Portrait of An Artist

Judy's artistic journey began in a family of artistically talented people who chose conventional careers in healthcare and education. In love and faith her parents took a risk by supporting her decision to study arts at NYU. However, she still followed a more practical career path. She studied English literature and taught high school English, worked in HR, and then transitioned to raising two...

As a young girl Molly Wright found comfort in drawing and painting. While art wasn't initially considered a career option, Molly had a wonderful high school art department experience that inspired her to continue to create art even if only on the side. After a stint in the catering business and raising her children, Molly rediscovered her love for painting and began selling her work for the fi...

Whether you see Charissa’s hand molded clay or watercolor botanicals or textured canvases, you’re going to walk away with a sense of calm and serenity. This interview will leave you feeling that way too. Although she has been an artist her entire life, she chose a different career to avoid the “starving artist” life. She continued to create art in addition to working full time until so much change...

I can’t wait for you to hear Erin’s beautiful story. The constraints of raising three young children and working full time remotely during the pandemic shutdown pushed her away from her corporate job and into a new direction: embracing her passion for art. Because of her bravery in 2020, she can say today with confidence that she knows she’s doing exactly what she was meant to do with her life. Er...

Laura didn’t set out to become a professional artist, but a knee surgery and a trip to France gave her the clarity and bravery she needed to embrace her creativity with confidence. What began as a humble endeavor in 2016, with cats playfully leaping into her paints in an upstairs bedroom, has blossomed into something remarkable. Today, Laura proudly operates her own studio. Her artwork is a vibran...

Saron knew she wanted to create ceramics for a long time, it was just a matter of getting there. Creating pottery and all the accessories that come along with it isn’t the cheapest practice, so she waited t go all in until she was fully confident!  Enter Pablo from Spain, a co-worker she met at a local bakery. He mentioned to her that he was a potter (with a manual wheel, no les) and she asked him...

Sarah Jane Tart hasn’t always lived on the coast of North Carolina, but she’s always been inspired by the coastal landscape. Imagine her surprise when her husband got offered a job in Wilmington and they got to move to a place of endless painting inspiration! Sarah is best know for her coastal marshes but she’s branched out into quite a few other {colorful} subjects as well! I’m so impressed by he...

If I could choose one phrase to describe Sali Swalla, it’s radiant kindness. I had the privilege of meeting her in her backyard studio in LA last year and she was just as warm and inviting as she is on social media. Sali is a self-taught artist and has been painting professionally for 13 years. She is deeply inspired by Eastern culture, especially by her time in Japan. Her mother was from Japan so...

Stephie Jones has one of those cataclysmic book-worthy stories that landed her full-force into her art career. In short, she almost died and that experience left an indelible mark on her. As she began to scan through the regrets in her life, the one that kept blinking the brightest was that she hadn’t given her all to her art. That was several years ago now and I’m happy to report that her art car...

One of Lacey Hennesey’s Instagram accounts is called @lacey_does and that’s because if she doesn’t know how to do something, she figures it out on her own and does it. She is an unabashed student of what she calls YouTube University and her desire to learn new + efficient techniques, especially for painting murals, runs deep. Lacey is my first muralist on the show, and her days are chock-full of c...

Valerie is a Manhattan-based artist who paints out of her apartment on the Upper West Side. So as you can imagine, when Covid hit, she faced a major dilemma. Stay in the apartment with her kids home in tight quarters or pick up and move (temporarily) to the North Carolina coast? I think you can guess which one she picked and this new location + season became the backdrop of her transformation from...

When an artist starts a series called “Her smash is not my failure” to highlight the success of other female artists, you probably already have an inkling of what kind of person she is. Eden Flora is as endearing as they come and if you scroll her Instagram account for any amount of time, you’ll definitely want to be her friend. She’s as whimsical + colorful as her art, but that doesn’t mean she d...

"Art allows you to access your soul," is only one of the many thoughtful snippets from my conversation with New Orleans-based artist, Virginia Candler. I enjoyed talking with her so much because we have a similar take on what happens when you’re moved by a piece of art and how that experience can tell you more about yourself. She’s also living in the city that makes me want to write poet...

If you’ve been watching Meghan’s journey for the last couple of years, you know that it’s been fast + furious. Her brightly-colored abstracts have become so popular that her monthly collections sell out in minutes. Pairing her collections with pop culture references (think: Hamilton and Legally Blonde) has been one of her signature marketing moves and a genius way to add connection points to her a...

Kim Hassold is my inaugural guest and if you know Kim from Instagram, you’ve definitely laughed out loud a few times. Not only is she an amazing artist, she has a carefree attitude that instantly makes you want to be her friend. From her spin on the dude with the cardboard sign (“Tell your rich friends about my art business.”) to her photoshopped memes with Rihanna, her content is always "giv...