Your Artist Dream Is Still Waiting: Jacqueline Bermudez on Painting After a Corporate Career
Welcome to a brand new episode of the Create! Podcast. This week I sat down with Miami painter and photographer Jacqueline Bermudez, an artist I have had the joy of following for almost seven years. Her story is proof that your artist dream is still waiting for you, even if life took you somewhere else first.
From a Barbie Coloring Book to Oil Paint
Jackie has loved art since childhood, when she filled every page of her Barbie coloring book from front to back. A portrait painting class in her senior year of high school showed her exactly what she wanted to do when she grew up. Then life happened, and she spent 17 years in the corporate world, which was a tough place for a creative person to be.
Around 2016, she picked her oil paints back up to see what would happen. Photography entered her life when her kids were born, and her dad, who loved buying her the newest cameras, gave her a DSLR. She photographed her daughters, word spread, and she grew a photography business that lasted 12 to 14 years. Painting, though, was always what called to her most. It is where she feels connected to her soul and to that flow of creation where hours disappear.
Painting Her Own Version of the Chakras
Jackie's ongoing series is her own interpretation of the chakras. She chose the topic because you do not have to be spiritual to learn how to protect your heart or use your voice to communicate your dreams and boundaries. Her daughters are her models, a beautiful way to show the inner work she has done on herself.
Her paintings speak in symbols drawn from nature. Here are a few you will spot in her work:
The crow as a messenger between the spiritual and physical realms, used from a positive perspective
Leaves that represent growth and healing after difficult times
Anatomical hearts that speak to protecting yourself and your heart
Repetitive patterns that stand for the spiritual side of life
How to Protect Your Inner Voice as an Artist
When I asked Jackie how artists can guard their ideas from outside noise, she pointed to painter Alice Neel. Early on, Jackie treated every stroke of paint as sacred. Learning how Neel kept making her own work while art trends came and went helped her loosen up and remember that it is just paint.
Every single time that we pretend to be who we are not, we fail.
Her definition of success is simple: being happy with what you made. If even one person connects with the work, she has succeeded. The painting she considers her most powerful is the throat chakra piece, because the way we use our voice shapes how our lives unfold.
Stepping Into Your Practice With Intention
Jackie's dad passed away in 2019, and the years that followed, including the pandemic, felt like a deep cocoon. She began answering open calls for art. After a heavy stretch in 2021, her cousin mentioned a studio that needed a subletter. As a self-taught painter, Jackie did the inner work to say yes, I am an artist, and committed to treating her practice like a job she showed up for every day with intention. Opening clear space for her work changed everything.
She later moved into Miami International Fine Arts, where she spent almost two years exploring her work in new ways. Now, so she can be present for her two biological kids and three stepchildren, she is building a studio at home.
A Solo Show Painted in About 35 Days
For her recent solo show in Miami, Jackie completed most of the paintings in about 35 days, including some of her largest canvases yet, at 48 by 48 inches and 60 by 48 inches. The secret was planning. Working with her teacher Sonia in January, she researched and mapped out every painting, so when it was time to paint, the hard work was already done. As she put it, once you are ready, you are ready.
Making Art With Children at the Hospital
Once a week, Jackie leads an art hour with children going through bone marrow transplants at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in a five-month project that may end with an exhibit of the kids' work. She lets them run the show, since they have so little they can control. Some want Spider-Man, one wanted a rainbow, and within minutes you can see them soften and light up.
What's Next for Jacqueline Bermudez
Jackie is finishing her chakra series, setting up her home studio, and planning to apply for residencies. You can see her work at jacquelinebermudez.com.
Key Takeaways for Artists
It is never too late to return to the creative path you set aside.
Treat your practice like a job you show up for, with a dedicated space and intention.
Protect your vision in its early, fragile stage and stay true to what makes you happy.
Plan before you paint, because good planning makes the making flow.
Use symbols from your own life to tell a story others can relate to.
About Jacqueline Bermudez
Jacqueline is a self-taught portrait painter and photographer based in Miami. Born in Orlando and raised in Caracas, she returned to oil painting in 2016. Her work has been accepted into exhibitions including Woman Made Gallery in Chicago and the Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition at Blue Line Arts, and she is a resident artist at Miami International Fine Arts. Her paintings use vibrant color, bold patterns, and animals and plants to symbolize personal growth.
See Jacqueline's work: jacquelinebermudez.com
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