Written By: Jennifer Rose O’Shay a.k.a J.R.O’Shay, MAED.
As a young girl, I spent many days exercising the depths of my imagination. With a ton of energy and spirit, I would engage in plays that took me on adventures across the world. This was my escape from reality.
My name is Jennifer O’Shay. I am an Early Head Start Teacher at Starfish Family Services. I have my master’s degree in early childhood education and School Leadership in the 21st Century. I have dedicated most of the past 17 years to building my career in Early Childhood Education. I am also a multi-media artist and work in photography, writing, illustrating (with a variety of materials), crochet, face painting, and… whatever I want to try.
My background is full of a lot of childhood trauma and negativity. Many of my family members were plagued with mental health illness and addiction. When I was around 3 years of age, my father became a victim of the drug pandemic taking over society during the early 80s. In an escape to safety, my mother packed what she could and left the country with my older brother and me. At 3 years old, we made a traumatic middle of the night escape to Canada to seek refuge with my maternal side of my family.
In the years ahead, my mother worked vigorously to provide us with a safe home. In this home, I could utilize my imagination and discover new ways to grow and learn. I loved to teach and would develop new ways of sharing what I loved with others. My creative abilities allowed me a space where I could escape. I began writing stories, tales and poems reflecting my childhood experiences, and the experiences I would hope to gain. I would illustrate images and attempt to sell them to my neighbors for 50 cents. As I began to identify myself, I made connections with my family’s rich history of art and creativity.
Over the years of my childhood and teenage years, I would take heed to any opportunity that would allow me to express my creativity. Being an artist became influential in how I expressed and identified myself. As I made those connections to my family history, I identified a family full of creativity and artistry. My grandfather was a stained glassman in Ontario and other parts of Canada. I was creating elaborate stained-glass windows that still are visible today. My grandmother taught us how to crochet, sew, and knit. My mother fueled those passions through continuous opportunities to develop them. These factors all would play major roles in the artist I am today.
After 5 years of incarceration, my father began his recovery process to work through his trauma and challenges. He began recovering his relationship with us, his family. In 1995, my mother, brother and I returned to the United States to live with my father. The upcoming teenage years were very challenging for me. I survived most of high school until August of 1999, 2 weeks before my Senior year, when my father passed away from chronic illness. Once again, my life shifted. I spent the next few years wandering. Trying to identify myself in this challenging world. I had little to no guidance now. I had my first daughter at the age of 21, and became a Head Start parent in 2006.
In 2006, I began my career in Early Childhood and the Head Start program. My colleagues and peers began to take notice of my creative abilities and encouraged me to become a children’s book author and illustrator. I had little confidence in myself. Although, I would often develop different materials for our program allowing me to be creative and manifest a variety of visions. Things took a dramatic turn in March of 2020, as the entire nation and world shut down for the pandemic.
The pandemic kept me inside and afraid of the outdoors. I related to trauma that was built within me from my childhood and some I acquired while battling breast cancer years before. Fueled by a great deal of fear and anxiety, I channeled my energy in a variety of ways during this time and I was inspired to utilize my spare time to create! I began utilizing art as a therapeutic strategy for managing and maintaining myself through challenging times.
In the fall of 2020, I was inspired to self-publish my first children’s book. During the pandemic, I was teaching preschool age via Zoom, and it stretched my ability to be an educator. I was embodying my inner Sesame Street character. I was reaching for creative ways to capture children’s interest and maintain it during Zoom while meeting those necessary developmental milestones.
For one lesson, I had the children draw a picture of an adventure and share it during class. I gave the illustration for homework and allowed the students to share their stories at our next class meet-up. During class, the students could, if applicable, share a story through speech or written text based on their illustration. I was so inspired by one of my students’ stories, that I translated it into a children’s book, James and the Giant Jump.
James’ and the Giant Jump is about a young boy who goes sledding with his little sister on a big hill. The story takes a wild turn, and the illustrations match. I chose illustrations that reflected the rich language shared by the child. The story is told in a simple tone in hopes of inspiring other children to dream of adventure and express their creativity. As an educator, I was able to translate creative arts and artistic expression through digital media and the students made strong connections to language and literacy. I am still in awe of those moments during such a challenging time.
Since James and the Giant Jump, I have worked with various authors and creators within the community on a variety of different platforms. I have published another story and illustrated a few more. I also have many waiting to be developed. Being a children’s book artist has been an adventure within itself. Artistic expression and creative writing have countlessly given me a platform to escape, transform, express, and become someone or something new. I love sharing it with others and always hope to inspire children within early childhood to express their true selves and explore a world outside their own. I have continuously utilized creative arts as a therapeutic resource to manage stress and become more self-aware. Over time, I hope to gain and establish more key strategies for utilizing creative expression to provide other people and myself with a fundamental tool to better their mental health.
For more information on Jennifer you can follow her on social media at:
Facebook: J.R. O’Shay Creative Arts and Photography
Instagram: @jro_creates
Or direct purchase from Amazon:
James and the Giant Jump https://a.co/d/bS5rUwS
Chloe and the Magic Bubble https://a.co/d/3b6I4GB