We recently connected with Jessie Lipscomb and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jessie 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’ve recently taken was painting in general! For nearly 10 years, I’ve stayed in the digital space as a graphic designer & illustrator. Right before my Risk, I spent a few years trying to hone in a specific niche of creating for marketing social media spaces. There was some success that led to really horrible jobs but I saw a pattern of me continuously hitting wall after wall. It wasn’t until I was approved a Window Art Display with Seattle Restored (something I had been applying for every few months for nearly 2 years) that gave me the mental freedom to really reach.

The windows were MASSIVE & I knew I had to somehow fill the space with my digital pieces..? Nope. I was coming out of a mental rut & I made the decision to not only paint my graphics, but paint them MASSIVE. I knew I needed to change up my creative routine & felt confident about transferring my digital pieces to painted canvases because of the way I create them (vectors). 2 days after getting approval for the window, I bought 2 of the largest canvases (48×60) that were available at my local craft store & was kind of in awe of myself. To double down on the Risk, I also experimented with gold leaf (something I had NO EXPERIENCE working with but had seen other Artists using it & getting such a beautiful effect) & it just escalated my pieces to the next level.

As a result, I’ve been painting canvases for the last 4-5 months, creating digitally first to perfect it then painting my Beauties as commissions :) My biggest takeaway has been learning to give myself SO MUCH GRACE because I’m now working with a less forgiving medium than my iPad & practice a lot more patience. Things don’t need to be perfect in order to exist & I know that now :)

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?

My name is Jessie Lipscomb & I’ve been a Creative allllll my life. Something clicked in my brain in 3rd grade with my Art Teacher (who I still talk to) & it’s been a passion since. I originally wanted to go to school to draw but my Mom convinced me to draw on a computer (graphic design) so I got my degree & have been a ‘professional creative’ for the last decade as a graphic designer, illustrator & social media marketing creator. During that time, I branched out & started my own business which sold custom illustrations, prints, stickers & apparel, but each time I tried to focus more on it, I ended up doing too much & burning out before the flame even really flourished.

For the longest time, it was extremely important to me to have a ‘professional creative job’ because that was my identifier to the world. If I didn’t have that job, I wasn’t a Creative. Obviously, I know that’s not the case & really coming to that understanding now, I’ve started to approach my art with a completely different mindset & I believe it shows. I create for myself, not for others. If they like it, cool! But these recent pieces are love letters to myself & my growth & I think that’s very evident.

I’m most proud of myself for getting out of my own way to create. I’ve constantly tried to monetize my art for years & I think it started to diminish my genuine love for creating in the process. The way I’ve gotten out of my head & back to my roots is something no one can take away from me & plan to continue that mindset as long as I can. I’ve relaunched my business with the same products as before and original canvases because I’m a painter now!

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

Before my recent painting push, my long time Creative goal was to be a full-time Artist that could support my kids & family. I’ve seen other Artists live that dream & I know it’s possible & I want it for myself more than anything. To show my kids that being an Artist is actually a real, grown-up job! However, in my painting era, the recent motivation is rewarding younger Jessie & letting her thrive. Not necessarily the creativity level but more the Creative mindset to simply create. Period.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I swear it all stems from me getting out of my own way. At the beginning of 2023, I hit a mental rut that really rocked my world & it came from me not seeing any worth in myself if I wasn’t a ‘professional creative’. I was barely paying my kids childcare every month & felt like I was drowning. It took A LOT of unlearning & reminding myself that I don’t have to have a Creative job to be a Creative person & in an act of moving forward with that, I got 2 part-time jobs that had nothing to do with the Arts to give myself a breathe of fresh air. As a result, this is when my Creativity hit it’s peak & things started to pour out. What did I learn? That giving myself hobbies & other things to take up brain space gives the other areas to breathe & flourish on their own :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mommalips.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mommalipsdraws/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MommaLipsDraws
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessie-lipscomb/
• Other: Portfolio: https://jessielipscomb.myportfolio.com/

Image Credits
Main image & me looking at pieces in window: Growing Boy Media