Jess Bracey (Art) is an artist and illustrator who undertakes commissions for house and building sketches, custom art projects, murals, creative administration for other small businesses as well as art studio management. She is very interested in the use of art as a therapeutic practice and recently completed an undergrad certificate in “Creative Arts and Health“ as a means to support humans using “alternatives to traditional therapeutic practices”. Jess is also the proud mother of two.

Can you talk about the variety of services that you offer to commissioners?
They say, it’s important to find your niche; well, I find this concept hard. I need variety to stay sane. This works out well, as everyone is unique; each of my clients have a different vision, or have an idea of what they desire but need help with the expansion and execution. I love working with clients to create meaningful artworks that fit in with their way of life. The possibilities are endless!
How do you try to express the personality of the buildings and houses you draw?
Ah!, I love this question. HOME is EVERYTHING! It’s so much more than a building. I love finding out stories about the home beforehand, so I can put its essence onto the page - every crack and crevice, that kid’s bike out the front, that vintage car in the driveway, those vines climbing the wall or those blossoms blooming in Spring. Some clients send me pictures of “what used to be there” to capture a particular moment in time and I often have requests before renos take place.
You list among your interests, art therapy. How do you think art can serve this purpose?
Do not underestimate the impact of art (in all its forms) on one’s mental health. I love that there are more peer reviewed studies to support this now. What comes to mind is the studies on dementia patients forming new neural pathways by going to art galleries and viewing art. If simply looking at art is so beneficial for well-being, it’s clear why participating in the arts is even more so!The Inner West Creative Network commissioned you to design a button badge for us. Could you describe how you went about this and what you feel it represents?
This was so fun! The brief was: a quirky, colourful image that people are curious about and want to wear; retro NASA badge vibe with a local inspiration or reference behind it. I’m so glad the aeroplane was chosen from my 3 draft designs. It was inspired by my 7-year-old son, Bowie, who’s forever drawing the planes overhead. He randomly started to put a retro / psychedelic type pattern on his drawings. I love how full of character; free and expressive children’s drawings are. It’s hard for adults to unlearn perfectionism and develop a unique illustration style, but kids just have it! That’s what I want for myself and for all creatives. The design is quirky and bright like the Inner West and all the characters that reside here. The plane is taking off to represent the ‘take off’/ expansion and increased representation of the arts in the Inner West.
What is the most exciting commission you’ve ever had and why and who is the most interesting person you’ve done a portrait of?
Oh, there are too many exciting ones to choose from. Hmmm I’ll go with my gut here. I loved working with Elise from Pass the Salt Studio. I was commissioned to do 3 x A3 artworks to tie in with the business brand and decorate the P.T.S studio space. I was provided with images of style ideas, and the rest was up to me (yay). Ending up with one portrait and two stylistic paintings representing the flair, essence and passion of the brand and story. All 3 artworks tie into each other using elements of similar colours and themes.
Different from freelance artists, how do you feel about bespoke artists being described as ‘guns for hire’?
Are we? I had to look up what that term means! Google came back with: ‘someone who is hired to do a job that is morally wrong’….??? You can quote me on this: “If creating art is morally wrong, I don’t want to be right baby!!”
How do you deal with a client asking you to make changes that you feel would compromise your original concept for the commission?
I respect my clients’ decisions, and I have yet to come across a situation where I have ruined a piece based on their feedback, although I do prefer the jobs with creative freedom. After all, I’m hired for my unique style, not someone else's.
Have you ever refused a job and if so why?
I have never refused a job, however, I have passed on work to fellow artists if I believe the brief suits them better.
What training have you had and how did you learn how to conduct your business?
Previous roles in my career gave me business development skills. I’ve worked in the disability NFP space in recent years, revamping all their systems and increasing profitability significantly. Now, if only I could do that for my own business! Ha. I have also had tertiary education in:
* Business Advertising and Marketing;
* A Photo Essay: Telling stories through images and text;
* Arts in dementia care;
* Living and working with cultural diversity;
* Psychology unit on stress, self-care and mindfulness.
How do you balance the competing demands of your professional life and parenthood?
It’s a juggle! Finding motivation and time to execute business admin for my OWN business is hard, especially if it's in lieu of ACTUALLY creating. As a mum of 2, working, studying, running my own business, dealing with all the invisible unpaid work mums do; I know what I NEED to be doing to get business ‘out there’. However, I find it much easier to help other businesses succeed through my creative admin offering. Funny isn’t it?
What advice would you give to other people like you starting off?
My advice:
*create a community & network;
* be your authentic self;
* don’t listen to negative self-talk (train yourself by talking back with positive self-talk);
* if YOU like your creation, it's already a success!;
* prioritise self-care! When I don’t - my family, my business (and I, myself) suffer.
What inspires your life and work? What else should we know about you?
I’m a neuro spicy girl, who has a strong connection to HOME and FAMILY, which for me go hand in hand. I feel very deeply, wear my heart on my sleeve and over analyse everything. I’m working on healing and unlearning a lot of societal conditioning and expectations and trying to set a good example for my kids. I think you will see this come through in my future work.
Discover Jess Bracey's world here
Image Credits: courtesy of the artist