I'm Jessie: a 26 year old writer, illustrator, and creative practicing on the unceded territory of Treaty 3, otherwise known as Hamilton, Ontario. In terms of who I am, it may be helpful to start with this: I am an INFJ according to the Myers-Briggs indicator and an enneagram 6. If that combination of words and numbers doesn't mean much to you, here's the gist of it:
I feel most myself when in my own company, enjoy living in imagined worlds (sometimes more than our real one), love exploring all things artistic, and am very sensitive to how those around me are feeling, but get easily overwhelmed and face quite a bit of self-doubt and anxiety.
As a quiet observer, I found a safe haven here in art at a young age: carving out gentle corners in elementary school art classes and dining room tables. Since those peaceful days, often accompanied by my equally shy, and creative, little brother, I've continued to set out to capture the things we feel in our hearts but can't always see with out eyes: the whimsical, the magical, the unspoken connections with others and our environments.
Now, as I show up to my creative practice at the wooden desk under my bedroom each hopeful day, the surroundings and the sun have the biggest influence over my creativity and spirits. As such, I am a homebody most content in my tiny apartment and immersed fully in the natural world. As I settle here most days, I find inspiration in the houseplants that live alongside me, the way light intertwines with shadow on the wall above my couch, and the nurturing nooks I tend to — as well as the wildflowers, gardens, meadows, valleys, and character-filled architecture that await just outside my door.
My illustrations, then, have slowly become my way of memorializing these tales and the lessons I've learned from these curious uncoverings; which I suppose now leads me to telling the story of how Jessie's Edit came to be.
Jessie’s Edit is an eco-friendly collection of whimsical prints grounded in the enchanting everyday, illustrated paper goods inspired by the natural environment, and custom artwork rooted in connection. Everything I create in this space is done so thoughtfully and intentionally, with sustainability always top of mind. I remain humble in the fact that I have so much room to improve, and this considered, am always discovering new ways of improving my art, making more conscientious decisions, and evolving my practices. I do my best for where I find myself planted in the present moment: hoping to capture the character of homes and small businesses in my custom illustration work, the whimsical air breathing life into our solitary days and nights, the lessons of hope, slow growth, and beauty in imperfection found in seasonal botanicals and harvests, and the stories and memories we forever share in my custom portraits.
These intentions I hold are my "edit:" the things I've collected slowly over time and packed up with me to include in the story I set out to tell. This process of shaping our narratives — of compiling the lessons we've learned, things we've found, and memories we hold into our personal tales; of looking hard at the parts that serve the story, and the parts that don't fit its purpose — is what I believe to unite all artistic practices.
To Edit; to be an editor: "to arrange things into a coherent whole, to cut out and remove things that don't fit or add value to the overall narrative, to alter, adapt, or refine especially for bringing about conformity to a standard or to suit a particular purpose."
I named my little creative corner here "Jessie's Edit" as an ode to this process: committing to the intention that everything I created would be a visual "edit" of my world: a story reflecting what inspires me, what makes me feel connected, what fulfills me, what brings me meaning and joy, what propels me to grow, what brings me calm, and what is sustainable, for both myself and the Earth I inhabit. It is my hope that as you read this tale along with me, you'll find self-compassion in your own growth journey, a sense of groundedness in wherever you are in your story, openness and curiosity, and joy in your personal means of creative living. One day, together, I'm sure we will discover where it all goes.
