Jennifer Bouron is a French illustrator and print designer. We love how she balanced her playful artwork for Flirty’s Secret Garden with her sophisticated color palette, which is at home with any decor. Her adorable little creatures and whimsical flowers are filled with personality that really draws you into the art. She also designed her artwork that illustrates our Good, Clean and Fun pages. Be sure to follow Jennifer on instagram@jeninuferu to see more of her artwork.

We asked Jennifer about becoming an artist, what influences her creativity and her thoughts on the environment.

Flirty:  What do you love the most about being an artist?
Jennifer:  I love to be able to work on different projects with different people. It can be a bit scary because I never know what is going to be the next project, but it’s also exciting and so nice to discover new brands, new books… Another thing I love about being an artist is that I’m free to manage my schedule and work whenever and wherever I want! 
Flirty:  What was your path to becoming one? 
Jennifer:  I studied fashion design because that’s what I’ve always wanted to be. After my studies, I worked for a kidswear company in the Netherlands. It was great because I was drawing the clothes, but also the prints, and the knitwear! I enjoyed it a lot, but at the same time, I realized that what I liked the most was drawing the prints and illustrations, and not the clothes anymore. That’s how I decided to become a freelance illustrator. 
Flirty:  How did you make the transition?
Jennifer:  I created an Instagram account, and started to post one new drawing per day. It took a while to start getting projects, but after months I was able to leave my job and become a full time illustrator. 
Flirty:  How would you describe your style?
Jennifer:  It’s always hard to describe my own style, but I would say it is a bit naive, inspired by nature and daily life. I also like to work with a limited color palette.  99% of the time it includes pink. I like pink because it goes with every other color, and it  makes me relax and feel happy. 
Flirty:  What influences your creativity? 
Jennifer:  My mood can influence my creativity, if I’m tired, I would have more difficulties to be inspired or to work. On the contrary, if I slept well the day before, the sun is shining outside, I would have a lot of ideas! 
Flirty:  Do you have a creative process? What is it? 
Jennifer:  To be honest, not really. I never have a clear idea of what I’m going to draw, I just open a blank page and start drawing, I erase and restart until I found something nice. I start with an outline sketch, and then I choose the colors and start to redraw the sketch with the colors. 
Flirty:  What is your favorite medium to work in?
Jennifer:  I love working on iPad, either on Procreate or Adobe Fresco, both are amazing. I also like to paint on paper, I haven’t for so long but it’s so peaceful and relaxing to paint, it’s like a meditation. 
Flirty:  What do you hope your art does for people? What do you hope they see in your art?
Jennifer:  I often ask myself this question, and I think the answer would be, I just hope it can make them happy and smile.
Flirty:  Favorite outdoor activity? Why?
Jennifer:   I love to walk on the beach or to draw/read/listen to podcasts in the garden. My favorite places are botanical gardens—I love to be surrounded by plants, it’s very peaceful. 
Flirty:  Is there something in nature that inspires your work?
Jennifer:  So many things! Especially plants and animals. I love to look at the shapes of the leaves, see their textures, their colors…
Flirty:  Do you ever work outside?
Jennifer:  At the moment it’s a bit difficult, but in normal time, I sometimes like to work from a local coffee shop, it’s nice to change the atmosphere. 
Flirty:  What concerns you most about pollution? For example, plastic waste, chemicals, climate change, etc. Why?
Jennifer:  All of them! All the chemical products and plastic that are used absolutely everywhere are killing our planet and all of us. It’s terrible, but my biggest concern is that most people are blind and refuse to see the emergency of changing our habits. I know it’s impossible to be perfect but if at least we can all try to be more responsible everyday, it would already be a big change.