Jeri Rae Venegas: From community college student to luxury brand illustrator
Jeri Rae Venegas never imagined her pet portrait paintings would lead to collaborations with luxury brands like Marc Jacobs and David Yurman. Now based in Austin, the San Jacinto College alumna balances commissioned work with her own artistic projects.
Q: How did you get started in art?
A: I grew up mostly in Friendswood and attended San Jac for about four years, taking only a few classes at a time because of health issues and balancing work. At first, I wanted to study biology. Growing up with lupus made me deeply interested in health and medicine, but then I took an art appreciation class with Jeff McGee [South Campus fine arts department chair]. His art career inspired me to pursue my own, since I've always loved drawing and creating.
Q: Describe your education.
A: I finished my associate degree in fine arts at San Jac in 2017, then started at the Savannah College of Art and Design that fall. I graduated from SCAD in 2020 with a degree in illustration.
Q: How did San Jac prepare you for art school?
A: San Jac gave me a solid foundation. I carried the tools and techniques I learned there with me to SCAD. Plus, taking all my basics at community college saved me a lot of money. All my credits transferred, and I graduated from SCAD with less debt than a lot of my classmates. Having done my basics at San Jac did leave me to take studio classes my entire time at SCAD, which was very challenging, but I would still recommend it.
Q: How did you build your freelance career?
A: I started hustling while I was still at San Jac — doing pet portraits, wedding invites, whatever people would pay me for. Instagram has been huge for getting freelance work. I had a bit of a lull in freelance work for a few years while I was working my graphic design job. It’s had some highs and lows, but once I decided to take the risk to go part time there, freelancing immediately picked up again with regular posting on socials.
Q: How did your collaboration with Marc Jacobs begin, and what has that experience been like?
A: Someone reached out on Instagram about my pet portraits, asking if I wanted to work for Marc Jacobs. I painted a sample bag at the Houston Galleria store, and I was in. They were launching their Bark Jacobs campaign and needed live illustrators to paint customers' pets on handbags.
It was intense but rewarding. I was working 18-hour weekends at Marc Jacobs while also working 35 hours a week at my day job and driving between Austin and Houston. It led to other opportunities like working with David Yurman, Nordstrom, and AWAY Travel, and there are some coming up that I’m excited to share soon.
Q: What work are you doing now, and what projects would you love to work on in the future?
A: I’m still taking commissions from people who see my work on TikTok and Instagram and booking live drawing events. My apartment looks like a purse warehouse right now doing purse portraits.
My own brand of greeting cards (Jeri Rae Art), clothing, stickers, prints, and such has also been taking off, and I’d like to see that continue to grow. I’m also interested in doing work for Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons cards and doing more cozy mystery book covers.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve received, and what would you tell students pursuing an art degree?
A: Jeff McGee told me a long time ago to always finish everything. There’s something about really seeing things all the way through that helps you figure out what works and what doesn’t.
For current and future students, community college is a great place to start. It gives you solid grounding, saves you some money, and can give you some more time to figure out what you truly want. There’s no need to rush a career path. Keep hustling and posting your work online. Build relationships with other artists doing what you want to do. Put yourself out there and shoot your shot. You never know what opportunities might come from it!
Where to find Jeri Rae Venegas:
About San Jacinto College Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today,
and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris
County, Texas, since 1961. The College is ranked second in the nation among more than
1,100 community colleges, as designated by the Aspen Institute and was named an Achieving
the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution
that spans five campuses, plus an online college, San Jacinto College serves approximately
45,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and
certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer
to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding
bond ratings of AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. San Jacinto College is
accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
