Jamie Pickerell grew up in Denver and moved to the North Dallas Corridor when she was 12. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003 with a degree in Studio Art, she spent four years at an art gallery in Dallas’ Design District where she restored and hand-colored antique prints. Currently, in addition to running her own business, Jamie spends weekday afternoons teaching kids traditional drawing and painting at Sofia Art Academy, a local private art studio.
WHAT KIND OF ART DO YOU DO?
I create all kinds of art. I love to explore different mediums. I frequently draw with art markers. When I paint I switch between watercolors, acrylics, and oils. I also do etchings and woodcuts when I can get access to the equipment. I love to paint things that are bright and shiny. I also love using imagery from vintage pin-ups.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED/GIFTED IN ART?
I think my mom would say I have always been an artist. She has a book of my school pictures and each page has a series of questions. Each year my mom would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and even in preschool I told her to write ‘Artist.’
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED DOING LIVE ART AT EVENTS?
When I was working at the gallery, I had done some drawings of wedding dresses for customers. I was also at the age when a lot of my friends were getting married. Since I was pretty much the stereotypical starving artist I had to come up with great gifts that cost me very little. At one wedding, I took some blank cards and some markers to the reception and I drew the dress, the cake, the centerpieces, and the bouquet. I gave them to the bride and she loved them. The idea to do large paintings of the whole reception or ceremony scene came from my mom a while later. She had seen it done once and knew it was something that I could do.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU IN YOUR ART?
I am very interested in light. The way it reflects off different surfaces and the shadows it creates. That is always a focus in my paintings. I also love painting animals. They are not self-conscious about how they look so they never pose. Their expressions are always genuine.
–By Addison Magazine
