Hello!
Coloringwheelz is a Miami based art and design studio focused on creating a fully immersive visual, tactile and emotional experience with color. Artist Jillian Whelan explores current concepts in everything from metaphysical studies to pop culture in her tongue in cheek approach to modern art. Imploring darts of spherical mounds, Jillian illustrates an intricate study in
“the part creating the whole” through movement, texture, light, and humor.
Building upon drips of custom mixed paint blobs, Whelan creates a textural landscape encased in glossy sheets of epoxy resin. Often carrying poppy idioms surrounded by a collage of glitter, crystals, and even money; her pieces range on the culturally provocative with drip-scapes shouting “Audit The Fed” to zen fields of floating abstract color wheels (get it?).
A psychedelic colorful experience where the artist encourages you to not only look, but FEEL, the art. Jillian enjoys unpacking heady arguments into pretty pop packages, looking to raise the vibrations of those she touches through her artistic platform.
Tell Me More...
Hailing from sunny Florida, Jillian spent her early years studying under local artists in the beachy community of Saint Petersburg. Having mastered a knack for illustration and painting throughout her youth, Jillian pursued a competitive college preparatory studio arts program in the bucolic rolling hills of western Massachusetts at Deerfield Academy. Trading in high school years of sun and sand for a snowy artistic adventure in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. Jillian attributes this time to her technical understanding of the visual arts. Noting the intense curriculum shaped her intrinsic artistic ability into the creative powerhouse it is today,
“We drew, rendered, painted, and experimented for hours a day. I lived and breathed art for the formative years of my early education, spending 4-6 hours daily in studio. Of course, opting out on the shores of Florida leaves something to be missed, but I had the fortuity to explore my full creative potential at a young age. I’m eternally grateful for that opportunity.”
Jillian went on to study at The American University in Washington, D.C. where she holds a BSBA in Finance. While still keeping art close to her heart, Whelan took this opportunity to immerse herself in the world of financial markets. Understanding business goes hand in hand with any great endeavor,
“I knew I needed to understand money, accounting, and how to properly make my way in the world. I figured finance was my best bet. But, I never let go of art-always taking a random sculpting class, or auditing a studio on color theory. Art would be there, I needed to have this under my belt moving forward.”
Returning to her artistic roots, Jillian enrolled at Parsons The New School in New York City for an intensive 2 year graduate study in art and design. Prior to opening a full time studio, Jillian enjoyed a robust career in corporate interiors as an in house design director for a leading global textiles manufacturer.
Marrying both her love of business and passion for design.
Coloringwheelz rolled out in 2018 with the goal of taking the wall the next level- literally. Pulling from her varied backgrounds in art and design, the airy @Coloringwheelz studio opened in Gramercy Park, NYC employing a multifaceted approach to creating a myriad of textural visually stimulating moments on bold wood panels. Vibrant colors, mounds of paint, glitter, crystals and even money encapsulated in layers of liquid plastic evoke an urge to reach out and touch the glassy sheets of dotted paint. An intention the artist hopes to pull out of every viewer.
Jillian keeps one foot in the interiors world, often consulting on government design projects (think jails to performing arts centers)
and has overseen more than a handful of full home renovation projects.
After cutting her teeth in New York City and wrapping her last major construction gig, Jillian returned to the sunshine state opening Coloringwheelz in vibrant Miami, FL. While she still maintains a strong presence in New York and The Hamptons, Jillian is excited to be back by the sea where her heart belongs!
You can find Jillian enjoying her studio in “The City Beautiful,” Coral Gables, with her fluffy studio sidekicks, Chewie and Yoda.
Check out Jillian and her adventures in all things design, construction, and Bernedoodle (her furry studio mascots) on instagram @coloringwheelz or at coloringwheelz.com
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