My childhood was very unconventional in many ways. I grew up in the southern New Mexican mountains far from civilization in a cabin with no heating or cooling and an outhouse style bathroom. It was simplistic living in its finest. Though in all of the humility of our rudimentary home and lifestyle was found an abundance of beauty, connection, and grace. My siblings and I spent the majority of our days wandering the great expanse of the wild outdoors.

We had no want for finer things. The field of tall grass and rolling hills we explored were our gold, the clay bed and creek that we played in our fine linen, and the stars that lit up the dark sky our diamonds. 

We slept outside in the hot summer months and gathered 'round a wood burning stove on cold winter mornings. My mother and father were artists and craftsmen of beautiful handiwork. My mother, a painter, expert sewist, a true chef, and an exemplary figureouter. My father made jewelry, crafted fine wood furniture and doors, wrote poetry, was a world traveler, and gifted photographer. 

I have an innate connection with the beauty of nature, a love and respect for family, and a deep passion for creative expression. Art has been so engrained in my life and upbringing that it's who I am.

As a child I spent hours studying and drawing alongside my mother while she painted in the meadow or in her studio. I loved pressing flowers and playing in the dirt. As I grew older I helped my dad craft his doors and furniture. My grandmother and mom taught me how to sew and in college my grandfather gifted me a potter's wheel. I am who I am because of my family and upbringing.

It is one of my greatest life's goals to own a vintage home in the forgotten countryside and to again live a simplistic kind of life like the one I grew up in.

My first job was working for my mom in her ceramic studio where she hand sculpted ceramic tile en relief. I helped her glaze the hundreds of pieces that would make up a single mosaic artwork. 

After I graduated High School, I spent a year in France and it has been one of the greatest highlights of my life. The French Impressionist painters are my mentors and exemplars. My Impressionist artist crushes are Degas, Monet, Renior, Caillbot and Cassat. 

I then attended college at NMSU and BYU and graduated with a Bachelor's of Art with an emphasis in ceramics in 2010.

I married in 2008 and had my first daughter the year that I graduated. Being a mother has been one of the greatest blessings and callings of my life. While navigating the uncharted territories of motherhood, I soon found myself needing a creative outlet.

I took up sewing and it soon became a passion and a personal mission of mine to learn the craft as well as my mother and grandmother who preceded her. I was inspired by little girl's 1940's dresses and was soon sewing every dress I could for my daughter. 

Soon after launching my first dress collection in 2017 my dad passed away. His passing shook my world. My entire life was turned upside down and I never returned to my little girl's dress company. 

In 2018, I had my fourth child and went through a divorce. That year marked a new beginning for me, a clean slate, and an opportunity to turn inwards and nurture the parts of me that I had neglected. I had a strong desire to return to my roots, to paint again, to create fine arts. 

In 2019, I  serendipitously received an email from Bonnie Christine promoting her Surface Pattern Design tribe. Coming from a sewing background, I was immediately intrigued by the idea that I could create my own textiles, something I had wanted to explore before but never did. So I immediately joined. 

I have fallen in love with Surface Pattern Design because it combines all of my skillsets into one, it allows me to explore all the different mediums I love and nurture the truest parts of who I am. 
 
I started sharing my work as a Surface Pattern Designer under the name Jessamin Shirin in 2020. For the first time in my life I feel like I'm right where I need to be. I have spent the past few years learning to draw and paint again, regaining confidence in myself and building a portfolio that I am proud of. 

In 2021, I found an art studio where I could start creating ceramics again. My goal is to incorporate my ceramics background with my surface pattern design work. I also started painting more and sharing those works with the world.

Going into 2022, my goals are to finish a surface design portfolio, start sharing my ceramic creations, and continue this path of self discovery through these beautiful art mediums.

I'm honored to have you with me on this journey of self discovery and expression and I hope that I can bring beauty and light into your life through all that I create.  

My history