Meet Australia*-based Artist Jessica Bond

Jessica Bond is a Digital Artist + Wordsmith living in Perth, Western Australia (*soon-to-be Redding, CA!).

Digitally, you can find her living on Instagram: @saltandgoldcollection and on her website: www.saltandgoldstore.com.

CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION: Where are you from originally, and what brought you to Perth?

JESSICA BOND: I grew up in a little town called Rangiora, in the South Island of Aotearoa (New Zealand). In 2018 I became a full time missionary travelling through rural Australia with the Missionaries of God's Love Sisters, and at the end of the year I decided to stay in Australia a bit longer. 'A bit longer' has turned into five years, with a stint in California, USA in there too.

I miss the lush blues and greens of New Zealand, but most of my family now lives in sunny Perth, Western Australia so this is home currently.

How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist? Do you call yourself a Catholic artist?

Despite art being my main vocation right now, I don't consider myself an artist. My heart has been captured by a missionary calling to simply follow Jesus anywhere and do anything He asks. When the world shut down and borders closed in 2020, I felt like I was going crazy not being able to travel! It was during this time of lockdown, 2.5 years firmly within Western Australian borders, that my business Salt & Gold Collection really exploded and reached nearly every continent of the world. Because of this, I see myself as a 'Creative Missionary' rather than artist - when I couldn't physically carry the Gospel to the corners of the earth, the art went in my place!

Where in Perth do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?

I attend All Saints Catholic Parish in Greenwood, Perth. It's a family-oriented parish with a priest who constantly has a smile beaming across his face. In other cities I have usually sought out parishes with a more traditional feel, but the reason I've been drawn to this local parish here in Perth was because of the pastoral nature of the parish. The Lord knows what we need in each season!

What is your daily spiritual practice?

Self control has been one of the slowest fruits to develop in my life, and one of the life-changing decisions I made was to never watch TV until I'd prayed for the day. It was a commitment I made during Lent a few years ago, and it's stood me in good stead ever since. Reaching for my Bible instead of my laptop when I'm upset, overwhelmed, or trying to escape reality has built into my life a reliance on God for His help. I don't need to escape my life when I'm talking to the King of it who has all the solutions, comfort and fulfillment I need.

What are your recommendations to other artists for practicing their craft daily?

One of my constant battles is the tension of perfectionism. When I channel perfectionism in a healthy way, the fruit is a high standard of work I am proud to create. But sometimes my perfectionism can tip over into an unhealthy discontentment or paralysis where the fruit is, well, no fruit! A way that I combat this is by releasing one image or photo each day. It's beneficial in a practical sense from a social media point of view, but also keeps me creating without obsessing, and moving forward.

Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist (and missionary).

The last few months have been the wildest journey of taking a plunge into going full-time with Salt & Gold. I really was just trusting that the Lord would come through financially for me in a very short period of time (3 weeks), and He really did! I remember standing as a team of three, ready to start packing orders and getting teary recognising the Lord's faithfulness. Before going full-time I was sending 3-5 orders per week - the reason Salt & Gold had grown to be a team of 3 was because there were 300 orders to send out that week!

How do you financially support yourself as an artist?

I have been employed by the Catholic Church primarily in Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Ministry for nearly a decade, and it's only this year that I've taken what feels like a step off a VERY high cliff into running Salt & Gold full-time. After several weeks of terrifying free-falling, the Lord opened that parachute and I've been so thankful for the doors He's opened and favour He's given to be able to continue full-time with Salt & Gold.

What are your top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists post-graduation?

My unconventional top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists post-graduation are:

1) You might not graduate. I have no formal study or qualifications in art, and yet the Lord is using me artistically. Everyone has a unique calling and journey with the Lord. If it's formal study - incredible! If it's unexpected favour where you don't even feel qualified - incredible!

2) Create during the process, from the process. I'm not studying art - I'm studying Theology & Ministry and constantly have SO much I'm being challenged by as I learn about and meet the Lord. I believe some of my most powerful pieces come as an overflow of being offended and seeing a new side of Jesus I didn't know or understand previously.

3) Don't underestimate the importance of social media. We have a ridiculous gift - the ability to share our work, make connections and build a community across the entire globe.

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