Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Padley.
Hi Jennifer, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I always loved to draw and paint. Growing up, my grandmother would do crafts with my sister and I. We were always painting or making something. I was 11 when the Lion King came was originally released. As soon as I saw that movie, I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was going to be a Disney Animator. We grew up in the Central Florida area and had annual passes to the parks ever since I could walk. So I always loved Disney. Becoming an animator was the perfect blend of my love for art and Disney. As I got older, my parents allowed me to paint murals on the walls in my bedroom. My mom even had me paint a couple of things on the walls in our living room. I also had an amazing art teacher in high school who gave me the job of repairing an old mural in the school cafeteria when it was damaged in a remodel. What most kids got in trouble for, drawing on the walls, I was encouraged to do!
After high school, I attended UCF. I was told at orientation I wasn’t going to get into the animation program because they only took 15 students a year and hundreds apply so I might as well pick another major. But, when someone tells me I can’t do something, it only make me want to prove them wrong. So, four years later, I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts with a Specialization in Animation. While at UCF, I also took classes in as many disciplines as I could; everything from illustration to photography to ceramics, I wanted to be able to have a wide range of skills.
Unfortunately, during those four college years, Disney closed their animation studio in Florida. With all of my family in the state of Florida, I wasn’t prepared to move to California on my own. I stayed and got a photography job at Walt Disney World. I worked at all for parks photographing families from all over the world. I helped start up Disney’s in house sports photography department, Gameday Photos and eventually moved to Disney Fine Art Photography where I currently design the wedding albums for the couples who get married on property. I always looked for jobs in the company allowing me to be creative, use my art degree, and learn new skills. Outside of my day job, I kept drawing and painting. I would do wall murals, smaller paintings, hand made wedding invitations, etc. mostly for friends and family who were aware of my skills.
When Covid-19 shut down the parks, I was furloughed like most of the Central Florida work force. Stuck at home with an exorbitant amount of free time on my hands let me focus more on my personal art work. Over the past couple of years, I had been slowly planning to start going to local markets and craft shows to showcase my art work. This was an opportunity to kick those plans into high gear. So I started painting. And painting. And painting. Until I had enough pieces to show and sell. I also designed several other products to offer a variety of price points allowing me to widen my demographic. A few months into the Covid furlough, a Facebook group was started called Ear For Each Other. It was created as a place where impacted Disney Cast Members could offer up their, in many cases, new found side hustles as a way to help each other out and help pay the bills while out of work.
The group ended up exploding with with people looking for all kinds of things from handy man work, to catered meals, to artwork. I was like a fiend on the page responding to as many posts looking for an artist as I could. “Can any one make something like…” are my favorite posts, well I have never done that before but “I can help with this”. Working for Disney, the answer to Guest is almost never, just no or I don’t know, it’s let me find/figure it out. So I almost always said yes to a post. Over this past year, I have had the opportunity to create so many things for people all over the country. It has given me a market that I would never have been able to reach on my own. I’ve worked in several mediums and styles I would normally not have done, and it has only made me a better artist.
After 321 days on furlough, I was brought back to work at my full time job. I am still creating artwork on the side. Lately, I’ve been working on quite a few wall murals. I’m just trying to make Central Florida more beautiful, one wall at a time. It’s almost like having two full time jobs at the moment, but painting is such a stress reliever for me it never feels like work.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, there have been some pot holes on the way. Money is always a struggle, hence the whole “starving artist” trope. It costs money for the materials and gear you need to be able to work as an artist. Since I am able to work in a wide range of disciplines, I need a wide range of materials. From a good computer, with the all the specialized software, to paints, brushes, canvases, cameras, etc. I have to have it all on hand so when a request comes in I can be ready for anything.
It took me a while to be able to save up for things I needed to create a pop up store. I’m still looking for better ways to set up my booth at markets, while also keeping costs in mind. I am generally a one woman show. So I have to be able to pick up, lift, and carry everything on my own while also being able to fit it all into my car putting further limits on my set up. But I am pretty resourceful and have come up with some creative solutions to make it easier for me.
Space is another obstacle, I have to have a work space in my home and storage for all the paints, glues, fabric, canvases, easels, camera gear, power tools, etc. It would be so nice to have a third car garage or enough land to build an art studio on. But you work with what you have. A lot of times furniture gets shuffled around, or I back out the cars from the garage, or am out in the backyard so I have room to work. Someday, when I win the lotto, I am going to have the most awesome she shed there ever was.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I do, almost, everything. Photography, illustration, stamp making, painting, design work, the list goes on. I don’t have a wheel or a kiln, so I don’t make pottery; though I know how to and it’s on my list to have one day. I can work in a variety of styles and mediums, but my favorite thing to do is paint. There is almost always paint on my hands, arms, or legs from where I’ve wiped my brush off. It’s always a good day if I am covered in paint. I specialize in making your ideas come to life. I can take a vague idea of something and create a unique piece just for you. Some pieces are fun and light hearted while others may be more meaningful or sentimental.
So much goes into creating artwork. When I’m working on a piece and I get into “the zone” everything else goes away. Stress from work, the headache I’ve had for three days, bills about to be due, it all disappears. Time stops ticking, and it may be hours before I come up for air. Someone usually has to remind me to stop and eat. When it’s finished, I am exhausted. Like can’t stand up, I need to sleep for 12 hours then take a 3 hour nap exhausted. Creating artwork it not just using the physical self as you move with each brush stroke. It’s also your mental, emotional, and spiritual self being poured into each piece. Honestly, Pixar get it spot on in the movie Soul when they said humans enter a space between the physical and spiritual when they are in the zone. At the end you are left both empty and fulfilled.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I have never really had one mentor. I pick the brain of a lot of different people, all with different backgrounds and skill sets. It allows me to get various points of view and find the right angle to work best for me. You are never too old to learn something new, and someone is always better at something than you. I keep my mind open to any all ideas, and take notes and sketch out ideas. I have also kept all my sketchbooks because you never know when some past idea can be the start off point for a new one.
Contact Info:
- Email: padleyarts@hotmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/padleyarts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PadleyARTS
