Meet Shea Brooking | Illustrator & Owner of Scribbles by Shea

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shea Brooking and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shea, what role has risk played in your life or career?
My first thoughts on risk come with negative connotations– what a scary leap of faith putting everything on the line to try something new! Failure and mistakes are on the rise! Ironically, this is the opposite of how I feel when taking risks in my own life. In actuality, risk is where my comfort zone is, following my intuition to where there’s an abundance of joy waiting for me. Whenever I have faced the option of staying in the comfort of the familiar, I have always chosen to try a new place, path, job, environment, etc in pursuit and in hope of fostering more support, care, and community around me; luckily, I am fortunate enough to have my family and community to support me with every risk I’ve taken so far with my art business. A little over a year ago, I dove head-first into the makers’ market/craft sale scene– a place I have missed so dearly since before the beginning of covid– and decided to leave my plant nursery job to pursue all my attention to my illustration work and freelance design. Since then, I’ve learned so many lessons on how to run a business, be a content creator, continue as a working artist, manage client work, and more. With so many new roles I’ve taken on, there has been a ripe opportunity to mistakes, which I have made many. Along the way, what softens the blow of each mistake is remembering my wellbeing and care is a priority and I’ll figure it out one way or another. Truly, I believe anywhere I have put my time, energy, love, and care was worth it, the mistakes I’ve made have built to where I am today and the connections that I have. A risk is simply an exciting opportunity to expand on all the excitement of what I want for my life and the community around me! If I can welcome an abundance of joy into my life, I can share and support those around me as well.

A direct example of frequent risk taking behavior in my art practice is my experimentation in my tabling by providing different opportunities to customers and connections to interact with my work. For example, I dabbled in caricature live art at the end of last year, inviting people to have me draw them and their pets in my style and to see the process live. I’ve also included a surprise drawing raffle for those who feel lucky with what print or art goodie they might win! The raffle eventually transitioned into one of my favorite experiementations on my table today: my mystery art prints. These mystery art prints have been a great way for people to connect with the personality of my prints and for me to introduce the feelings behind a print, all without the initial reaction of the visuals. It felt a bit counter intuitive at first, removing the visuals from something that is directly needed to experience a piece; it’s thrilling to see people follow their connection to a piece and end up with the print they were looking at all along! In its own way, I’m asking my customers/friends to take their own risk on their intuition when shopping.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always dreamed of being an artist since I was young, finding my way back to drawing after exploring various hobbies and activities to keep me busy. This innate pull to art lead me to studying graphic design in highschool and eventually college, where I attribute my knowledge of the foundational skills in design and color theory, skills I use every day in my illustrations to my market table set-up. Although my journey to present day seems one-track, I didn’t tap into my passion for illustration until I was struggling through some personal adversities during school and was searching for visual reminders of joy and gratitude I could surround myself with. This quickly became a foundational practice in my art: allowing myself to sit with my big feelings and work through them visually and with gratitude. Now, when I bring my art prints to share with others, all I hope for is meeting people similar to me, curating their space to be safe, nurturing, and motivating, and finding artwork to reflect those needs. The goal for my own space is inviting an abundance of joy which is why so many of my prints reflect an uplifting spirit. Otherwise, everything else I choose to experimentally create, like painting on tote bags or little cement plant pots, to my raffle basket and mystery prints, is created by engaging with my curiosity. When I experiment with these other deliverables, I tap into the want in me to share experiences with those I connect with. This common thread of experience curation finds it spark back when I was at CalPoly studying my minor in Event Planning & Experience Management, leading me to implementing small spark moments for people to interact with my artwork in more than a visual way. So far, the experiences I add to my artwork are smaller scale compared to the big dreams I have to create scannable art with music, more interactive mystery prints for people to test their luck, coloring books, and immersive art experiences of worlds I create. There is so much room to play!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Having my best friend in town, I would give them a mix of some Oside life and San Diego adventures. Many mornings would be spent walking down to Vigilante Coffee for my favorite chai or going downtown to Camp Coffee to grab a sweet treat and walk around the farmers market to pick up some local produce for some fresh home-cookin’. I love taking a trip down into San Diego, exploring Ocean Beach, and stopping by Voltaire to say hi to my market supporter friends at Vervor Shop or Ocean Beach Coffee & Plants. We’d stop on our way from the coast for a sunset picnic at a secret spot near Kate Sessions for those stunning 360-degree views of the city. I love spending quality time with my friends in the outdoors and through movement. Our nights would consist of queer open mics at Ultreya coffee shop or going out dancing in Hillcrest until our feet hurt. If we’re lucky, there would be a good show or band playing while they’re here for us to check out and continue our shenanigans. The whole trip would center silliness and quality time, honoring cozy, quiet time, and high-energy excursions— a good trip balances both! Realistically, I would have some work to do during their trip, and it would be an honor to bring them as my fun support person for my market, most likely to the market I frequent most, the Voltaire Art & Makers’ Walk in Ocean Beach. It would be the perfect place for them to stroll and shop for some fun reminders of their time in San Diego while supporting other small artists.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A big shoutout to all the markets who have welcomed me and my work with open arms. The artist community supports my motivation and confidence to continue with my art practice and to keep sharing it with the world. Similarly, my friends, both market neighbors and otherwise, especially support me whenever I need assistance with the small things like watching my booth, breaking down at the end of the day, or bringing me treats while I work— it all means so much to me! I work and create alone most days, so when I get the chance to be surrounded by my friends and fellow artists, my heart feels so full and I feel so lucky to be with everyone. Thank you for the love, and I’ll see you all at more markets soon!

Website: sheabrooking.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scribblesbyshea/

Other: My artwork is available on Redbubble at sheabking.redbubble.com, or on my shop through my portfolio website.