Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sadie Wilson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sadie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

While my thoughts may sound contradictory here, there is a method to my madness.

Growing up in school, our creative time & spaces waned as we got older. While our backs were breaking with the literal and figurative weight of our books and expectations of learning, our minds did not have the creative spaces to exercise other parts of our brain when it needed that space the most. Most of us were using the left side of our brain when our right side was weakening. You might be thinking… “you are an artist & painter…of course you would say that”–but that’s not where it all started. I have a degree in finance with a minor in accounting. My brain leans very heavily left, so painting and spending hours in my right side can be tough yet so rewarding. I know many people would claim to not have a “creative bone in their bodies”, but I believe God created all of us with some creativity. It may not (and will not) look the same across the board, but while one person may enjoy creativity on a canvas, another may enjoy creativity in a spreadsheet, on the job site figuring logisitcs, or developing a business strategy. We all have it, and I wish we had had the space to explore it within our early & later years of education.

On the other hand, I would highly encourage artists who live in the right side of their brain to take some staple business classes. There are so many undiscovered artists because they cannot market themselves or get their books straight (or even figure out how to find someone to do it for them). They live in their studio but don’t know how to break their works into the world.

All in all, I wish that our educational system allowed for greater time & space to create and be creative for individuals that were written off so quickly. I wish that creatives were set up for more sucess, and that individuals were not pigeon-holed so quick into one or the other category. There is room for both!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am a fine artist from Charleston, SC who paints bright & bold pieces inspired by nature & Creation around me. Painting both commissed pieces for my clients and collections for my website & a local gallery alike, I spend most of my time putting acrylic paint to the canvas in my home-studio. I am also a co-founder of Piccadilly, a clothing line based out of Charlotte, along with my mother and sister-in-law. Piccadilly creates bespoke pieces specifically designed for women and children to feel effortlessly beautiful with bold & bright patterns and designs. These pieces are designed to go, not match directly, for the every day & special moments of life.

I am an artist & creative with a financial & business mind. Though sometimes I feel like I do not do either to the degree that others do, I count it as a strength! I love creating with my hands to glorifying God and share who He created me to be, but I also enjoy developing a business & growing it.

I learned how to paint and sew at a very young age…always creating and crafting whenever I had free time. As I got older, my entreprenual spirit grew as I started various companies before college. With a degree in fianance and minor in accounting, I have found myself using my degree in my day-to-day work as I manage and run both businesses since September of 2020.

I enjoy the Charleston lowcountry, as me and my husband spend many days and weekends outside fishing & hunting or just enjoying the water & God’s Creation.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

This is a great question. As a creative, I have had to unlearn that there is a “right” to the way something appears or looks. I grew up thinking everything was a bit more black and white–done or not done. When I paint, I always used to ask others if it looked done. This is not a question for others but for myself–is the creative process over yet for me and with my paint and just beginning with my client, their walls, and the room they display the piece in? If something still stands out in a way I do not want it to, its back to the easel! If not, I let it settle & usually call it done at that point.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source for me is word of mouth & referrals from previous clients. It is amazing the handful of clients I can point to that have brought me so many other clients after working with them. It is such a gift & always surprising me!

Contact Info:

• Website: sadiewilsonart.com & http://dresspiccadilly.com/
• Instagram:
  ART: https://instagram.com/sadiewilsonart?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
  PICCADILLY: https://instagram.com/dresspiccadilly?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadie-wilson-08b630b9/

Image Credits
Erin Bowman Photography
Color Creative Co.