artist jess baum on travel, snail mail and papier mâché

We caught up for a chinwag with creative type Jess Baum – aka Jess Made – to chat about the things that get arty juices flowing.

Tell us about you and the work that you do. I’m a creative lady to my soul. I’ll try any new craft and quickly become obsessed. My current projects are my travel mail club, Collection of Adventures. It’s a mail club for people who want to explore the world through beautifully illustrated, cleverly created, physical post delivered right to their door every month! It’s a collection of my favourite adventures, and hopefully, the start of an inspiring journey for you, too. I’m also busy making papier mâché wall hangings of fish, shells, prawns, moths and any other characters that pop into my head!

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Jess Made (@_jess_made)

What does a day in the life of being an art maker look like for you? As my partner and I are both full-time pet sitters, it usually involves walking a dog or feeding a beloved animal before sitting down to tackle the admin or social media reality of trying to get my work out into the world and be seen! Then, if I’m creating the next edition of mail club, I’ll be illustrating the postcard or map and then creating a sticker to match. I’ll also be writing a detailed letter, much like a travel diary entry, about my time spent at the destination for my subscribers. I make mini photo prints and mount them like a polaroid, and then I’ll be packing each envelope, which I sometimes make by hand too. Then at the end of each month, I get to send out envelopes filled with tales of adventure, illustrated memories, collectable stickers, beautiful photos and bucketfuls of whimsy to people all around the world, and it brings me so much joy.

Where do you gather your inspiration from? It sneaks up on me all the time. As a graphic designer I can get very excited over a lovely bit of type on a menu or vintage sign, but mostly it comes from travelling, and that can literally be a walk to the beach, a day trip into the city or a three-week tuk tuk ride through Sri Lanka! I’m always collecting adventures!

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Jess Made (@_jess_made)

What prompted you to start your snail mail club? I wanted to make more collages this year (I know, random, but I’m always crafting…). As I started researching, I came across the snail mail community. My partner and I have spent most of our lives travelling – it’s just who we are – and I have collected so many memories, stories, photos and drawings from the most amazing destinations all around the world. So starting a travel snail mail club seemed like the perfect way to put all these collected adventures to use and share them with the world! I’ve got a background in graphic design, so I put my degree to good use by designing and creating a product that is both communicated beautifully and purposeful. I just love getting mail too. Remember getting a penpal letter from a friend as a kid? So fun! We rarely get anything that’s not a bill or vouchers for a pizza shop in our letterboxes these days – my club is a really great alternative!

How do you decide what creatures to turn into papier mâché? After returning home from living in the UK for three years, I found myself back by the sea and in my happy place. My papier mâché characters came to me one evening and I just drew them, their personalities coming out as I began creating them from papier mâché. Pippa Prawn is such a darling – I just love how she turned out. I’ve since recreated her as a sticker, t-shirt, tote bag and even painted her on a cabinet in our camper van. I’m currently working on some moths and butterflies to add to the collection.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Jess Made (@_jess_made)

What’s your favourite medium of art to create in? I’ll pick up anything. Last year I was big into crocheting clothing and just yesterday I was using acrylic markers to draw a shell on a wooden trivet from IKEA – no blank surfaces here! I was really inspired by the colourful beaded necklaces that have been popular, so I’ve been doing a bit of beading too. Why buy it when you can spend three times as much making it yourself?! I do really love the versatility of papier mâché though, and creating a piece by molding and shaping bits of card and paper to make something truly unique and handmade.

Where can we see more of your work? You can shop all things Jess Made (including Pippa Prawn and friends) and subscribe to Collection of Adventures over on my website jessbaumcreative.com or follow along on Instagram – I’m @_jess_made

After more arty chats? Spy our chinwag with artist and performer Rachel Seeto or peep your eyes on our chat with top-notch creative Brandi Salmon. Plus, sign up to our newsletter for more goodness.