Jessica Cole is as inspiring as the art she creates — the kind of art that drips with passion and tells a story you didn’t know you needed to hear until she puts it on a canvas.
“Art for me has always been more of a visual language. I’ll have this thought but no way to put it into words, so I find ways to communicate by putting together visual data to tell a story.
“I will usually write down ideas for things as soon as I have them, and I’m always taking pictures … For example, I have this one piece called ‘Tree House.’ The idea I wrote down was, ‘People are summations of the homes they build,’” Cole said.
She has been an artist since she was a young child.
“I’ve been doing art as long as I remember. I remember entering my work into the county fair in elementary school and winning a little prize for it,” she said.
That was all the motivation she needed to continue improving her craft and she hasn’t stopped striving since.
The Vilonia native is a 2022 UCA graduate and while art was only her minor, she says it plays a major role in her life.
“It’s therapeutic for me, like keeping a journal. I struggle with a number of mental illnesses, including PTSD, and I think art helps me work through things with that as well,” she said.
She is well-versed in many forms of art, including oil pastels, oil paint, charcoal, watercolor and acrylic. She mainly paints, and she says her favorite thing to create is surreal art.
Her most treasured work is a watercolor piece called “What became of us?” which she created last summer, inspired by the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
The dystopian piece bears the feeling of inevitable doom, fitting the back story of the piece. She embodies the theme by showcasing the cyborg-looking head with the wire “brain” exposed which overlooks a dreary farm setting on a cloudy day. A majority of the work is blue – a harsh contrast to the yellow and orange head.
She recently painted a stunning, bright orange floral mural for THINK Coffee and is in the process of designing another work for them.
She mentioned that she has committed to another mural project that she is eagerly waiting to release.
Cole started her business, Jess Cole’s Art, over the summer, but has been doing commissions for over a year now.
“The idea to make a business just started with me deciding to put myself out there. I didn’t know what I wanted to do after college, but I knew that I wanted to be part of a creative community. It takes being involved, so I thought, ‘What do I have to lose, I’m making this stuff anyway.’ If no one bought my art it wouldn’t stop me from doing it. It’s nice when people do though,” Cole said.
While expanding her business, she started dabbling in printmaking over the summer and says she “has enjoyed it immensely.”
In a perfect world, she sees herself blending her interests of oral history and art into one magnificent career; she is intending to pursue a graduate program that allows her to do so.
She showcases her work to the community by attending the Conway Art Walk most months and local pop-up events, and though Cole is moving to Fayetteville in the next few months, she plans to attend one more art walk as her last local hurrah.
More information about Cole’s art can be found on Instagram, @jesscolesart.