The road to fulltime artist - Part 2
Becoming a full-time artist has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I lived in Whitianga for several more years and spent my spare time painting, mostly trees, birds and beach scenes, which I found inspiration for in the natural beauty of my surroundings.
I followed love in 2017, and moved to the Waikato. I started a new teaching job in Cambridge, and once again my art took a back seat (other than within the classroom!) as I adjusted to my new life. It wasn't until a colleague asked me to draw her son's dog that I rediscovered my love for art. I agreed to the request and found that I actually really enjoyed the process of creating something for someone else!
Nothing else happened for about a year to be honest, until the SAME colleague asked if I could draw another dog for her! If I remember correctly, I was pregnant with my first born at the time. I agreed of course, and this lead to a bit of passive advertising in the staffroom and a few more commissions from colleagues. This sparked a new interest in commission work, and while on maternity leave I began to take on more requests from friends and family. As my confidence grew, I started sharing my work on social media and received positive feedback from others. At this time, my commissions were purely pencil. My technique improved through all of the practise I was getting and I was starting to see that this might be…something!
To start getting more work, I advertised on my local community pages and this was a fantastic way to get my name out to local clients. I STILL use this method as a primary mode of marketing and I have to say, a lot of people recognise me in my hometown now which is both amazingly humbling and crazy!
After finishing my maternity leave for my first born, I returned to part time teaching at my school in Cambridge. I worked 2-4 days a week which was a perfect amount to then be supplemented by my ‘wee hobby’.
Being already 35 by now, we didn't leave it too long before trying for number 2 and in 2021 I was back on maternity leave and trying to survive with a daughter full of reflux and dietary problems. Needless to say, not much drawing was done for the next 8 months!
Eventually though, things settled down. I went back to work for only 2 days this time so I actually NEEDED my drawing income to lift my wage high enough to pay the bills!
In part 3, I’ll share as much as I can about how I made that happen :)
If you’ve made it this far, thanks so much for reading. Leave me a comment to let me know if you enjoyed it, or if you have any questions!
Thank you!