Meet Jacqueline Brill of Studiojax in Cambridge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacqueline Brill.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
For many years, I worked as an art director in the publishing field. Though during that time I took a freelance illustration and design commissions, It was after the birth of my son in 2000 that I quit my full-time job and defined a goal to create an art and design business, Studiojax, which I could run from my home studio.

In much of the time since I have sought to better integrate my hand-drawn art and computer techniques so that quality, texture, and detail can be preserved. I’ve learned to maintain my creative vision over being allured by the endless possible ways to manipulate images using a computer. Computers can be bossy – resistance is required.

A few years ago, I went back to school to get my Bachelors of Arts Degree as an adult learner at Lesley University and simultaneously went on to get a Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design degree from the Vermont College of Fine Arts to further my education and to build my teaching credentials. I was terrified! It had been a long time since I last was in school.

Yet at both Lesley and at VCFA I found a rich source of support, friendship, inspiration, and encouragement. Much of my recent work is informed by my studies, which lead me to discover and share my creative spirit more fully.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I navigate more easily in the world of my imagination than in the “real” world, and I struggle to value and share my work. Yet the resulting tension provides a certain kind of necessary creative energy. Any bumps in my road are the result of trying to be practical and sensible over listening to my inner voice.

I’m finding it’s o.k. to be uncomfortable, yet still trust in the creative process my intuition. I also find it a challenge to share, market, and sell my work in a way that works but still allows me ample time to create and also spend time with my family, including our two BIG FLUFFY DOGS, Jack & Jill.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Studiojax – what should we know?
As previously stated, I have an open and intuitive approach to work which often leads to unexpected creative results. I also use, re-use, and re-visit, images from my series of sketchbooks and combine them in different ways, often without a defined theme or intent. In time, they reveal what they want to be.

At that point, I name title/name them. The pattern in the background of my profile photo is titled “Pattern Pets”, and I’m wearing a dress featuring my “Blooberry” fabric pattern. My process involves a playful approach to making, a process which I now share as an educator for hire in the form of a workshop and presentation titled Surface Sing: Intuitive Pattern Making. I also have a quirky sense of humor that often comes to the fore.

I have grown to strongly value the way that humor provides a way to consider subjects of controversy, or can further a conversation. But mostly, it’s just fun and I like to laugh…sometimes out loud and awkwardly. Work posted on my site in the Featured section includes rendering pattern and/or image as music using music box scrolls, pattern as a form of social commentary, and the possibility of pattern.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Well, I’d have to acknowledge my husband and my teen son for putting up with my mood swings and a lot of take-out food while I was in school. (In all honesty, we still do that.) As for mentors and advocates: Again I’d have to say that my Professors and fellow students were, and still are, a great source of support.

In my working life, I’ve been lucky to maintain close connections with many of my publishing colleagues, and we continue to share with and encourage each other. In particular, one of the first people to hire me when I came to Boston, Professor Stephen Fischer, was also the first to hire me later to teach at Lasell College. I’m grateful for the rich source of connection with these friends and colleagues.

This kind of camaraderie offers options and opportunities that would otherwise not be available and provides a creative environment in which to grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.studiojax.com
• Email: jaxbrill@comcast.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxbrill.studiojax/
• Other: https://giphy.com/channel/studiojax

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