TAPinto Hawthorne Feature
Thank you to Lyn Morton and TAPinto Hawthorne for the lovely write up about my path into textile art.
Below text is copied from the original article.
By LYNFORD MORTON for TAPinto Hawthorne
HAWTHORNE, NJ - As a young girl, Jessie Bloom dreamed of becoming a painter. She just didn’t know on the way there, her career would weave through the fashion industry and be interrupted by a pandemic. But it’s a journey that has led the Hawthorne-based creator to now work as a full-time artist and textile designer, with a show at the Passaic County Arts Center at the John W. Rea House in Hawthorne. Bloom’s Woven Works show, Skyline, opens at the Passaic County Arts Center on April 30, 2022, and remains on display through July 3, 2022.
The road to art on textiles began in high school. “I wanted to be a painter, actually. That was before I knew that this whole world existed in the fashion industry. I was very much interested in fine art and painting,” Bloom said. But in high school, a teacher who specialized in textiles and taught a fiber art class caught Bloom’s attention. “High school is where I learned about fiber art because we had a great teacher who was interested in textiles and fiber arts. She was an art teacher who taught a specialty fiber art class. That was the beginning of learning about art as it relates to textiles, and those hand processes for surface design: all those techniques and processes that you would apply to the art side of textiles,” she said.
By the time Bloom headed to college, she was all in on fiber arts. In fact, that was her primary requirement for choosing a school. “I applied to Cornell University. That was the only school I applied to attend because they had a dual major program in painting and fiber art. That’s what I initially wanted to do. The track was very specific for the science of apparel design.”
College taught her fashion design as it relates to textiles, meaning fiber science and fiber structure. By the time she finished her program, she was ready to work in the fashion industry but still yearned for art. “I was always obsessed with the textile art part of fashion, so I was doing it all along, even though I just love making art.”
Like many aspiring artists, Bloom chose the practical route of the 9-5, working in textile design. “It’s challenging to do art full time, especially right out of college. I thought my focus would have to be something in the fashion industry and then continue to pursue art on the side.” And that’s how it would have continued for Bloom had it not been interrupted by a pandemic. She had been working at Lord & Taylor for seven years. “I was never going to leave. I was never planning to go anywhere,” she said. But the industry took a downturn, and the team was let go. “The department store business is so challenging. We had gone through a lot of different reorganizations, and they cut people as they pared down. It happens over and over again in the fashion industry. And I think COVID just made it happen for us. I don’t know that the company would say it was COVID, but they just decided to eliminate our design teams. I stayed on a few more months to finish out the production process, but I ended up launching my freelance business full time in late 2020.”
Like so many people during the pandemic, Bloom used the time at home to try the entrepreneurial life. She set some goals to see if she could make the business sustainable. “I really enjoyed working from home. I had an idea in my head. If I can make this a success and make enough money each month consistently, then I’m just going to continue freelancing, continue working from home.” And it worked. Bloom created a business that blends freelancing for corporate clients and small businesses doing custom print design. She also creates woven art on commission for interior designers and art consultants. “Working for myself is the absolute best-case scenario. I love having ownership over the projects I work on. It’s really been wonderful for me,” she said.
The art side of her business is what led her to the Rea House art show. Bloom will be displaying about 15 pieces that she created between 2020 and 2022. “The show is called Skyline because a lot of the work is inspired by landscapes. It is like atmosphere, landscape, light, and color, how those things interact to create a new woven landscape. You’ll see that thematically throughout each piece. It focuses on the horizon line.” Bloom will be available for two openings — the Gallery Opening Reception, May 5, from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m, and an Artist Opening Reception, May 7, from 1 - 3 p.m.
Lyn Morton is an independent marketing consultant who provides marketing & client relations for TAPinto Hawthorne & TAPinto Fair Lawn/Glen Rock. Learn more about Lyn and how he can help your business advertise with TAPinto at lynmorton.com/njmarketing.
