Artist battles 'monsters' while creating them on canvas

Five years ago, Jamie Koala was in a place darker than the skulls and morbid landscapes she has painted for heavy metal bands, such as “Lamb of God.”

Koala had earned her associate degree and was off to college at Illinois State University in Normal. There, she was besieged with flu-like symptoms and extreme dizziness that eventually had her crumpled on the floor, her hand on the wall because she needed to stop spinning.

“I was just throwing up nothing. I hadn't eaten in three days,” Koala recalled. “We didn't know what was happening. It was really bad.”

Fast forward to present day, and Koala can be found nestled in her studio, touching up paintings, corresponding online with clients and customers alike, and launching her latest wardrobe line for her business, Koala Art and Design.

Koala started her business at 16, designing layouts for bands on Myspace.com. A few years later, she expanded it to a clothing company.

One of Koala's skull designs recently was tapped for the back of a T-shirt sold on the “Lamb of God” winter tour, including the band's swing through Chicago. Koala stopped making band art designs years ago, but made an exception after being contacted by Lamb of God's guitarist Mark Morton.

“I honestly only came out of retirement to work for them because I thought it was cool,” Koala said, noting she creates dark art pieces because they intrigue her. “Some people are turned off by skulls and demonic dragons. Stuff that scares me, sometimes I paint that.”

A message left with Lamb of God's publicist seeking comment from the band was not returned. Koala said the band usually will give her a theme — such as religious war, crime/justice, or simply guns and skulls.

“They like symmetry,” she said, noting many times she will turn in a design and Morton will like it, but add a caveat such as “more guns.”

Dealing with 'monsters'

Koala's parents picked her up and brought her back from ISU, but she spent months on bed rest while her parents took her to more than nine doctors and tried out a half dozen different medications.

Finally, they had Koala's diagnosis of two neurological disorders: spatial disorder and migraine associated vertigo.

“It's two different things. They're both monsters,” Koala said. “I'm a perfect case of it because it matures as you get older.”

One key was to identify triggers that stimulate the disorders. It can be something as simple as loud noises or even a wallpaper pattern that will overstimulate Koala. She also must eat a diet that is low sodium and avoid processed foods. She can't go to a restaurant during at peak hours; concerts and loud movies are out.

Koala compares the triggers to her disorders to rising water in pool. When the water gets high, she must step back and probably take a nap to reset the water level. Otherwise, she can be dealing with debilitating symptoms for days.

“If you can keep yourself above water, you're good,” Koala said. “It's harder to come back from 'drowning.'”

Last October, Koala went to a dark art charity show to help raise money to fight cancer. A personal appearance would be routine for most people, but Koala said it was a process to get ready for an environment that inevitably triggered her disorders and left her feeling ill long afterward.

“It's a trade off. If it's worth it, you gotta do it,” she said. “I'll suck it up. If I'm going to be sick for a day and a half to help cancer patients, I'll do it. I've missed a lot of funerals. I've missed a lot of weddings.”

Koala credits her parents, Vince and Traci, for being supportive of her goals, encouraging her to nurture her talent and abilities.

“I wanted to do anything artistic and they always made it available,” Koala said. “When I got out of school, I was going to do this business no matter what. My passion also is business, and business is definitely what I do more than art. People think I just paint all day.”

Koala said business usually booms from November through January. but also spikes when she releases a new line. Depending on the month, she gets between 200 and 500 orders, but many of those are for multiple pieces in a shipment. Koala contracts with a firm that sews her dresses, skirts and other items.

“Three years ago, I was sewing 30 dresses a day just to keep up. I could not do that again. That's way too many dresses,” she said.

Something to fight for

Traci commended her daughter for her courage and said the business was a glimmer of hope when Koala's disorders first hit.

“There's good days and bad days. On bad days, she can't do anything. This business helped her through it. It gave her something to put her energy into and fight for and concentrate on besides being sick,” Traci said. “She just learned to deal with it. It will never go away. People don't understand invisible illnesses. They think just because you look good everything is fine.”

Traci, who also is a muralist, said she introduced her daughter to art at a young age. Koala quickly surpassed her mom and awes her today with her techniques, such as layering color upon color to get just the right texture for faces, for example.

“I started her early and she just picked it up. Her talent just expanded past me. She is just so good,” Traci said. “Most artists in high school go through a dark art phase. She just figured out how to make money on it. She does all kinds of stuff, but that's what's selling.”

Big things in store

Koala, who also does photography, models and markets her work and business, has impressed Michael James, owner of Skywriter T-shirts in Glen Ellyn.

James, who has worked with Koala since 2008, said she would create a design and then it was up to James to use his ink jet printing to transfer the designs to T-shirts. James also prints Koala's designs and patterns onto fabric, which Koala sends to a manufacturer to sew.

“I see big things for her in the future. She's very very talented. She's driven. She's going to do something big,” James said. “In the beginning (her disorders) were really devastating. She didn't know what was going on. She's able to cope with it and carry on.”

James cited Koala's attention to detail and having control over products she represents.

“She's unique as an artist because she does everything,” James said. “She realizes it's a business and her artistic talents need to be promoted. There's artists out there with the same business acumen as her, but not at such a young age.”

Bernadette Von Drachenberg, a model from Westchester, has worked with Koala for about four years.

Von Drachenberg praised Koala not only for her design acumen and professionalism, but willingness to go the extra mile for customer satisfaction.

“Her company, as well as her art work, are like her children,” Von Drachenberg said. “She always outdoes herself and surprises the world with her creativity. Though she's been doing this for some time now, she's going to grow and be a brighter inspiration to us all. Jamie Koala is wonderful and the whole world needs to know why.”