About Jill Simons - Pink Salt Riot

My name is Jill Simons, and I am the artist, designer and blogger here at Pink Salt Riot.

I am married and mommy to two busy toddlers. My Catholic faith has been my foundation my whole life, but God has lead me to a deeper faith in Him over the past few years. He has put it on my heart lately for me to use my creative talents in ministry. My passion has always been art and words, words and art, and I have found many ways to combine the two over the years, but never fully in conjunction with my faith until launching this brand in the spring of 2015. Changes we made in 2015 allow me to stay home full time now and focus on being mom and building Pink Salt Riot.

Why Pink Salt Riot?

Part of what has led me down this path is a conversation I had with my husband early in 2015. I was expressing my frustration that it felt like my only options were keeping my faith personal and not sharing much of it with the outside world and being vocal and polarizing - trying to yell louder than the other guy on social media and constantly seeming to condemn everyone around me, making people even more resistant to faith than they already may have been. My husband, as usual, cut through my dramatics and found the middle way. He told me "Jill, I think the third option is joy. You can live with the kind of joy that comes only from God, and always be prepared to explain the hope that lies within you." So that's what I'm trying to do. The life of the Church is so beautiful and rich and full of joy. Believe it or not there is more to it than stained glass and medieval art. So here is my attempt at fully and truly Catholic art made in and for the 21st century - reflecting all our current ideas about beauty while layering them together with the richness and timelessness of our incredible faith. I make what I search for - the resources I look for, the art I want for my walls, the jewelry I want to mean more than "this color goes with this other color I am wearing".

My Inspiration

I draw heavily off of the works of Pope Saint John Paul II, the pope of my childhood and coming of age. Though I never met or even saw him, he always felt like "my" pope. His Letter to Artists and Theology of the Body are the foundation of so much that I do. For those documents in particular I am eternally grateful. The lives of all the saints are so inspirational to me. I frequently feature them in my work as well, especially St. Teresa of Avila, St. Gianna Molla, and St. Maria Goretti.

I love to get to know my sisters in Christ, so feel free to drop me a line anytime! You can always reach me at hello@pinksaltriot.com.