How to Have a Career and be a Military Spouse/Partner - Gill's Story

Welcome to How to Have a Career and be a Military Spouse / Partner, our series where we talk to real military spouses / partners about their career path and how they got to where they are now, along with any valuable advice along the way. If you want to tell your story (which can be anon) please contact rachel@militarycoworking.uk

Please introduce yourself!

Hello! I’m Gillian Jones (generally known as Gill). I’m an artist and I live in Portsmouth. I have been a military spouse for 21 years, and a spouse for 25 years!

What did you want to be when you were a child and what did you study at college / university?

What didn’t I want to be? I went through many ideas from archeologist to zoologist. I ended up studying manufacturing engineering at university. The way things are made fascinates me and manufacturing engineering is quite a multi-disciplinary subject so I studied everything from ergonomics to materials science. I then went on to do a PhD looking at how small companies introduce new products.

At what point did you realise your plan would have to deviate, and how did that make you feel?

My plan deviated due to health issues rather than specifically due to me being a military spouse. I was in the Royal Navy and left when I had my first child. I then had a fun few years jumping around in muddy puddles with two small boys. As the boys grew up I decided to train as a secondary school teacher and embarked on “School Centred Initial Teacher Training” which was similar to a PGCE but everything was done in school. I loved it and am still proud of the maths lesson I wrote which was entirely based around Lego Marvel figures. Sadly my health had other ideas and the asthma I had recently developed became unmanageable. It turns out secondary schools are just one big asthma trigger! It was a really difficult time and I felt incredibly lost and unsettled. Not only was I dealing with a sudden and dramatic change in my health, I had also lost the future I had envisaged for myself.

How did you get to where you are now?

I have always had an interest in art and design. I studied Design at A level and was a keen watercolour painter. I also often designed (usually for research teams at University for the payment of pints of cider) logos and website graphics using Photoshop. I started playing around with digital art as a hobby. Gradually I developed a style and more and more people who saw the work suggested I started selling it. That was the start of Gillian Jones Designs, my military art business. It has now been 13 years and the business is still going strong! In that 13 years I have presented one of my pictures to Princess Anne, been asked to design the formal gift to be given on a Carrier Strike Group deployment, donated £1000s to RNRMC, posted artwork all over the world and generally had a pretty good time!

How do you feel like military life has impacted your career?

We made the decision when our boys were little that we would stay in one place. Because my husband is in the Royal Navy we are allowed to designate a “home port” and retain a quarter there even if he is posted away. This has given me and the boys stability which has been invaluable in managing my health and their schooling. Obviously it also means that my husband is sometimes working away in the week. That is definitely not my favourite thing and, particularly now the boys are much older and independent, it can get quite lonely working from home. That is where organisations like MCN come in; they give you a network and a friendship group.

What does a typical working day look like for you?

I am not an early riser! My health issues mean I have limited energy so I tend to work from about midday until about 5pm. I work from my home studio (I have stolen one of the bedrooms!). Most of my military artwork is digital so I spend part of the day creating bespoke artwork or new designs on the computer. I also do a bit of general admin, but I try to leave most of that to Hannah (my very able assistant!). All my pictures are printed, framed and dispatched by my partner company in Cambridgeshire. We used to do all the printing and framing in house, but it all just became a bit overwhelming!

At the moment I am endeavouring to spend more time creating physical art. My aim is that my business will gradually move away from digital art and into art made by (my) hand. The advent of generative AI has made digital art seem less appealing. I am currently studying printmaking and learning lots of new techniques. I try and spend some time every day being creative away from the computer.

Do you have any advice for other military spouses / partners that you wish you’d been told?

Find your people. I found Milspo and later the MCN, and these organisations and the link they have given me to other military spouses has been invaluable. At times when my health is playing up and I am rarely able to go out, having a world of friends and colleagues in my computer is a wonderful thing.

How can we find your work?

My website: www.gillianjonesdesigns.com

My military art Instagram: instagram.com/gillianjonesdesigns

My experimental art Instagram: instagram.com/gillianjonesartist