20SDS Artist: Jaysqui
I have been stalking the next 20 Something Doin’ Something artist on her Instagram for a while, so I was extremely excited when she agreed to be apart of this event. Jaysquid is from a small town outside of Raleigh, NC who made her way to the Greensboro area to study graphic design. She talks about the ups and downs of living strictly off of her art. As well as the joys of being able to spend your days fulfilling your passion.
Living strictly off of your artwork gets hard. It's a lot of tears and ramen noodles but its worth it. It's my passion and it keeps me going.
I sat on the other side of the camera staring at one of the pieces that Jaysquid will be displaying at 20 Something Doing Something. She talks about her squid obsession throughout college explaining how she came up with the name. As our conversation went on, we began to talk about where she draws inspiration. "My emotions. I draw a lot of inspiration from what I am going through at the time." she explained. I was in awe of the colors she used and how she mixed vibrant blues and purples with darker grays.
I sucked at first
She went on to discuss how she found herself trying to copy the art techniques of others and realized how silly it looked and she felt. She has now adapted her own style filled with beautiful colors and creatures. Her creative process starts with her just drawing until something develops. She also dabbles in writing but she likes to keep it to herself. Even though her artwork skills exceed ten times past super human, she shows her normal side, admitting that she struggles with fear and self-doubt when it comes to her own artwork.
After our interview my girl crush became stronger! I was so excited to finally meet her and see her work in person and I am even more excited that she will be apart of 20 Something Doin' Something August 26th. You can find out more about each artists at the event. She is preparing several pieces and if they are anything like the small preview I saw, they will be nothing short of mind blowing.
You can follow her on instagram @jaysquids or check out her website www.jaysquid.com.
