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

Hi Summer, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

The story of how my business and brand, By Summer Delashaw, came to be is a story that has been years in the making, full of deeper purpose and mission.

For as long as I can remember, I have been an artist. I was the kid in first grade who everyone asked to draw their favorite animal on their worksheet and came home after school and all I wanted to do was draw ‘fashion girls’ with my mom. One night in high school. I was up late working on a western art piece for a rodeo contest entry and I remember hearing ‘you were created for this’, undoubtedly a word from the maker of heaven and earth, and wondered why I would ever do anything else. I remember feeling alive and full of purpose — and here we are. It is a privilege to get to steward the gift of creativity, using my hands, eyes, heart and a few materials in the process.

My dream, and the purpose in what I do, is to create not just another pretty picture on the wall or snap another posed photo, but to create a variety of beautiful work that holds meaning and brings joy to people.

Summer, 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?

My name is Summer Faith Delashaw, I am 23 years old and I am a Texas based artist and photographer! I graduated in 2023 from Baylor University with my BA Studio Art degree, and have since launched my own brand ‘By Summer Delashaw’. The three main things that I offer through my business are Original Fine Art, Commissioned art, and Photography. For my art, I create my own original artwork that I sell in a variety of places including online, in galleries, and occasional pop-ups (I was recently a vendor at Magnolia’s ‘Silobration’ event this past October!). I work with all types of mediums including oil paint, graphite (pencil), charcoal, coffee, watercolor, and just about anything else. A large portion of my day-to-day work is commissioned pieces — this is where I partner with a client to create original artwork that is fitting to their space and vision. From a sentimental small framed sketch to a multiple-piece oil painting series for an interior design project, I work with them to ensure coloring, style, and quality is all in line. I love working with people to bring their vision to life and create pieces that hold meaning. For photography, I do a variety of shoots including portraits, events, brands and fun styled shoots. I am passionate about capturing not just those perfect ‘magazine cover’ moments, but the in-between moments that bring you right back to a place and time, just as you remember it.

I think By Summer Delashaw is unique because it allows me as a creative to offer and work in multiple facets that I love and thrive in. I love that everyday looks different, and that I get to answer “Could you do something like this?” with a “Yes!” and get to work on all the different ideas that come my way. It is a gift to get to steward my creativity, curating a variety of beautiful work that holds meaning and brings joy. I hope my brand does just that.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Something that I put a lot of thought into for my career was how I was going to brand myself as an artist in order to make a creative career possible. I knew that I needed to be smart and entrepreneurial about how I planned for running my business, so that I could do my best to have a steady (as steady as it can be…) income with everything being mostly project-based and on my own time for personal work. I knew I wanted to do art as well as photography, and went back and forth if I wanted to do 2 separate businesses, start one now and do another later, or if I wanted to combine it all.

At first, when I was still in school, my instagram page was just artwork, and I enjoyed sharing what I was working on at Baylor and outside of class. Once I got more into photography, I wrestled with how to share my work, because I did not want to be inconsistent or confusing with what I do. I also wasn’t sure at the time if I was going to work somewhere for a while and do my artwork on the side, or if I wanted to just go full force into owning my own business full time!

So, a pivot that I decided to make was to brand myself as both an Artist and Photographer, rather than either doing one or the other, or pairing it with another job. I do this full time now, and do my best every day to make it clear on my social media, in conversations, etc that I offer multiple faucets of creative work.

And honestly, one of the reasons I decided on the name ‘By Summer Delashaw’ was to leave it open enough to be able to pivot in the future! I have many dreams and lots of ideas for the future, and want to be able to continue working on my business as life ebbs and flows.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think working to reach my target market and building a clear reputation is something that I will always be doing. I am 100% still in the beginning stages of reaching people and building my brand, and have a long way to go! But, from the time that I have been doing art and photography and the short time that I have owned my business, I have learned that being extremely consistent on social media, taking quality photos of my artwork upon completion, and being creative with marketing to get people excited about upcoming work has built my reputation for the people that do know about me, and has kept them coming back! And honestly, saying ‘yes’ to everything I can. High volumes of commissioned artwork and photoshoots have allowed my name to get out there as clients continue to pass my name along and share. This has expanded my portfolio as well, allowing me to have a great representation of all that I can do on my website.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bysummerdelashaw.com
• Instagram: @bysummerdelashaw