Jenna Bell

Jenna Bell is a Melbourne based graphic artist with a love for colour and fashion and a passion to design and create. The nostalgic memories of her childhood fashion drawings, illustrated stories, catwalks and boutique ‘hand-me-downs’ inspire her work today. Jenna also finds creative inspiration through flora and fauna, architecture, people and self expression and loves to see the beauty in the irrelevant and unusual.

As a freelance designer for over 15 years, Jenna studied as a graphic artist which combines fine art with digital design. Her career took a back seat while she focused on her most important role to date, motherhood – yet with a burning passion to create and express herself, she explored the world of designing/making clothing for her son. The self-taught seamstress began to make and sell through her brand Small White Bird but the struggle between being mum to 3 boys and her hobby was real – so Apple and Fig was created, where she would sell her patterns for other creatives to sew themselves.

Jenna can to adapt to many styles of work however most of her original artwork begins with pencil and watercolour which is then transformed into digital prints and pattern repeats that may also incorporate photographic and other digitally drawn elements.

Jenna is a self-professed fabric addict who can’t say no to a visually appealing print that evokes happiness when she sees it – it’s only natural that Jenna’s artwork has evolved to include textile and surface design. Jenna’s aspiration is that her artwork not only brings joy to others but is also functional and can be transformed for individual expression.