A little about me and my home…

My name is Jessica and I live in Boulder, UT… a town of about 200 people, surrounded on all sides by National Forests, National monuments, National Parks and BLM land. On one side, a long, empty desert spreads out bare and brittle. On the other, the pinion and ponderosa trees thicken and rise into a flat-capped mountain. It is a long, long way to anywhere.

Here, I have a big messy garden, a dog who is the love of my life and a cat who is a rascal. I am constantly saving birds from his skills and wiles. I am a licensed massage therapist, an Embodied Emotional Processing Coach, a professional jazz vocalist, and now, an Artist.

Why birds?

When Covid changed the whole world, I was taking a beautiful online class about the journey of the Alchemist. The class followed a series of medieval artistic renderings of this journey. Each depiction was surrounded by a golden frame, filled with birds and plants, symbols important to the medieval imagination. Throughout the class, I realized that although the pictures of the the alchemical process were interesting, what riveted me were the golden birds. With no particular goal in mind, I started to draw my own golden frame and filling it with birds from my home. I have been drawing them ever since.

Over the last few years I have been very very ill. Spending intimate hours with these creatures has been my consolation as my life has changed shape from one filled with rock climbing and backpacking, to one spent mostly in bed. Each time a new bird emerges on the page, I am delighted and surprised. And I appreciate the company.

Each of the birds I draw is one that I might see here in Boulder. We get some crazy migrations…

Thank you

to all of you who support me

it is no small thing