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

Terry, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

First, I’d like to say many people may think talent is the main ingredient for success in the creative industry, especially for visual artists. Yes, some talent or even that ‘artistic eye’ is fantastic for a person to have, but it’s just the start of a foundation you must build upon.
I have learned the hard way, you have to add in perseverance, patience, and some mad determination.
In my own career, I have learned that I have to ‘stick it out – through the rough times, the artist’s blocks, the seasons of no-sales, and even the super-busy, stressful times of show seasons. There have been many times, even in my last year, I have questioned if I was doing the right thing with my life and if I should throw in the towel. The truth is – if you want it bad enough, it’s your true calling, your soul’s passion, you just have to hang tough in there.
Ah, patience – something I did not have when I was just jumping out the gate. I tell every young budding artist and every emerging artist I meet, please have patience – patience with your art career, the art world, and most of all, yourself. Most likely, you won’t be an overnight sensation and well-renowned right away for your artwork. I have been plucking away through the chaos of life at this art thing for years, and my name is just getting out there to be recognized, at least in my area of the Cape Fear region. Learn to be patient with the art world. Another truth – your art may not be for everyone who views it. Give the art world time to cycle through, learning your art and style, and believe me, your collectors will find you; you must remember to be patient and wait til the right people find you. Most of all, you must have patience with yourself. You won’t be able to learn everything about the art universe, the business, and who you are as an artist right away. It once again took me years to learn these things, and I am still learning something new as an artist and business woman constantly.
You most definitely have to have some fierce determination! Again, when you are stressed, tired, having no sales, feeling down – just keep going. Yes, by all means, take a breather, a pause if you need to! Once that break ends, however, get up and work it up. As the great Picasso said, “Inspiration exists; it must find you working.

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

I have always been an artist; a skilled one, no, absolutely not – that came with lots of time and even more practice.
I started out as a painter in acrylics because that’s the only medium I was truly comfortable with – thanks to help from my amazing high-school teacher, Mr. Terry Rosenfelder, who was one of my biggest influences in my art journey.
As years and years passed by and I finally became a full-time artist, I joined an awesome local group of artists, the Urban Sketchers of Wilmington. I didn’t want to lug around acrylic paints, an easel, etc, and quite frankly, acrylics aren’t the best medium to use in the heat of a Carolina August because they dry up so quickly. I bought my first set of watercolors and fell in love thatthe medium. As I grew and got to know these talented artists more, I learned many new tips and tricks – like how to add lines from a pen to your watercolors. That special duo then became my passion and obsession; I just love the softness of watercolors with the hard crispness of lines from a pen. I use this medium combo in almost all of my artwork, now including my illustrations.
The new children’s book I just illustrated, “Everybody Stinks” written by my friend, Craig Jones, was all done with watercolors and various pens.
This brings me to a new chapter in my career – illustrating children’s books. I fell in love with it right away, and hopefully, this book, now available on Amazon, will be the first of many in my future.
As for what I call my “regular, daily art”, I do have a philosophy about it – well, at least about my price points in general. In my studio and on my website, I offer all sizes of originals and prints for purchase because I want everyone to know what it is to enjoy a piece of artwork in your home. I want that single mom to be able to afford a piece of original art, even on her minimum wage – that’s very important to me because I was one for a long time and know I could have never afforded an original (although I may have wanted one badly). I want that new, young couple or college kid on a budget to be able to afford a piece of happy art in their lives if they want it. I also would like that elderly gentleman on a fixed income to be able to purchase that painting he had been eyeing for a while. Everyone who desires should be able to afford a piece of beautiful artwork to brighten their lives and maybe whisk them away to a special place or that moment in time, captured in time by an artist’s hands. That means a lot to me as an artist.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

To answer this, I’d like to touch on two of the most rewarding aspects of being an artist and illustrator.

Art has always been the one consistent thing that has helped me learn to flow with the ups and downs of my life. It helps me tap into my emotions, actually feel through them instead of pushing them down, and then begin to process them.

Of course, the most rewarding part of being an artist is the possibility of bringing a smile to someone’s face. Whether it’s a simple hand-painted Christmas ornament that reminds one of a childhood long ago, a commissioned piece of art that preserves one’s beloved face forever in paint, or a child’s giggle over the little woodland creatures I artistically created to go along with the endearing story in Craig’s new children’s book. That is the biggest reward of all – making people happy with a piece of my art.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

It’s sometimes an emotional roller-coaster and a heck of a lot of work goes on behind the scenes, or as I like to call it, “behind the canvas”.
Like I said earlier, art helps me tap into my emotions. I struggle with long-term depression, general anxiety, and get easily overwhelmed with stress, so at times, those emotions can be tumultuous and like an angry ocean. I have to walk away from a piece simply because of that confrontation that I can’t handle at the time. At other times, there’s absolute joy because I am so blessed to be doing this as a full-time career and I get to help make the world just a little bit prettier, even if it’s just for a moment.
Maybe to some, being an artist looks easy and glamorous. Let me be the first to say that it is not easy and you have to hustle hard behind the canvas. Show season, when all the big art shows are happening – which is usually between spring and fall around here – is a crazy, mad dash to get pieces done to enter into the sometimes numerous shows. You want to try to do that because it is one of the things that helps get your artwork and name out there, I was trying to do that last year, along with illustrating a book, so it was pure chaos for me at times!
The process of creating a piece and getting it show-ready alone can be intense. In my creative process, I first bounce around an idea in my head that was inspired by a scene, a person, a place, or even a color palette. I then do some preliminary sketches, usually in pencil, shade in the different values – all before I even commit to that canvas or watercolor paper. Sometimes, this process can take quite a while, weeks even. Once it is executed on paper or canvas, then comes the super-fun part of framing and adding the proper hardware on the back. As mainly a watercolor and ink artist, that would include the extra step of cutting a mat, THEN framing and adding all the proper hardware. If you are doing it for a solo show, and you have 20 pieces to do in a row, it can become quite frustrating and time-consuming. Then comes wrapping and transporting. Once again, if it’s for a solo show, and you have to wrap, pack, and transport more than 10 pieces, it can be very time-consuming and honestly, at times, back-breaking.
In this day and age, don’t forget to add in the time spent marketing! After spending an entire day in the studio, I sometimes go home and work on my online presence through social media, emails, etc, until late in the night. I joke that I work more hours now as a self-employed artist than I ever did in my former career as a pharmacy technician in our local hospital. It can get pretty hectic and stressful. I think a lot of artists would agree that all we want to do is just go in our studios, and paint pretty art, and not have to deal with the business/marketing side of it at all! I know personally, my brain isn’t wired that way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.terryganeystudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terryganeystudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terryganeystudio
• Other: TheArtworks in downtown Wilmington, NC, where my studio is located, along with over 50 other local artists.
  https://www.theartworks.co/