We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexa Thibeault a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alexa, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I’d like to state that I am and have always been happy being an artist/creative person. That has always been my armour; something I’m good at and proud of. I chose this question however because I do have a “normal” job. I currently work as a housekeeper in a retirement building and before that I was a housekeeper/laundry worker in a hospital.

Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out how to make my passions a full time job. I don’t understand how to market myself nor how to make a consistent income off of my art to be able to live comfortably in this day and age. It is not an easy task so I have a huge respect to the artists out there who have figured it out for themselves. From my personal experience I need to have a “normal” job to have some form of income even though it’s not very much. The world today is an expensive one and I understand art is a luxury.

So, to conclude my answer; yes I am happy to be an artist. But, there are days where it can feel defeating and soul crushing.

Alexa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For anyone who doesn’t know who I am – I am Alexa Thibeault (pronounced T-Bow). I am from a small Northern town called Hazelton in British Columbia, Canada. I fell in love with photography at the age of 7 years ago when I discovered my mom’s intensive collection of National Geographic magazines and I wanted to capture stunning photos like the ones in said magazines. By the age of 8 I had been gifted a small pink digital camera, one of those classic early 2000’s cameras.

I’ve been taking photographs for about 17 years now and during that time I’ve taught myself everything I know and understand about photography. I will admit there is still so much to learn about it because cameras are always advancing and changing. But, my specific style of photography is portrait. Self portrait photography for the most part but portrait photography is what I enjoy doing most. I don’t know how I would describe my style of portrait photography as it seems to always have a different aesthetic when I get around to editing. Everyone has their own stories and energy it’s hard to hold the same aesthetic through my photography. I know I’m constantly changing so of course that’s going to reflect in my artwork. I also prefer being immersed in nature for my self portraits or portrait sessions! I love working with natural lighting (gloomy days are the best days in my opinion). There’s nothing like being by the river or amongst the trees to capture a moment in time.

I’d say one of my proudest moments as a photographer is always seeing my clients light up during their photo sessions as well as hearing how genuinely happy they are with the final product once they’ve received their photos. I’ve capturing photos for high school graduates for the past 10 years and it never gets old seeing how happy they are to be having their moment captured. It’s always a big deal for me, too, because of the fact they chose me to capture these moments for them. It’s always an honour to be the one to help make sure the client is feeling comfortable, confident and heard. These factors help you capture those raw moments of a person where they’re not hiding their emotions or using that one not so flattering smile we’ve all had when someone is taking a photo of us. I’m the one who may not being getting hired to take photos every weekend but I am the one who is asked when it’s something important. And every time I pull out my camera I just hope I’m doing even better than the last.

With my self portraits I’ve been able to express myself through different periods of my life, being creative in a way that I don’t think very many people would typically expect from a photo session. Art is a way for us creatives to process and get our thoughts, feelings, moments in time, a version of ourselves we wish we could be more often or maybe a version of ourselves we aren’t huge fans of. But, at the end of the day – photography is art and I think it’s important. We all need something to look back on.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

From my personal experience with meeting non-creative people is the fact that there are things they aren’t going to understand; not just about art – but about you.

For me art needs time. Lots of time. You need time to commit to growing, learning and gaining more skills in your art medium. It is a muscle that needs to be exercised to improve and maintain. Having talent is one thing but it’s the work that follows that makes you great. There are always going to be periods where you lose the spark for it though. Those periods are dark because there’s a feeling of fear and hopelessness. You’re sad for not feeling inspired or motivated. Sometimes I’ve felt like giving up on art altogether but I know deep down that’s not true and I have to work through this chapter to get to the next. That may look like rest for some, that may look like making really bad art for others. What’s been frustrating is not feeling seen or understood for these ever changing phases. Being an artist is exhausting but so rewarding as well. I know I’d rather work at my art 12 hours a day instead of going to a job 8 hours a day everyday. Not everyone is going to get that; and that’s okay. But, making said artist feel bad for feeling things or seeing things differently doesn’t help.

It might just be me and my complicated brain but I always feel like I need time to give to my craft. I find it really hard to go to my normal job and come home afterwards and want to make art. I don’t feel creative, I don’t feel inspired, I don’t have the energy and I don’t have the time. I still need to be a present partner to my spouse, I need to check in on my loved ones, I have a home to clean & maintain and a cat to play with and make sure they’re happy. Life happens. I have a hard time giving my all to both at the same time and it’s hard to express that.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Coming from a small town in the North full of other amazing artists, intelligent individuals and the most breathtaking nature I’ve ever seen that I hope is forever protected on Gitxsan Territory – the most rewarding aspect of being an artist for me has to be: connection.

Feeling a connection with your art can mean different things to different creatives. For me it means connecting with myself; connecting with others and connecting with nature.

Coming from a community being able to see so many talented First Nations artists and their works I was amazing by their arts beauty and the way it tells stories. The respect they have for their land and everything in nature. The connections made with the art within the community. It’s powerful. It’s meaningful. I myself am non-native but I love having nature as my focus in my artwork. Art can take you places you never thought and help you meet people who are absolute gifts in this life. While meeting these people and experiencing life through art – I’ve learned a lot about myself in that process and I think having that connection with myself will forever be one of the most important of all.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/alexatartistry

Image Credits
All images shown are my own photographs that I have captured within the last 5 years. These photos include self portraits as well as two portraits of two close friends of mine.