We recently connected with Jessica Clark and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I started developing my confidence and self esteem when I stopped worrying about what other people thought about me. I can’t control other people, but I can control myself. So I control my thoughts as best as I can, and honestly, I like myself and I’m the one that gets to spend 24/7 with me so I focus more about what I think and improving myself each and every day.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about 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 four and the rest are in school I’ve been able to work on my art more. Last year I worked with some awesome clients and now I have agent so hopefully soon you will be seeing books I’ve illustrated on bookshelves in the stores.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The impactful things that I have learned on this journey of being an artist is: One, keep learning and keep getting better. Hard work will always pay off. Second, find a mentor, someone who is doing what you want to do, ask them questions, learn from them. Then third, start connecting with the community you want to be in, go to conferences, or meet up groups, or try to connect on social media. Work as hard as you can and put yourself out there.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Anytime I feel overwhelmed, I acknowledge the feeling, but I just keep moving forward. I work on one task at a time, usually it’s the smaller task so once that’s complete it gives me a boost to continue to the next task. I just keep moving forward, even if it’s slow it’s something.
Contact Info:
- Website: Jessicawclark.com
- Instagram: Jessicawclarkillustration
