An Interview with Jessie of Holly Art Studios

Learn about Jessie of Holly Art Studios’ hobby of painting pet portraits using acrylic paint

Coachable Heart: How do you describe your hobby?

Jessie: A long-time hobby of mine is painting. Specifically painting pet portraits using acrylic paint.

Coachable Heart: What is your favorite part of your hobby?

Jessie: Most of the paintings I do are commissions of pets who have passed. I would say my favourite part is breathing life into my portraits and trying to capture bits of the pet’s personalities and characters in my painting.

My second favourite is handing off the painting and seeing how touched the client is.

Coachable Heart: How did that become your hobby?

Jessie: Art in general has always been a main hobby for me. I might even go as far as to say it is a piece of my identity. I loved drawing as a kid and was often found drawing animals (mostly dogs and horses). In high school, I was that kid who always had a sketchbook on them and was drawing at every opportunity.

I think the first time I painted (aside from finger painting) was in my high school art class. As much as I liked painting, at that time I much preferred drawing in my sketchbook or doing digital art. After high school, I took an “Art Fundamentals” 1-year program in college. I kind of went in with no expectations. I loved being surrounded by so much creativity (even if I found the other people’s talent a bit overwhelming at times!). I got to take courses such as perspective drawing, 2D design, sculpture, life drawing, and of course painting. Painting and sculpture were my favourite classes. I learned a lot.

Doing art all the time started to feel like a chore and was very exhausting for me; after my course finished I more or less stopped doing art. I took a year off to work at a thrift shop and think about my next move in life. I ended up going to school for web development. It is during my time in this new course that I started creating again. I found that creating art in my free time really helped me feel more balanced and happy (probably because my school work was very left-brained).

I didn’t start out painting portraits though! I actually started playing around with Super Sculpey which is clay you can cure in your own oven. I would make sculptures in my room and bake them in my toaster oven. At one point I was experimenting with “painting” my sculptures with chalk pastels. I didn’t necessarily like the effect but I didn’t want the pastels to go to waste so I ended up playing around with them to colour in some drawings of horses I did. I ended up switching from sculptures to pastel portraits. My main gripes with the chalk pastels though were they are not very forgiving and they are VERY messy.

I somehow ended up doing watercolour as an “underpainting” for my pastel drawings. I really enjoyed doing the painting part but not so much the watercolour (again it is not very forgiving). Someone saw my drawings and asked if I could do one for them, but they didn’t want it done in pastels. So I got out my acrylic paints and well the rest is history. Something just clicked that didn’t click in the previous years. I was actually making progress in my painting and I felt I was improving with every portrait I did.

Coachable Heart: What other hobbies do you have or have you had in the past?

Jessie: I probably have too many hobbies. Now I will say that I don’t do all my hobbies all year round and I tend to hop from hobby to hobby because what is life without variety? My oldest hobby aside from art is horses. I love riding, grooming, and just being around horses. I am actually learning how to trim my horse’s feet. My newest hobbies are fly fishing, making sauerkraut, gardening, and canning. I am actually trying to grow some of my own veggies and fruits this year to use in my canning. I think that would be super cool.

Some of my random other hobbies that I enjoy randomly throughout the year are hiking with my dogs, camping, kayaking, archery (I have even got to try mounted archery!), swimming, reading, playing video games, watching K-dramas, drawing, sculpting, wood carving, crocheting, and sewing.

Coachable Heart: How much time do you spend on your hobby? How do you find or make the time?

Jessie: Currently with the nice weather I find I spend less time painting at the moment. I do a lot more painting on bad weather days or once winter hits. I am maybe painting 2-3hrs a week currently but in winter it is not uncommon for me to paint half the day away. 

In the winter it is easy and I just build it into my routine, but finding time is hard once things start to get busy or if I just do not feel like painting. Generally what I do in those cases is I try to set a goal for myself that I will paint at least 1 time a week and that I only need to commit 5 minutes to it. Most of the time I want to continue painting and if I don’t then that is okay too and I still feel I accomplished something. 

Turning my hobby into a way to make money by taking on commissions has also helped me keep it a priority. I know that could kill the fun for some people and it is not for everyone but it has helped me stay motivated and focused because I would hate for a client to have to wait too long for their painting.

Coachable Heart: How long has this been your hobby? How did you get started?

Jessie: I would say I have been seriously painting as a hobby for 10 years now.

Painting in high school and college definitely helped me get started. I already had the supplies I needed and I knew my way around a paintbrush thanks to my teachers. At that point, the hardest thing was trying to decide what I wanted to paint. When I started painting as a hobby, I started off slow and would only do a few paintings a year (usually around Christmas as gifts).

In the last 4 years, I have been trying to make painting something I do consistently throughout the year. I love challenging myself to get better and trying out subject matter I find hard. Nowadays, YouTube has been a great resource for me to look up techniques and tutorials.

Coachable Heart: Is your hobby a solitary activity or do you spend time with others while doing your hobby?

Jessie: I find painting is a solitary activity for me. That being said, all my friends know when I am working on a painting. They might not consider themselves artists but I often ask their opinion or for help when something is off but I can’t pinpoint it. For the most part, they humour me. During the pandemic, my friend started painting and we have been bonding over our love for painting. We often share what we are working on and ask for advice.

Coachable Heart: Is there an organization that you belong to that helps support your hobby and activities?

Jessie: I am part of some art groups on Facebook where people share their art and ask for critiques. They are nice but I would really love to have a mentor who could help bring me along and some sort of in-person art community like I had in college where you can collaborate and come up with amazing ideas or concepts. Even though I haven’t found that yet, I do greatly appreciate my friends for helping and supporting me. In the future, I would love to take some in-person painting classes.

Coachable Heart: What skills or qualities have you developed while practicing your hobby?

Jessie: Painting has helped develop my eye and how I look at things. I am constantly looking for things I could turn into paintings. Sometimes I will look at something and think about what colours or brushstrokes I could use to trick the human brain into thinking it is seeing a realistic image. I have also been developing my sense of composition and design. How can I frame something to make it look the most interesting.

Selected works from Jessie at Holly Art Studios

Thank you Jessie for sharing your story with us, I can imagine the look on the faces of your clients when they see their beloved pet memorialized in this special way. Your work is a gift, and I for one thank you for sharing it so lovingly.

Let’s remember

The time you spend on your hobby can ebb and flow with the seasons or your motivation.

You can never have too many hobbies!

Like Jessie is an artist, your hobby can be a part of your identity.

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Are you a hobbyist? Get in touch on Instagram or leave a note in the comments section if you’d like to be interviewed!