Seattle-based illustrator and surface designer, Jess Phoenix, specializes in florals and vibrant colors. So much so, that scrolling through her Instagram page is the equivalent of entering a lush garden, forever in full bloom.
According to Phoenix, a central theme to her work and a huge inspiration is color. “Color, color, color!” she exclaimed once in an interview with Papirmass. “My work emerged from a desire to produce art as bright and as vibrant as I wanted. I love my day job, but sometimes I’m told to change my colors so they ‘don’t vibrate so much.’ I WANT my art to vibrate!”
According to Phoenix, exploring color in her pieces has always been her favorite part. Flowers come second. “I choose to paint flowers simply because they are an excellent vehicle for exploring color,” she admits. Most of the flowers and leaves are imagined, and act as a vehicle for her to create vibrant color relationships.
The finished result – lush and vibrant – has been featured on stationery, book covers, and embroidery, amongst other products, grabbing the attention of almost 40k followers on Instagram. She also sells her artwork as embellished art prints, using gold and neon paint to make each print rich and unique.
“True creativity is like an itch that you LOVE to scratch using your curiosity,” says Phoenix. “You can just keep scratching it; it never gets old! That’s how color is for me. I’m curious about color, which makes me want to explore it and ‘get creative’ with it. Everyone has something they’re curious about, so I think everyone has that innate potential to explore that curiosity and in turn, be creative.”
