We were lucky to catch up with Vanessa Villarreal recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vanessa, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

The decision to pursue art professionally came to me pretty recently (seven months ago) after experiencing my mental health rapidly declining as a result of juggling graduate school and a very demanding job. As a result of being a student and full-time employee, I did not have the time nor energy to create, putting my creativity and small business on the back burner which absolutely pained me. In an effort to bring LDC back for a moment, I decided to participate at a local market to sell the few items that I had left from months before and to my surprise, it was a success. Despite it being a tiring market experience, for the first time in a while I felt a sense of joy and a fulfillment doing what I love, sharing my art, and witnessing it being so well received my so many people in my community. Less than a month later, I resigned from my job, took a leave of absence from graduate school after completing my first semester, and took the biggest leap of faith in my life, taking on Lion’s Den Creative LLC full-time.

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

My name is Vanessa Villarreal and I am a 23-years-old visual artist residing in Washington, D.C. For as long as I can remember, I have been experimenting with different mediums of art, tapping into and developing my personal realm of artistic ability. In 2018, while studying at the University of Florida, I was inspired to finally test the waters and pick up a paint brush, paint, and a pair of thrifted jeans. Merging my love for sustainable fashion and visual arts, I carried myself away, discovering and refining a relatively new skill, escape, and form of expression.
What was a simple experiment grew into a passion to encourage and awaken the artistic spirit that lies within all of us, myself included. With nothing but my faith, paint, and a growing collection of denim, I started Lion’s Den Creative in hopes of contributing to the expression of God’s creation through the visual arts while promoting Earth conscious shopping. Our current market is oversaturated with unsustainable and/or unethically made, “trendy” pieces that lack quality and uniqueness. With LDC, I aim to challenge that, breathing new life into high-quality vintage/pre-loved denim through my creativity.
I’m most proud of my collaborations with Lee Jeans and feature in the Marie Claire September 2020 Issue as well as my recent commitment to get out of my comfort-zone and take steps to expand LDC and its reach.
What I want potential clients/supporters to know about my brand is that everything I create is a product of years of passion and love for creative expression and the arts, my faith, authenticity as I value transparency and staying true to myself throughout this journey of being both an artist and business owner, and commitment to being Earth conscious (although imperfect as there’s always room for growth in this arena) not only within LDC, but in my day to day life. I’d hope potential clients/my supporters recognize that they are a huge part of not just a business, but a journey as this is an extension myself and creativity and an integral part my life story before it is a business to me.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being and artist to me is the freedom that comes with it and the ability to bring my imagination in to life. Being able to freely create what I want with no boundaries, bringing the concepts I think of/imagine into a tangible, visible work of art always fills me with so much gratitude to be able to do what I love everyday. Not only this, but to be able to inspire others and allow people to create a story through my art that resonates with them and speaks to their own experiences, feelings, etc. reminds me that my art can be bigger than myself and can expand beyond the four walls that they were created in.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

What I believe society can do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem is to invest what they can into the artists/ creatives around them and/or the art that resonates with you. Whether it’s investing monetarily (buying art) or even taking a few seconds to share art you enjoy with people in your social circles, any supportive action can greatly contribute to the circulation of art in society and keep art alive in your community and society. I think it’s also important to recognize the value of art and its influence in society; without art there would essentially be nothing to unify our society and keep the things that make up our society and cultures alive (imagine a world without music, dancing, visual arts, etc.). When we do this, we won’t question why an artist prices their art the way they do. There is so much time, money, creativity, oftentimes challenges, and energy among other things that goes into making art.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lionsdencreative.com
• Instagram: @lionsdencreative
• Facebook: @lionsdencreative
• Other: Tik Tok & Pinterest: @lionsdencreative