Influential Woman · Freelance illustration and art
Jade Watring
Freelance Artist & Illustrator, She will add later
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Her Story
About Jade
Jade Watring is a freelance illustrator and artist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She attended the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and was hired directly into a role as a textile designer at Kohl's, where she worked for 14 years until being laid off in 2025 due to downsizing. Since then, she has focused on freelance illustration work, including portraits and animals rendered in lush colors, with a particular interest in children's book illustration. Among her achievements, she created the cover art for the 2020 Milwaukee Film Fest. She also serves as an art tutor for elementary children through the Young Rembrandts Association. Jade attributes her success to the support of her parents and values authenticity in her creative work. She advises aspiring artists to balance humility and confidence.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jade
01What do you attribute your success to?
I am so fortunate to have good parents, good supportive parents, like, even when I went, I told them them, like, I want to go into art school. They didn't make the starving artist comments, they were like, okay, we will help you to do that.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Tom told me, like a really, like, a good nugget of wisdom. He was like, don't get offended by constructive criticism, or, like, even criticism, like take it in, and, like, hear what the other person's saying. You might disagree, and you might get offended. Like, don't get upset by it, like, take it in. And… You know, build from it.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would advise them to somehow, like, to find a balance between being humble and being confident. I think that's, like, a good magical place, almost, to, like, find, is, like, that balance between, like, don't be so full of yourself that you… that it comes off as, like, oh, like, this person's like, I don't know, like, I… like, you don't want to you, like, seemed like you were all that into yourself, or like, that you're like, oh, I'm so great, but you also wanted to See, I've fallen into the other trap as well, where it's like, oh, like, you're too down on yourself, and you downplay too much, and you need to have confidence.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The advent of AI is probably one of my biggest challenges. Because there are so many people out there who I think now, like, will never pay for art, because they were like, oh, I could just do it for, like, easily on the AI. And, I, I don't know where it's Gonna go, but I, I just have, negative feelings, I guess, overall. Like, I don't mind it, the idea of it getting used for reference, but I really, really don't like the idea of it, like, taking Creativity from people who want to create.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My, like, a big one of mine is, is, authenticity, and that, like, kind of. It goes into like, my displeasure at the AI stuff, because I feel like, especially with creative work, I feel like you want to feel like it's authentically human-made, I feel like. Because otherwise, it just feels like… I don't know, like, vac… like, empty.
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