I’m really honored to be sharing the interview I did with artist and freelance illustrator Jen Corace for this week’s Indie Artist Fixx. Jen does a little bit of everything—offering prints for sale, like these available at Art Star; doing custom illustrations for websites like Mahar Dry Goods and Sleepy Records; creating illustrations for journals and other goodies at If’n Books + Marks and now working on children’s books as an illustrator.
Originally from the suburbs of southern New Jersey, Jen eventually made her way to the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a BFA in illustration. Since then she’s been spending time here and there…moving…traveling…walking. She concerns herself with Victorian era photographic portraiture, reading up on any and every animal, eating toast and securing large amounts of personal space. While she hasn’t lived in a suburb in over thirteen years, she draws a lot of her imagery and inspiration from the eighteen years that were spent in New Jersey. With a background in illustration, Jen’s work is often narrative in nature and explores the juxtaposition of developed environments against more rural settings.
Learn more about Jen in my interview with her below.
Sitting, thinking, staring giclee print available at the Art Star Gallery.
1. What’s the name of your business and what do create and sell?
I am just plain ‘ol Jen Corace. I am a freelance illustrator/gallery artist. I work primarily on children’s books, product design and drawing till my hands are numb.
2. Tell us how you got started with your indie business.
I spent a good deal of time after graduating from RISD farting around and doing this and that. It wasn’t until I was 27 that I knew for certain that illustration was something I wanted to do. I buckled down, started the website, sent out promotional pieces and waited.
Jen Corace illustrated journals available at If’n Books + Marks.
3. What are your inspirations in your art and in life?
Being really quiet, so that I can just look and listen. I think things through more than sketch things out. I walk a lot. I like staring at water.
4. Are there any pearls of wisdom you’d like to share with newbie indie business owners?
I think that running your own career or business is a very personal endeavor…or it should be. There are basic tricks of the trade that are good to keep in your pocket, but ultimately doing things that are right for you are the best decisions you can make.
Jen’s contribution to the silent auction for the Handmade Nation movie.
5. What three things can’t you live without?
Coffee, living near water, people who really know me.
6. What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst?
The best thing is that I get to make my own schedule…which is tricky because I am an olympic level procrastinator. The worst is…the times that I take jobs that aren’t right for me. I do it less and less these days…but when I do it is excruciating.
7. What blogs and mags do you read and what shops do you shop at?
Blogs: Angry Chicken, Design Sponge, BoingBoing
Mags: Bust, Venus
Shops: Thrift/Vintage stores, Etsy, CutxPaste, Frecklewonder
8. Were you an artsy craftsy kid? If so, what kinds of things did you do?
I drew all the time. My mom always had me enrolled in summer or after school art programs. I drew a lot of animals, I liked painting on rocks and making books.
9. Are you a dog person or a cat person?
I have a dog and a cat and I completely respect and am fascinated by their differences.
Pinata giclee print available at the Art Star Gallery.
10. What does indie mean to you? You can give a literal definition, choose to be a little esoteric or a combination of both. 😉
For me ‘indie’ means a person or a group of people who do what they love, are interested in community and defining success in their own terms. They don’t have the time or energy for boring mainstream capitalism. I tend to think that they are the sort of people that are trying to leave the campground in a better state than they found it, so to speak.
11. What are you reading, watching and listening to?
Reading: The New Kings of Nonfiction
Watching: Lost, Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Listening: M83, Jens Lekman, Destroyer
12. What’s one thing you’ve learned as an adult that you wish you knew when you were a kid?
To not be sooooo cautious. That life and the world is full of endless and varied opportunities. That one mistake wasn’t the end of the world. I worried a lot.
13. What’s new? Any new plans or products that you want to share?
Right now I am working on two children’s books and a chapter book for older readers. I am also working on new designs for If’n Books + Marks. And at the end of summer I am headed back to the east coast, Providence, after a year+ work hermitage in Seattle.
A sneak peak at an illustration Jen is working on for a children’s book.