Jill more deeply realized the spiritual and sensorial impact the environment has on a person when she experienced her own health setbacks for several years after graduation. She received her BFA in Interior Design from Pratt Institute focusing mostly on architectural design and if it were not for those years when her eyesight, mobility, and general health were lost, she would be working till 2 or 3 am for an architecture firm lacking in any life outside of that. Her health helped her re-evaluate and give even more appreciation to life itself and the hidden secrets buried in it. She is grateful for where she is today: able to pursue the type of artistic projects that truly and deeply speak to her, while maintaining a full-time job as a preschool teacher assisting for financial security. She hopes one day that her business grows enough for it to be her primary source of income but for now she enjoys her day job and appreciates how she is learning and growing from it in various ways that even assist in her artistic expressions.
I sat down to speak with Jill today about the meaning behind her artwork. In truth, I wasn’t sitting, rather appropriately, I was walking amongst the woods of my apartment complex as she described to me the healing power of nature and aesthetics.
Jill explained that the ratios, angles, curves, shapes, and silhouettes seen in nature translated into art, impact one’s eyes, heart, mind, and soul to create a balance within a person that makes them feel relaxed or other emotions thus resulting in general enlightenment, peace, and clarity. They can also be affected in not just an emotional sense but physically in their entire body as well. Like music, art is vibrational and affects people neurologically, emotionally, and spiritually. We can see vibrational changes established in varying activities such as in painting, a piece of writing, cooking a heartfelt meal, taking your kids out for a walk and really any other life movement/hobby. The sense of balance and peace one gets from being surrounded by art impacts other areas of life: one’s relationships, one’s job efficiency etc. The feeling of peace one attains can even lead a person to grow in other areas of their lives such as being more patient (I’d sure benefit from that!), creative, and caring, as well as having greater insight and awareness. Moreover, when you bring beauty and enchantment into someone else’s life, they will in turn be more creative in their own lives, enhancing their comprehension of the world itself and bringing more joy, love, and beauty to others around them. This ripple effect continues to the next person and to the community.
The focus of Jill’s art is nature. She imparted to me that the power of nature is twofold. One is mathematical: that plants have certain formulas (ratios, proportions) by which they survive, that are inherent in their design, which can teach us lessons in our own lives both structurally and emotionally. The second aspect of nature’s impact is their tangible healing properties. More than giving us oxygen, beauty, and shade, all plants have some healing quality. They provide medicine for all living being’s ailments, which to Jill is one of the purest expressions of love. They give to us even if we don’t ask for them to, and in return it is pure love and joy to give back and care for them. Thus for Jill, surrounding ourselves in her whimsical and bohemian natural designs enriches our lives too and is a love letter back to them.
Jill loves to create environments for people. She wants to make others’ lives enriched and enchanted; creating another world for people to enter, to make their lives more enjoyable, filled with beauty and love.
There are times she feels discouraged, due to continuous health issues, financial worries or concerns that she is putting too much artwork in the world, overwhelming her audience. When this happens, she recognizes that her fears are temporary and that her artwork is a gift to the world, it is not just hers to keep. Even before Jill’s Eave, Jill would buy bundles of flowers placing them on subway seats, on tables in bars, or giving some to an elderly woman—to spread beauty and joy.
For more information on Jill’s artwork, visit her Instagram page @Jillseave and https://society6.com/jillseave.
Mindful Nuggets 