That was a big turning point for me. Since then I’ve graduated from BYU-Idaho, got married, had five kids so I’ve been pretty busy and art has sometimes been on the back burner. Now my youngest is three and the rest are in school I’ve been able to work on my art more. Last year I worked really hard to create a new portfolio that is mainly catered to children’s books, but the idea to work in the movie industry is still there. Now I’m working with some clients and currently looking for an agent, I really want to see my illustrations on a bookshelf at Barnes and Noble one day. I do realize my work is different than the mainstream children’s books and it’s not what is trendy, but I wanted my illustrations to have a timeless classic feel that I hope can stand in the test of time. I also love illustrating warm and inviting characters and if I can add some floral or greenery in the mix the better. Many people have commented on my lighting in my illustrations which makes me happy because I’m a hobbyist photographer and I love to capture light in both mediums.
Like I mentioned before I’m currently looking for an agent. I’m excited to have a partnership with someone that will help me reach my goals and to push me to my fullest potential, Also to help me illustrate books that children can enjoy, I’m a big believer that if kids enjoy books at a young age it will help them in so many aspects of their life. I don’t know about you, but I still remember my favorite children’s books and I know they impacted me, and I want to be part of that.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I want to share light in this world. I know it might seem cliché, but there is a lot of negativity in the world and I want to fight against that because there is a lot of light here too. As I was working on my portfolio last year the thought “I have something to say” kept popping in my head, I’m not 100% sure what I have to say, but I know I want to make a difference in this world and I feel like art is my medium to do that, so I’m excited to see that unfold because clearly I’m not done painting and while sharing to the world I hope it can lift up some people.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I don’t know if I have one story, but there are a lot times I felt like my art was rejected one way or another, and like I mentioned before, I almost quit because of it. What kept me going thirteen years ago was when Armand Baltazar who at the time worked for Dreamworks, came to my college to do a seminar and he picked me out of the crowd to show my work to rest of the students and he told me my work was good and it was worth seeing. That has stuck with me all these years and anytime I get a rejection I remember his words, my work is good and it’s worth seeing, and I keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: Jessicawclark.com
• Instagram: Jessicawclarkillutration