Some of the blah bah about the being behind Jacqui By Design, in case you are curious (like I usually am) to know a little bit about me! Hi, I am Jacqui. I have threatened for some time now to write a book about my life that starts with “Once upon a time I wished for an interesting life…I should have been more specific!” But that is another whole story perhaps for another time.
As far back as I can remember, I have loved to draw and be creative. During my horse mad childhood and into my late teens, when I wasn’t around horses, I was drawing them! In my teens this extended to drawing people and I loved drawing portraits of everybody and anybody. In junior school my love for art was nourished by a brilliant teacher who exposed us to everything from diamond etching, stain glass windows, to carving, dying fabric and more! In high school this love of art was near destroyed by a not-so-amazing art teacher. The kind that can really destroy any kind of personal expression and made me decide that being an artist was not in the cards!
So I spent the next 30 odd years (I’m aging myself here) trying everything not to be an artist. I mean anything – accountant, architect, auditor, project manager, brief stint as a graphic and web designer (working for someone else for peanuts), and a brief stint when the kids were small and I lived the expat life in Saudi Arabia and a friend and I made all kinds of things we sold at markets. But I always thought of it as a hobby or side gig, and not something that I could make a living at.
And then I turned my life upside down – divorced, moved countries (yes with 2 young children on my own with very little money and no real plan!) and ended up working in the car industry! Yes me! A car salesperson – I needed a job, they weren’t picky! Eventually becoming a finance manager and working ridiculous hours in an industry I could write a book about!
Anyway, got sick (again), got married (again) – yes in that order! Followed by more being sick (recuring theme with auto-immune stuff mixed in with some kind of genetic lottery), having to quit the job (wasn’t really an option anymore), and finding myself with time again to start drawing again. In-between the more being sick, I renovated a house, sold it, and we bought another house and moved states. A whole saga in itself – that involved a month long stay in a hotel with two large dogs, one cat, and 5 adults! And when I say large dogs, I’m talking a Great Pyrenees and a blond Siberian Malamute. Followed by more time spent recovering and being creative here and there as time and energy allowed – while still trying to decide what I was going to be when I grew up!
So here I am now…in my 50’s and inching (okay galloping) my way to 60 (gulp) and I have come to at least two important conclusions in my life. One – I am never going to grow up! And Two, I am a creative soul who needs to be creative! And perhaps three, that I am no longer going to limit myself!
Ooooh, and four – things don’t have to be perfect, they never can be, you just need version 1 so you can get off the starting block!