Jasmine Olsons colorful hand-drawn floral images inside Maines silhouette extolling the way life should be. (Photo courtesy Jasmine Olson)
Nobleboro native Jasmine Olson said she has “always liked to draw, (and) create random things.” She is inspired by the Maine imagery she has seen her whole life, the state’s natural flora and fauna. As a youth, Olson took classes at Waterfall Arts and the Round Top Center for the Arts. However, in her college years a lack of self confidence kept Olson from pursuing further arts education.
Olson continued to doodle. Her mother, Mary Olson, liked the drawings and asked Olson to make a set of personal note cards. When the cards were complete, Olson thought the Maine-inspired flower illustrations might be a natural fit for something she loved: stickers. She merged her own initials with her mother’s and created JOMO Stickers.
A short creative leap led to the subtitle “Joy of Missing Out.” Whereas many people her age fear missing out, Olson celebrates “the thing about Maine we all love … people come here to be chill and miss out on things.”
Late last summer, Olson began peddling her palm-sized sticky back decorations in local stores. A recently-completed coaching program had finally empowered her to embrace her potential and invest in her artistic talent.
Olson had quick success – her work can be found in shops from Freeport to Bar Harbor, including Round Pond’s Granite Hall, Boothbay Harbor’s Smiling Cow, Pemaquid’s Seagull Shop, Jefferson Market and General Store, and more. Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops carries her stickers at stores statewide. The chain sold out of their initial run and has already reordered: Olson’s doodles help pay her bills.
Jasmine Olsons whimsical animal sticker takes the shape of a chicken with the note “my pet made my breakfast. (Photo courtesy Jasmine Olson)
Olson draws by hand, sometimes with markers and sometimes digitally on her iPad with its pencil. Her most popular designs are expected crowd-pleasers: a lobster, the 1901 state flag, a moose, a puffin, the outline silhouette of Maine. A chicken with the text “my pet made my breakfast” is surprisingly popular, Olson said. She still has lots of ideas, some of them just as or even more quirky.
Olson has deep local family ties. She descends from Waldoboro’s Moody clan. Her mother, Mary Olson, and grandmother, Nancy Anne Moody Genthner, founded and ran Moody’s Gifts right next door to the iconic Moody’s Restaurant. Olson grew up learning what local and traveling customers want to buy.
This year, Olson moved into what was her grandparent’s home in Waldoboro. She found some buttons her grandfather Wayne Genthner collected while he worked in the Waldoboro button factory. One of Olson’s other artistic pursuits is jewelry; she turned the buttons into an earring collection. She transformed the Moody Genthner formal dining room into her art studio for her drawings and jewelry.
Olson works part time at Waldoboro’s Good Things Thrift and Craft Shop. Her stickers, button earrings, and polymer clay earrings are available at the shop and her Instagram page @ja7minelee. Her sticker website is jomomaine.square.site.
