A few of my favorites:
art history, Bloody Marys, Harry Potter, the season of fall, family and friend gatherings, living in Hoboken, the horror genre (especially Stephen King), Saturday Night Live, Shake Shack, tap dancing, The Weeknd
Hey, I’m Jenn!
founder and artist of JN Chalk & Co
Born with a crayon in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, I have never been without the desire to create. Every sidewalk, piece of paper, scrap cardboard, rock and seashell was a blank canvas waiting for me to add something beautiful to it. Art was always simply my thing, something that poured out of me and never felt like work.
I like to think that I have always had the desire to open my own creative business, even before I knew what a creative business was. As a kid I would create paintings on my mom's printer paper with my tiny set of watercolors, display them on a large poster board and sit on my front lawn selling them for 10¢ each. In elementary school, a brand new market, I began selling string friendship bracelets at school and even became the resident Milky Pens tattoo artist during recess (strawberries were my specialty).
Out of all those funny memories, my favorite is The Seashell Sale. Every summer at the beach my sister, Michelle, and I would collect tons of seashells and then paint on them with our neighbors/dearest friends growing up. After all the seashells were pretty and painted, we would set a date to sell them on our front lawn to the neighbors. The Seashell Sales went on for about three years, and we actually made quite a profit!
Art stuck with me all the way to college where I earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in graphic design. Today, I am a full time graphic designer, illustrator and continued patron of all things creative. I am so thankful that I am able to create freely everyday as a profession. I would love to go back in time and tell my five-year-old self (who was selling 8.5x11 printer paper paintings on the front lawn) about the woman she gets to be when she grows up.
It all started with a chalkboard…
Jennifer Norma Chalk & Co first bloomed in October of 2016. I was asked to create a welcome chalkboard sign for a cousin’s rustic fall wedding and I have always had a love for hand lettering, so I happily accepted! Shortly after, many of my girlfriends began getting married, and as part of each of their gifts I created personalized signs for each couple that included their names and engagement dates. I was instantly falling in love with chalk lettering and was urged by friends and family to make this a real "thing" so that I could share my chalk art with a bigger audience.
Creating my own company became the only thing I could think about over the next few months. While planning and prepping I was still dedicated to my full-time graphic design job. I’d design my branding, draw chalk illustrations and create hand-lettered signs during early mornings before work and late at night after work. Then, with lots of encouragement from loved ones and a few open doors to amazing opportunities involving my chalk art, I decided to officially launch Jennifer Norma Chalk & Co in January of 2017.
The word about my new business traveled quite quickly thanks to my wonderful clients, and I began to get chalkboard orders for all kinds of events. I was a one woman show until I officially hired my sister, Michelle, when we became busier than anticipated. She is my right hand “office” woman, handles all pick ups and drop offs, and helps me stay on track and organized throughout the year. Larger national brands began to reach out in reference to my chalkboard illustrations, which is still so shocking to me! I’m so grateful for the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to meet and work with.
Today, Jennifer Norma Chalk & Co continues to create custom, hand-lettered chalkboard art. Recently, we proudly added a new greeting card and art print shop to our brand, which has been in the works for quite some time. Our small creative business continues to grow, something that I am so thankful for. It has been my greatest accomplishment and journey thus far, and I can’t wait to see where we go!
to be continued…
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