Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica McRory.
Hi Jessica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have been creating art since I was a teeny little girl, enamored by my older sister’s drawings, my Lisa Frank coloring books, and colorful sparkling magical girls saving the day on Toonami. I think it’s very obvious what inspired me when I was younger based on my art now haha. I grew up with a single mother living all around central Florida, and although she may not have been able to provide all the financial support she wanted, she easily made up for it with her unparalleled support of my love of creating art. Even to this day, she loves to help me out at local events and gets so excited when she sees new illustrations I create. She is always saying, “I need a print of that!!” whenever I finish a new piece. I’m truly forever so thankful to have a family in general who supported and encouraged me to pursue what I genuinely love. My sister and I were the first in our family to go to college, and I studied at UCF and graduated with a BFA in Illustration in winter 2016. I spent a few years working at various part-time jobs after graduation, and I am now currently a full-time product designer as well as a freelance artist. I began tabling at local events mid-2018 and have been consistently attending various local markets, conventions, and even a few musics shows to sell my art over the years. It has been so fun meeting other artists at these events, and I’m truly so thankful for my art business because it has helped me garner wonderful friendships throughout the years. It’s also just so wholesome when you find people who just absolutely fall in love with your art, and bonus points if they’re a little kid who comes up to my table with the biggest smiles and just looks absolutely mesmerized by it all. I love to think that I can be an inspiration to them; Like look! I grew up just like you and never stopped doing what I love and look at me now, successfully creating art and sharing it with the world around me. I have an online shop as well as a growing Patreon sticker club, and I anticipate many more fun art projects for me in the future. The biggest goal I have this year is to create my own art book. I want the soft touch matte finish with gloss details and all those other little magical tactile details that make you want to flip through it over and over.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I don’t think living, laughing, and loving in This Economy, in general, is ever a smooth ride haha. It’s definitely had a lot of obstacles along the way, but I think with anything you love and are truly passionate about, you’ll make it through. It can be very tough to get your name out there, to keep up with the ever-changing social media algorithms (especially if you’re slow creating art like me, LOL), and just staying inspired in general with the state of the world being what it has been the last 5+ years. I just really prioritize giving myself downtime when I need it and staying preoccupied with other hobbies, such as journaling or playing Stardew Valley. I think for everyone, no matter what you do, you have to remember to give yourself the breaks you need when you’re working hard on creating your own “brand” or business. And at the end of the day, if you create art/products/etc. that you genuinely love, it will help you keep the passion for it. I say all the time that I am 110% making art for me, and I’m lucky enough to have people who love it just as much as I do haha.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My art focuses heavily on feminine figures, every color of the rainbow, sparkling stars, and all things a little magical. I’ve always been very fond of using glitter/sequins/etc. in my artwork and love doing mixed media traditional pieces. Sculpting, painting, and drawing are my all-time favorite creative methods. I did invest in an iPad in 2019, and it definitely helped change the way I create art with Procreate. I’ve always had difficulties with digital art, but something about drawing in procreate feels so natural. It’s really helped me grow my business a ton too, from creating sticker designs to enamel pin designs and more. I believe that I am known for making “pretty” art, which as someone who went to school for art, I feel that is often a bit frowned upon or considered frivolous. I literally had someone in a critique once tell me that I needed to make my art more offensive. I asked him how and he had no suggestions, so I just thought that it was pretty funny he was offended by how cute it was lol. The world is offensive enough as it is, is it such a crime to just want to create things that make people happy or inspire them to dream of far-off worlds? I really just strive to create things that I love, that make me happy, that exist in the world of my mind. I’ve always been a daydreamer and have always been interested in and inspired by art, books, various fashions, music videos, etc… All sorts of media that tells a story or creates a feeling and vibe. I think that I specialize in transporting people to a bright and slightly eerie realm of glittering surreal figures. It feels familiar yet far away and enchanting in its own unique way. I’m definitely most proud of the fact that, as mentioned earlier, I 100% create art that I love. I know that certain things trend, and nowadays, it’s important to stay on top of trends for exposure, but I’m just very stubborn in my creation process and just do whatever comes out of my brain. So, I’m very happy that I can do that and still receive so much lovely feedback on it and that people love that and find that to be a charm of my art. I am also very proud of the fact that I am where I am now, that years of dedication to my art have fully paid off and bring me genuine happiness in the world. It’s cheesy but definitely true haha.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Thankfully, I don’t see my industry of “art” ever losing its importance in the world. If anything, I feel like escapism in art will become even more important in the future as the state of the real world can be depressing and scary. Art is also all around us constantly as we truly live in a time of Aesthetics. Personally, I think my specific art comforts people, so I think it’ll continue to do that for the years to come. I definitely know social media is ever-changing, especially for how we go about sharing our creations. My biggest challenge is adapting to TikTok being the ultimate platform for content creation. It’s difficult for me as I am not used to recording everything so that I can create a video with it later, as making art doesn’t really feel like content creation to me. I just don’t immediately think, “oh let me record this,” when I’m creating stuff. It feels cumbersome, in the way, and kind of takes some of the enjoyment out of the process for me. So that’ll be a challenge I need to work on and find a balance with if I want to keep sharing my art with others. I do also hope that Instagram will go back to its roots a bit and become more of a photo-sharing app again, but I fear that is wishful thinking lol. But really, who knows what other new apps/sites/etc. will pop up in the next 5-10 years that completely revolutionize the way we go about connecting with others. It’ll be interesting to see, and I’m here for trying new things. Even if I am a bit of a creature of habit who takes longer to acclimate to it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jessicamcrory.carbonmade.com/
- Instagram: Jessicamcrory
- Twitter: Jessicamcrory
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6FQQuEN3RymeYSWCe8g7jw?app=desktop
- Other: http://jessicamcrory.com/
