jane
building designer.
crib point, victoria, australia
portalis.design
Jane Tilley is pursuing a building design career part-time, loving the process of honing her craft as she slowly takes on more work. She maintains a casual position at Rare Hare winery, and is establishing her own business, Portalis.
Jane settles into the workspace she shares with her daughter, Lucy (also a designer), and her cat, Minnie. It’s a bright space filled with objects from family, artwork, books, building plans, and pencils (Jane’s favorite tool). Having recently finished a degree in building design, Jane is thrilled to learn and practice her craft any way she can. Right now she’s working on plans for a local builder, home extensions, and drafting plans for a friend who recently lost her home in the Mallacoota, Victoria bushfires. The plans for this home are particularly interesting; Jane's designing a home to be fire resistant and sustainable, while staying true to the design tastes and ideas of her friend. I felt so inspired talking to Jane; she's a testament of what it means to truly love your work. After reading her story, you'll want to find the passion that contains your soul, too.
listen to the voice in your head that won’t go away.
In the 80’s, Jane worked with a group of architects in Mallacoota who designed sustainable homes. She was so inspired by this work, she asked them to teach her, and they agreed. During this time Jane gave birth to her daughter Lucy, and then decided to pursue a career in hospitality, working as a chef and front/back of house management. “I was in hospitality for a very long time. After about 30 years of doing that, it started to feel a bit like Groundhog Day. I’ve always been artistic, I’ve loved drawing and lettering and how things go together. I always had that thing ticking over in the back of my mind, from doing drafting all those years ago.”
"when you’re doing something you love,
you’ll know it"
embrace the challenge and go after what you want.
She followed the thought in her mind and decided to try her hand at a six month course in AutoCAD. “I absolutely loved it. I thought, yeah, I can do this! I enrolled in a part-time course, but then decided to finish it off full-time. I had to juggle that with working to support myself. I had to push through for two years.” Jane admits it was a bit daunting, getting older and starting a new career, but she embraced the challenge. “I’m the sort of person who walks into a challenge, without thinking about it too much. I think, I’m going to have a really good go at this. If I get to the end of two years, I haven’t wasted anything. I’ve met some good people and learned some new skills. And there’s a lot more support out there than you think there’s going to be. The people in my class were really supportive of one another.”
you know you love something when it doesn’t feel like work.
“As I was approaching my 50’s, I wanted to do something else with my life. I love the idea of being in a studio. Time just goes. I absolutely love it. And it doesn’t feel like work. It feels like I’m enjoying myself.” Jane knows what she wants to do with her career in building design. “The thing that really kicked me into this was thinking about how I was going to live for the rest of my life, and where I was going to live.” She’s noticed a gap in good housing options for people as they age. Rather than large or expensive housing options, she wants to design homes that people can afford, made of sustainable materials. Jane's also created a niche for herself in a male-dominated industry. Drawing up plans for spaces, she often works with women who appreciate the fact that she is also a woman, which makes her far less intimidating. “I can understand their point of view and I don’t 'mansplain' things to them.”
"stay true to your own creativity"
finding your soul in creative passion.
Jane's found a way to weave her many interests into her creative work: she’s a self-professed building designer, musician, chef, foodie, and traveller. “It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, of all the things that fit together and make me happy. I listen to music while I’m working. At the end of the day, I make a beautiful meal. I’m doing all the things I want to do.” Jane recalls participating in group design work during her course and feeling tempted to come up with a “normal” design. She challenged herself to design something different, unexpected, creative. The design earned rave reviews from her fellow students. Her wisdom is gold: “Stay true to your own creativity. It will be different to anyone else’s. When you’re doing something you love, you’ll know it. You’ll lose time over it. Follow your heart. You might have doubts about whether you’re doing the right thing, or whether you’re the right person to do it, or whether you’re going to come up against someone who is better than you, or if you’re the wrong age, shape, size. Doesn’t matter. Just do it anyway. You’ll figure out all that’s wrong, and you’re just as good as they are. Following your creative passion is going to have your soul in it, and it will connect with people. If the places I design have a bit of that, I’ll be happy.”
