I recently started thinking – There is so much talent in our area and sometimes I feel like a lot of it goes unnoticed. So I decided I wanted to start a segment on the blog that highlights some of our area entrepreneurs, their talents, and businesses. So to start I wanted to spotlight my friend and amazing artist, Miss Jillian Devereux. I’m so excited to share her information, artwork and talent with all of you!

1. I know your love is for illustration. Tell us – how did you first become interested in this art form? 
It was almost a happy stumble upon that I found the whole world of illustration. I had come about thinking I wanted to design greeting cards and similar products as I entered SCAD but did not know exactly what to study to pursue this. They led me in the right direction and it turned out perfect! The best thing about illustration is while it is an art and is creative it is very much a business as well and I definitely like that aspect!

2. I’d love to hear a little about your schooling! Where did you get your degree? What courses did you find the most beneficial or interesting?
I go to Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, GA. I never thought I would find myself at an art school when in high school but the enviroment there is so inspiring to me and I truly love to go to class, which is not something all college kids would say. Some of my favorite classes I have taken have been Getting Published which was set up like a business and we were all freelance designers fighting for the same jobs. We would receive real client assignments and all submit sketches with hopes they would pick our own to go to finish. I had one successful piece be published which was really cool to me and now I can say I am a published illustrator in a magazine! I also really loved Illustration Portfolio, which was very independent and we each got to work on projects that we were excited about and that would strengthen our individual portfolios. Projects like that are so easy to do because they are completely what each illustration loves to produce.

3. Tell us a little about your artwork: Your style & how you create.
My work is whimsical, colorful and light hearted. I go to school with artists from so many different styles and backgrounds and to find my own style was a bit challenging but I have found that I am not the best at serious topics or realistic pieces, I love to create pieces that put a smile on people’s faces! I create mostly digital. I usually do a sketch right on a plain piece of computer paper with a felt tip pen and then scan it in and work from there in either photoshop or illustrator. I don’t fuss too much about perfection in my drawings and let mess ups or quirky line shapes work to my advantage!

4. What are your favorite things to work on?
I love to work on pieces that aren’t exactly illustrative in telling a story but more decorative. If I do something that I think is beautiful and a person can make a story about it, I like that, I don’t feel like people have to think the same thing about my work that I do, they can kind of put their own twist and story to the picture I create.

5. Any hopes or aspirations for the future?
I have huge aspirations for the future. I would like to be a successful freelance illustrator, who is represented by an illustration agent. I would like to design a Target gift card, a pair of shoes for Converse, illustrate children’s books, have a line of my own greeting cards, create patterns and have them produced as fabric, notebook covers, wrapping paper and more, and I would also like to do a mural for a children’s hospital or a great cause like that. Besides illustration, I would like to teach and help other kids realize you can color the rest of your life if that is what you love, because as a child that is what I wanted to do and I just stuck to it and found a career that is exactly that! I have a list of aspirations that grows daily, but that is a taste for now!!

6. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Something I want to share with people is the idea that art is a huge world, and yes it can seem like a strange or niave choice of career to many, but look around you! You are surrounded by a world of items produced and decorated by artists. It is an amazing career path and something that can make so many people happy and inspired. I believe that each person has something in life they love, like sports or numbers or like me, coloring. Every love that someone has can translate into a life and career. It may not be the easiest or the road most traveled but do what you love. My dad always told me as a kid, “If you do what you love and love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life”. That is exactly what I wanted and I think I found it.

 Jillian Devereux is eager and available to work on any of your design and illustrative needs. Her website is still under construction but feel free to bookmark it (www.jilliandevereux.com) or follow her blog where she frequently shares some of her latest designs (http://margieandjimbos.blogspot.com). She can also be reached through her Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Margie-and-Jimbos/121436104606616) or through her email at [email protected].

I hope you all are having a wonderful Friday and a stellar weekend! Don’t forget – Saturday we’ll be at St. Teresa from 11-4 helping the cheerleaders raise some money. We hope to see you there!

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