Who I Am, What I Do, and What I Want to Share

Who I Am, What I Do, and What I Want to Share

Hi there!

I'm Jillian Nichole. I thought I'd take a moment to share a little bit more about myself in case my "About" section is too short for your liking. 

I am a wife, the mother of the best, most wild and wonderful little girl in the world, and an artist. 

I have always loved art in all its forms and have dabbled in so many different kinds in my life - and have so many more I want to try! (Like pottery, sculpting, oil painting, stained glass... Oh so many things!)

I have found such joy in doing fine art paintings and illustrations and wish I had a bit more time to continue growing that practice, but I have had to simplify my life and focus and have decided on focusing solely on surface pattern design for the foreseeable future. This is okay! There is time and it is not the death of my fine art practice - just the postponement. 

Magical watercolor illustration of the Chinese goddess of the moon, Chang'e, sitting with her back to a tree on the right side of the image. She holds a small, white rabbit in her hands and is surrounded by her dark, swirling hair. The glowing full moon lights the aqua blue and indigo sky and cranes fly in front of it.

Chang'e, Goddess of the Moon. Jillian Anderson, 2021.

 

Why have I had to simplify so much, you may ask?

Well, because my husband, who often works more than full-time hours, is also studying to be a physicist in his "spare" time! And now, he has the amazing opportunity to attend a university full-time beginning in the autumn of 2023. What does this mean for our family? This means that I will very soon be the sole income provider for our little fam! As such, I have to FOCUS, which is something I find rather difficult to do. But I do realize that if you are trying to do 20 things all at the same time, none of them will get done very quickly... or efficiently... or well. 

Enter Surface Pattern Design.

As a surface pattern designer, I get to be creative and draw and paint to my heart's content, and also license that artwork to companies who want to use it on their products. I also get to sell my own products with repeating patterns, like fabric and wallpaper and home-goods on websites like Spoonflower. I can ALSO take my artwork and put it on my favorite products and sell them in my own shop!

I have dabbled in tons of different media, mastered how to use Etsy with print on demand companies, learned 5 different ways to create repeating patterns (and use most of them regularly, just for funsies!), and I can actually say now that I am a licensed artist! That's right, I had a company license my artwork for use on their products. And let me tell you, that is MAGICAL.

On a white background, a hand reaches up from the bottom left corner and holds a Golden Coil planner. The cover is filled with green, pink, gold, and brown botanical and floral elements.

Jillian Nichole for Golden Coil. 2023.

There are so many ways to run a creative business, and I've tried nearly all of them...

So here I am, as a creative entrepreneur, trying to make it out here like the rest. I'm trying to take that "starving artist" stereotype and throw it right into the garbage where it belongs. So I'll be sharing a bit about that as I navigate new ways to make an income from my artwork. I have tried a lot of things and have knowledge and insights to share!

So I will share them with you! (Along with some other things - gotta switch it up every now and then!)

So Welcome In. Let's get creative together and navigate these waters. We are not alone! We have each other. And you know what? 

It's gonna be great.

Jillian Nichole, a light-skinned brunette female wearing a tan hat smiles while laying on a blanket in the park surrounded by art supplies.

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