Check out Jade Rector’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Rector.

Jade, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Hi there! My name is Jade Rector. I’m an illustrator currently wrapping up a BFA at Columbia College Chicago. I’m majoring in illustration with a minor in education. My goal is to illustrate children’s books!

I’m originally from New Lenox, Illinois (a southwest suburb of Chicago), and I’ve lived in Chicago for three years. I absolutely love the city and take a huge amount of inspiration from the landscape and the people within it. In my time at Columbia I’ve had the opportunity to study under wonderful, passionate professors, and have been able to pursue my varied interests in both illustration and teaching. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at Columbia and I’m so sad it’s almost over, but I’m grateful for the experiences I’ve had.

My mother is a choreographer and dance instructor, so I was raised within the concept of an unconventional classroom. I have brought this into my own practice by engaging as a studio facilitator and teaching artist at Marwen, a school that provides free visual arts classes for young people from under-resourced communities and schools. The opportunity to connect my love of visual art with the gratifying experience of teaching has been life changing, and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to have that intersection!

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My biggest focus right now is children’s book illustration. I’m currently finishing up a design internship with Candlewick Press in Boston- my summer has been full of studying wonderful children’s books, and it’s been delightful!

My go-to work revolves around children’s fashion- my sketchbook is probably 70% fashionable kids, 20% unfashionable adults, and 10% dogs. My finished work is mainly digital, but I have recently fallen in love with cut paper collage, so we’ll see! My sketchbook is my sacred happy place, and I experiment with every other medium I can get my hands on within it.

I hope I can someday make work that makes as big of an impact on children today as my favorite books did on me as a child. I find there is something very special that happens when you mention a beloved picture book to someone- their eyes light up, their smile grows, and they are suddenly carried back by the fond memories that book holds. They can look at you and recite their favorite lines or describe their favorite page. I love it. I want to instill that future-nostalgia into my work.

I also want to use my work to broaden the representative scope of children’s literature. The current landscape of representation for women/people of color/the LGBTQ+ community/people with disabilities etc. is grim. I believe that every child should be able to pick up a book and find themselves in it. I look forward to making my contribution to the world of kidlit!

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I think artists wield a huge amount of power when it comes to current events. Through our work, especially when posted online or otherwise widely distributed, we can communicate our views and ideas to a scope broader than ever before.

With my personal focus in children’s literature, I find that creating well-informed, well-intended, and representative work is of the utmost importance. Children’s books are our first source of information when we are young, and they leave a lasting impact on our opinions and personalities. Every children’s book might not explicitly communicate topical viewpoints, but perhaps may distribute the foundation of such ideas. By putting a book into the world with a message that encourages love, respect, generosity, equality, or a sense of welcoming- that might be what someone thinks back on for the rest of their life. I intend to imbue goodness, kindness, and respect into my work in direct response to the lack of such I’ve seen in the world as of late.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
People can find my work on www.jaderector.com! I also frequent Instagram and Twitter under the handle @jadearector. I am currently open for freelancing opportunities, and my contact information is available on all three platforms.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.jaderector.com/
• Phone: 7083084701
• Email: jaderector@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jadearector/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jadearector

Image Credit:
Jade Rector

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