Meet Pooja Jeshang Illustrations
Pooja Jeshang is an illustrator and surface pattern designer based in Enfield, Middlesex, who creates floral prints, fabrics, cards and gifts designed to make your heart bloom. She finds inspiration in long walks foraging for wildflowers, while her style has developed through explorations into her South Asian heritage, studying patterns from the Mughal era as well as block-printed florals, which she then incorporates into her fabrics and detailed illustrations.
Here she tells fellow Folksy maker Pip Meadows Elliot from The Tipsy Moth Pottery about how it was while stuck in bed, recovering from major surgery, that she picked up her iPad, started drawing again and rediscovered what she was good at…
Get 10% off Pooja Jeshang Illustrations throughout July 2024 with code FLORALS10
Shop Pooja Jeshang Illustrations on Folksy
My style is very much inspired by botanical elements. I enjoy drawing a lot of flowers! But I also like to explore my roots, which is South Asian heritage.
Pooja Jeshang
Hi Pooja! Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do?
Hi! I’m Pooja and I’m an illustrator as well as a surface pattern designer. When I am not illustrating floral prints and still lives, I’m usually designing fabrics!
How would you describe your style?
My style is very much inspired by botanical elements. I enjoy drawing a lot of flowers! But I also like to explore my roots, which is South Asian heritage, and I love drawing florals from the Mughal era or block print florals, which are then incorporated into my fabrics.
Tell us about your journey? How did you get to where you are now?
Well, it’s a bit of a long story but to cut it short I worked in retail for a bit, but it didn’t take long before I’d had enough, and my health wasn’t keeping too well either. With my husband’s help I decided to start making handmade cards featuring my illustrations, as well as handmade Christmas ornaments to keep myself busy. I then sold these items through my first Folksy shop and ventured on to other platforms.
A couple of years down the line, I launched a range of personalised bridal bags, which was a huge success until Covid happened and I also had a little one to look after. Juggling motherhood and a small business became extremely hard, especially when I had to have major surgery after Covid. While I was recovering from my bed, all I had was my iPad, so I decided to start illustrating on there, drawing all sorts of things and getting in touch with what I was actually good at. That’s when I first got into surface pattern design.
What or who inspires you?
My artwork is inspired by a lot of artists, but taking long walks through parks and nature, and foraging for wildflowers gives me a lot of thinking time to see what I can venture out into or how I can broaden my product line. I just can’t sit still and I’m always keeping my brain busy!
Can you talk us through that creative process? Do your ideas start in a sketchbook or how do you work?
I love to scour on Pinterest and create small boards of what I want to do next, followed by sketches or internal brainstorms. Once an idea hits, there’s no stopping me finding ways to make it!
What’s your workspace like? Do you have a dedicated studio?
I work from a loft studio. It has a lovely day bed and a space for me to work but it does get busy during market months, so pretty much everything is strewn about!
Is your home as beautifully decorated as your work?
I have a little boy and a dog, and in between looking after them I just about get time to decorate the house. I try but it won’t happen just yet. It will have to wait for my boy to get a bit older.
If you had to choose three of your favourite objects, what would they be?
- My iPad – where all my ideas come to life.
- My paints – I love painting by hand.
- My sewing machine – I love it, I can just go to it whenever I want and start sewing.
What’s your quote to live by?
“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life” – Marc Anthony.
What does being creative mean to you?
Being creative is giving your mind the ability to express how you feel. You feel so much better when you create, whether that’s through painting, cooking, DIY, writing or singing. Creativity is expression!
10% off Pooja Jeshang Illustrations
use code FLORALS10
valid throughout July 2024
Shop Pooja Jeshang Illustrations on Folksy
