Jess has spent 2022 studying Visual Arts, after a lifetime of riding bikes and being an elite athlete, she knew it was finally time to pursue her first love - to become an artist.
Jess self-published her memoir the year before, "Why Not Me? A Lifelong Journey of 1%'ers & Becoming a World Champion", the transition from sport to creative had begun.
I grew up in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
My grandmother taught me to sew and knit and always exclaimed, “Jessica, you will become a commercial artist one day!” I think that was more along the lines of a graphic artist working for a magazine or media company, but nonetheless, she said this.
My spare time was spent digging up clay in my backyard, making sculptures and drying them in the sun before painting them. Thankfully my Opa had a printing press, he made extra money on the side printing invitations and such for many many years in his back shed. I say ‘thankfully’ as I was the recipient of much free paper, which allowed me to draw without restraint.
I drew, painted, sculpted, cooked, created stories, designed houses, made clothes, painted fabric, made up patterns and sewed to my heart's content.
This was my path, being creative was as natural as breathing and I was on the path to studying art beyond high school.
In 1990, I met my husband, and before very long we were planning our wedding and I was applying for university in Sydney, of course, with some sort of creative arts angle.
We married in December of 1991, I was 18 and I got accepted into a BA in Design.
Norm was in the Royal Australian Navy and to cut to the chase, he got out, I left uni and we soon moved to the Gold Coast and life took a new turn.
Not long after, in 1994 I gave birth to our daughter, Saskia and that was that. We were parents.
More cutting to the chase, we eventually moved back to Victoria where I morphed into the fitness industry, becoming a personal trainer and eventually a cycling coach, but also concurrently becoming an elite athlete in the form of an endurance mountain biker.
It was not until tragedy and a forced break with COVID-19 lockdowns that I used this time to follow my dream.
I went back to school, studying for a Diploma in Visual Arts, kickstarting what I started back when I was 18.
This bio was created in January of 2023, and I am following the journey of an emerging artist.
My “WHY” is slowly revealing itself, and the force that draws me to create is a strong desire to translate how what I observe in life makes me feel. The energy this gives me, the colours that reflect back to me and the beauty and wonder in shapes and form at different times of the day. When I see another artist's creative vision expressed via their work, I get so excited exploring their methods and medium, the same excitement you might get immersing yourself in the intricacies of the architecture of an old building for example.
My hope is that I find my people, that get my method of communication and enjoy it as much as I enjoy creating.