Bio
Jessica Pope was lucky enough to grow up in a family full of craftsmen. From a young age, she sewed quilts with her grandmother and learned to crochet and knit from her great-grandmother. The men in her family were woodworkers and tinkerers, always building something and taking something else apart. Her mother, a painter and assemblage artist, taught her how to repurpose old things and give them a new life. Originally from Boise, Idaho, she made her way to the Savannah College of Art & Design in 2001 where she honed her inherited love of craft while studying Fibers and Printmaking.
At SCAD, she fell in love with the process of bookbinding and started making journals using covers of vintage books. “The repetition of cutting and folding paper, punching holes and sewing books is simple and beautiful. I tend to be a bit obsessive so doing the same thing repeatedly is comforting to me. What’s amazing is that each book is completely different, even though the materials are the same. The covers I choose are all gently used and completely unique, so each one takes on a personality of its own as the book comes together.”
Her brand, Good Grand Great Wonderful, includes handmade personal accessories and home décor products.
“I like old trends and traditions, like the bow tie. In Idaho, where I’m from, no one would wear a bow tie, but down here in Savannah, they are a wardrobe staple. I curate fabrics with quirky or non-traditional patterns that can be worn by men or women. I always find commenting on someone’s wardrobe is the easiest way to start a conversation so I set out to make ties people will want to ask about.”
In 2019, Jessica created a body of work for Boxed In/Break Out, an installation at the Jepson Museum. As the chosen artist, she created large-scale quilts created out of tissue paper, Kodachrome slides and various ephemera. Her final pieces created the series “Folklore” which centered around the imagery found in the slides. Each quilt highlighted a different chapter in the life of one family. The series is now permanently installed at Savannah’s Learning Center. The experience gave Jessica the confidence to create more fine art and mixed media pieces.
Jessica has been featured in Vogue Magazine, on HGTV’s “That’s Clever”, and she was a featured guest on Martha Stewart Radio. Her work can be found in local galleries and boutiques around the Low Country.
Jessica lives in Savannah, Georgia with her wife, writer Chela Gutierrez.
A Legacy of Craft
