My Art Journey

Hello! I am Jennifer, owner and creator of HelloCute Illustrations. Welcome to my first blog post. Thank you for taking the time to read it! I wanted to use this first post to tell you a little about myself and how I ended up here. HelloCute started about 9 months ago but I have been making art my entire life, and after 14 years of teaching art I decided it was time to take the leap and start my art business. 

Art has always been a big part of my life. Whether I was playing a drawing guessing game with my Pawpaw or watching Bob Ross on TV with my dad, art was all around me. I started drawing around age 2. I don’t remember it but my family was amazed that my bunny and turtle were recognizable. I also have to give a huge shout out to my art teachers growing up! My middle school and high school art teachers were so supportive and encouraging. They always found a way to challenge me and help me grow in my abilities. It was only natural that I would major in art in college. I graduated with a B.A. in Fine Art with an emphasis in Drawing and Painting. After graduating I found various ways to use my artistic abilities, and ended up teaching art for 14 years. I learned so much from my years as a teacher. That is where my love for working with colored pencils developed, and where I really honed in my skills with perspective, both of which I am still learning and growing in my current interiors series. 

I created this in Middle School; it was one of my favorite projects!

My husband has been a huge supporter of my art career and really encouraged me to start doing some of my own art. I did my first larger scale colored pencil drawing around 2018, and at that point I started feeling like I would love to be able to do art full time. In 2022 I was doing more and more commissions and felt it was the right time to transition to growing my art business. 

Commissioned House Portrait

After praying about it, my husband and I decided it was time I put aside teaching and pursue my art business. So here we are. HelloCute Illustrations was born in July of 2022. 

For my first series, I chose to do interiors. I have always loved homes and floor plans. I would have these really elaborate dreams as a kid about sprawling houses with secret rooms that would open up to grand staircases with ornate carpets. This series was largely inspired by those dreams and rooms and images I see in magazines like Victoria or on Pinterest. I love decorating and this is a way I can try out different designs, layouts and combining patterns. You will also see in this series my love for a good cup of tea, reading and beautiful views. I have one more piece left in this series, but may add to it in the future. 

Piano Room, This is the first drawing in my interiors series.

Thank you so much for your support and hope to see you in my next post!