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

Jillian, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project that I have worked on is probably the body of work that I am starting now.

It’s meaningful to me because it’s me getting back in the studio regularly since having my fourth baby. It’s a promise to myself to keep pushing forward, working harder to get better and putting myself and my art out there to connect with other people. This body of work is also like a fresh start, a chance for me to reconnect with the reasons I make art in the first place and what I love about the process..

One of my favorite paintings that I recently completed is “A Horse for my Mother.” This piece has been an important part of my grieving process that I am going through as I watch my mother suffer from Alzheimer’s.

About a year ago when my mom could still figure out how to use her phone and the internet she got on my website and saw a lot of my more erotic paintings. She immediately called me and told me to take all the naked people off my website and paint something nice. While I laughed it off at the time, it is important for me to make my mom proud and show her I can make some nice paintings. I decided on a horse because my mom always said she just knows she was a horse in her past life… she can make a very convincing horse sound, if she does it around real horses they will talk back to her. Also, a wild horse has a great sense of freedom, and I want nothing more than my mom’s soul to be set free, running with horses. I layered in an image of my one year old in the background of the horse to represent the passage of time and generations. And as a way to connect my youngest daughter to her Grandmother who she will never really know. I added my mother’s eye right in the center, as a window to her soul.- for me to always look through.

Other paintings I’m working on include one of the essence of my baby daughter. I’ve even let her paint on some of my canvases. Along with some more abstract pieces, which is just me connecting with my love for the materials, colors and the way paint moves. Others are more representational of my feelings and the human condition. I plan on painting some more comical pieces, maybe some more erotic because that’s all part of who I am. All the art I make is very personal and meaningful, and I’m trying to take that to the next level with this new body of work.

Jillian, 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 am an artist, painter, mother to four kids ages 1-10 years old, farmer and wife. My life is busy, but art is a passion I don’t think I could live without.

Recently I am getting back in my studio, and back to traditional media after having my fourth baby and after a couple years of making digital art. I’ve started a new body of work on my own stretched canvases using acrylic paint, paper transfers and other mixed media. Through my art I’ve been exploring the human condition and how it fits in with our natural world.

I went to art school and people have always encouraged me to make art so it’s basically my only skill at this point. (For better or for worse.) Sometimes I wish I was doing something more meaningful with my life, something that makes more a difference in this world like teaching, fighting fires or working on a solution to save our oceans. I always think I could have been a great surgeon, I have very steady hands, work great under pressure and I’m not easily grossed out.

But I have a lot of faith that I’m on the path I’m on for a reason. Hopefully a reason bigger than me. Like, maybe if I heal myself through my art , then maybe I can heal someone else too. So I will continue to dig deep and find my purpose through art.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My four amazing kids. With each baby I am blessed with my drive only burns hotter. I want them to see me work hard, I want them to see me succeed. I want to teach them to go all in on their passions.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing a bunch of my paintings up on a gallery wall and seeing people react to it. It’s like seeing all my babies, blood, sweat and tears come together. What felt like madness in my studio now looking so smart and put together on a clean wall. People put on their best weekend clothes just to come and look at it. Seeing people connect with my work in their own way, evoking a feeling. That’s what it’s all about.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.JillianMaeART.com
• Instagram: @JillianMaeART
• Twitter: @yourfavweirddream
• Other: Instagram back up @yourfavoriteweirddream