Hidden Worlds in Paint and Play. 6Qs with Jackie Bradshaw.

From mirror-image paint blots in her home daycare to murals on hydro poles and installations in New York, Jackie Bradshaw has always created worlds out of hidden marks. Living with neurodivergence and chronic illness, her art is equal parts survival, storytelling, and joy. She reminds us that imagination can transform even the hardest days.

1. Your art career began in the most creative of places, your home daycare, where you experimented with leftover paints and mirror-image techniques. How did that early spark evolve into the imaginative, immersive worlds you create today?

   Creating the mirror images with leftover paint while I was doing a small home daycare really woke up something inside me that I think was dormant for some time. I have always loved finding images in things. Whether that be in the wood panelling of my childhood room or in clouds or patterns out in the world. My eyes were always drawn to a hidden image. So when I started to make my own blotches and spots of paint and began creating little worlds within them it was like coming home to myself again and it just felt like something I had to keep doing. It really did grow from there into obsession and necessity to maintain some sort of homeostasis as I adapted to being a new mother.

   
   

2. Your paintings are full of wonder and surreal storytelling, rivers with faces, trees with arms, tiny characters in vast landscapes. Do these stories emerge as you paint, or do you begin with a narrative in mind?

   These stories come from my childhood but they are also mythical, mystical having narratives of their own at times that just surface through me.

   
   

   I spent a lot of time roaming around by rivers and creeks and exploring the forests that surrounded me. I was lucky to be a bit of a wildling as a kid.

   
   

   I am not entirely sure to this day what was real and what imaginary during some of the adventures I had.

   
   

3. You’ve spoken about how painting helps keep the “demons at bay” as you navigate neurodivergence and chronic illness. How have these personal challenges shaped both your process and the art you share with the world?

   Keeping the demons at bay is really my full time job. Ha ha. I am serious when I say that art has saved me time and time again as it has for many folks. I am not sure life would be worth living without art. It was something I never thought I would be doing FOR a ‘living’. Not in my wildest dreams! I wanted to be a nurse but I had to drop out after a year of school due to autistic burnout. I was going to school full time, working part time and commuting from Guelph to Kitchener by bus. My brain exploded but it did lead me to finding roots in Kitchener which I love so much. After I got myself together, I worked as a PSW in Kitchener for many years and even managed to go back to school at St Louis to get my diploma and started my own home care business. Through alI of this I was battling severe endometriosis and had a few surgeries along the way one which led to me being able to conceive my son. Which then led me to the mirror images and to painting. 

   
   

   Artwork is a wonderful distraction from pain. I don’t want to paint my pain. I want to paint hope, joy and scenes that make others feel good and relaxed. Sometimes a little tension can be seen in my art but mostly I hope that for those who see it, it makes them feel calm and happy.

   
   

4. From hydro pole murals in Kitchener to projections at Femme Folks Fest and installations in New York, you’ve brought your work into public spaces as well as private collections. How does sharing art in community settings shift the way you think about your practice?

   Gratitude. It hasn’t really shifted my practice but I am so grateful to every person who has helped me along the way. It still amazes me that people have actually framed my art and put it on their walls! I am so grateful for every person who has given me an opportunity to display my art on their platform or in public spaces. Or has asked me to talk about myself in an interview like this! Thank you!!!

   
   

   In reality though, I mostly have my husband to thank for holding down a steady custodian job as I keep puttering away at art which is definitely not a steady pay check. Thanks Jesse for being by my side and cheering me on every step of the way and giving me the gift of time which in turn has given me the gift of community.

   
   

5. Your work is filled with surprising details and playful layers. Has there ever been a moment when an unintended mark, colour, or shape changed the direction of a piece in a way that delighted you?

   I feel like most of my art is born out of unintended marks kind of like my son was born out of my ugly c section scar. Ha ha.

   
   

   Most of my art begins like scratches across the page that I try to just keep adding to in hopes that some sort of alchemy will happen.

   
   

6. You’ve built a prolific rhythm of creating across many formats. What continues to draw you back to the studio, especially on days when energy or inspiration feels scarce?

   Art helps me create new neural pathways that distract my brain and body from pain. It also gives me a sense of control and as a control freak, I like that!  It is interesting thinking about making art throughout all different moods and emotions. Do I make as much art when I am happy compared to when I am sad? Maybe not? Do I make more art when I am anxious than when I am depressed? Probably. Every day is different when it comes to energy and inspiration. Some days like any job, I force myself into the studio. It helps that it is right in my living room staring me down! There is no escaping it! Ha ha.

   
   

   Mostly I come running into it whenever I get the chance like a big hug from a long lost friend.

Bonus Question: When you think about your journey so far, what do you hope your work leaves behind in the hearts and imaginations of those who experience it? 

I really hope if you come across my art it makes you smile if only for a second and I hope it makes you want to make someone else smile and I hope that they in turn will go hug a tree or help a turtle cross the road.

Explore more of Jackie’s art at jackiebradshaw.com

Know someone creative or curious, or doing something cool in their own way? That’s exactly who I love talking to. I’d love to hear about them or from them.

Did a line or moment from this interview stick with you? Leave a comment, send a message, or tag someone who might want to be part of this series. You never know whose story will show up next. I read every one.