We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Corey Mullins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Corey below.

Corey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Growing up, I was always interested in painting, creating art, and expressing myself, however, it wasn’t until I returned to finish my college degree at the age of 24 that I committed, I was always a straight A student and near the top of my class. I graduated high school early with over a 4.0 GPA, ranked tenth in my graduating class, and was awarded an academic scholarship to a private Methodist university. I actually didn’t want to go to college at that time, but I followed suit to make my parents happy. I still had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up nor did I know what I wanted to study, but I did know I wanted to take art. Before college, I was always in as many art classes as was possible, my parents gifted private painting lessons with well-known local artists to me for Christmas and birthdays, and I when I was younger I always did summer art camps. My freshman year of college I took art classes, but I was officially a religion major, so my art classes were just electives. I still enjoyed them but it was no longer my main focus. I thought I needed to be more realistic and find a more financially liable focus so I could survive as an adult in the “real” world. Although my parents always encouraged art as a hobby, it was never presented as a viable option as a career. After my freshman year of college I didn’t take art classes anymore. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do, but art seemed like something I did just for fun in my spare time. I spent 3 years at 3 different colleges with many majors until at 21 I decided I should stop wasting my money at universities. A few years later I decided I was ready to go back to school and knew I was going to study art and build a career as an artist. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this, but my mind had been made up. I loved art, and after all, I should pay to take the classes I’m actually passionate about to do the thing I love.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In 2012 I graduated with my Bachelor of Fine Art and began working as a full time artist. I painted commissions, taught painting classes participated in group shows and exhibits, as well as had a few solo exhibits until mid 2015. In late 2015 my focus and location changed and I began painting murals and creating art installations with a company based out of Austin, Texas. Until mid 2018, I worked as their lead artist traveling throughout Texas and Louisiana. At that point, I became more settled in Houston and began teaching painting classes and managing mobile events for a paint-and-sip company. I also began doing solo mural projects again and participating in pop-up events around Houston to sell my canvas paintings and prints. Since Covid began, my main focus has been murals. I travel around Texas creating residential and commercial murals for a wide variety of clients and companies. I work closely with my residential clients to create designs for their special spaces that enhance their living and entertainment areas. When a client has a vision, we work together to make it come to life. We collaborate on the design until we come up with the perfect piece of art. It’s very rewarding to create art for residential clients that I know will bring them joy when they see it. Some of the projects I’ve painted include cartoon characters in nurseries and game rooms, floral murals in bedrooms and bathrooms, geometric designs on accent walls, tropical plants around a pool area, colorful abstract walls, created faux wood walls and garage doors, and used stencils to create paintings that look like wallpaper. Painting for commercial companies is generally quite different, especially if it’s a franchise. With this type of work I sometimes have to recreate images and signage exactly as it was drawn by another person. I love working free-hand, but a lot of times this type of work requires other processes to ensure the perfect product. My main goal is to leave my clients happy with artwork that will bring joy. I’m most proud of being able to effectively communicate with my client until I can create handmade art that my clients loves. My company provides one of a kind paintings, designs, faux finishes, and hand painted signage.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Being an artist is not a hobby, it’s a career, I think most non-creatives fail to see artists as serious business people. Sure, our work ethic or hours might be slightly “off” sometimes, but this is still serious business to us. We pour ourselves into our work no matter if it’s something we are creating in our spare time or for a client. Our work matters to us always. When you pay for our product you are buying a piece of us because art is always personal. Artists are also under valued at times because their work isn’t taken seriously like a career. Even though we’re creatives, we still have bills and families to take care of, so paying for our work isn’t going to be cheap or necessarily competitive.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing people interact with your ideas and visions as they come to life.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.coreybethstudios.com
• Instagram: @coreybethstudios
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pg/CoreyBethArt/posts/
• Youtube: Corey Beth Studios