Jaqueline Chan, the woman behind Whimsy Milieu

Here at Orange City Life, we love meeting people with a passion for what they do, whether it is art, woodwork, knitting, sport — whatever activity it is that brings you joy.

A lot of you out there may be finding yourselves with a bit more time on your hands at the moment — maybe time to get around to that passion project you’ve always wanted to work on but couldn’t enough hours in the day.

So, to inspire you, we thought we’d take a look at how others are finding creative ways to fill in their down time.

This week, we caught up with local designer, maker and illustrator Jaqueline Chan, the woman behind Whimsy Milieu.

How did you come to work here in Orange?

I am originally from Malaysia. I came to Australia 16 years ago for my tertiary studies in Sydney, and then moved to Orange 8 years ago, because my then boyfriend (now-husband) found a job here. Honestly, I hated it at first because it wasn’t my choice to move, but have fallen in love with Orange since!

Have you always worked in the creative field?

In my past life, I was an engineer — again, not really my choice, but long story — and I went back to university to study Design because I didn’t want to be doing something I dislike for the rest of my life. I have always been crafty and artistic as a kid and dreamt of becoming either a graphic designer or an architect when I was in high school, so I decided to pursue the creative life.

What is it you enjoy about drawing, painting, and making?

I love it when I get into the flow, where I’m just totally immersed in the work. I’m creating and forget about things that are bothering me or stressing me out.

You seem to have a diverse range of creative pursuits from jewellery making to illustrating and design work, has that always been the case or have your interests changed and developed over the years?

I get bored easily — maybe that’s why I seem to gravitate towards different things at once or jump from one to another quickly. That’s a coincidental part of the reason why my brand is called ‘Whimsy Milieu’ – the ‘Whimsy’ doesn’t just mean whimsical, but it’s also because I like doing things on a whim.

So, given the opportunity, what new pursuits would like to learn or try?

There are so many things on that list in my mind – from learning new languages to new musical instruments… There is just so little time — even with this lockdown :) — especially because I have a clingy toddler who doesn’t sleep. I like trying and learning new things because as I’ve mentioned before, I get bored easily… and I guess I’m just greedy and want to experience all the things that I like!

How did you go about turn your creative interest into a job?

When I was studying Design at uni, it was always my goal to have my own business further down the road. I had to move to Orange soon after I finished my Design course, and I couldn’t find a creative job in town so I decided to set up my own., I was working on Whimsy Milieu full-time before I had my baby. Nowadays it’s more like sneaking in a few minutes here and there, and at night.

Would you recommend that others who might be thinking about following their creative passions take that leap?

Definitely – because you only live once! I feel that it’s everyone’s nature to be creative. Doing something creative not only makes you happy; it also makes others happy when they see something awesome that you’ve created.

It’s definitely not a bed of roses – as with any other businesses, there’s always the less fun side of it. I think it’s best to not put too much focus on wanting to earn a certain amount of money in a certain amount of time, as that will just put too much pressure on you being creative to the point that you might end up hating it.

Do you have any artistic goals or dreams?

Yes – so many. I’ll list a few – paint a mural, illustrate a children’s book, and collaborate with my favourite stationery brand ‘Bespoke Letterpress’.

You can find Jaqui’s work on Instagram @whimsymilieu