We recently connected with Sandy Arthur and have shared our conversation below.

Sandy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Well, I thought I didn’t want to pursue a creative path. I have been creative my entire life and thought that I wanted to pursue a career in the arts but then I realized I don’t actually like “working” as a creative for others. So I changed gears and ended up in a health and wellness field as a chiropractor. The creative followed me though and I never stopped drawing and painting.
Eventually, people in my classes saw me drawing different anatomy structures and started asking for paintings. That led to me making prints for people and eventually into selling them to more than just classmates.
From classmates to chiropractors and physical therapists at conventions, I learned that my side gig was quickly becoming more than just me doodling in my bedroom.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a chiropractor by trade, and an artist by upbringing. I grew up with a creative grandmother who always encouraged me to experiment and paint. As I got older, that age old question “what do you want to be when you grow up” weighed on me. I went to school originally for interior design. I discovered I did not love the environment. I wanted to find a career path that would help people in a way that I have been helped. And that is how I landed into being a chiropractor.

During school, I realized that there wasn’t a lot of modern chiropractic posters and artwork. It was a very niche area but it was wide open. I started with just painting watercolor spines and anatomy with more floral elements and it took off. During COVID, I started venturing into posters for more educational purposes because I had graduated and had very empty walls to fill!

Posters opened a whole new avenue for me and led to further opportunities like murals and design projects. I am most proud of how I have been able to grow and double my business into a legitimate business outside of just a side gig.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Youtube. I have always been a fan of different YouTubers but I had skipped over the idea of using it to further my business in other ways. I used it to research Pinterest marketing, SEO, instagram algorithm, how to use Procreate, how to size art for printing and so on. Be curious. Just google it. Lean into how much we have access to these days.

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?

I often talk about how I have two brains working at all times. The science and the arts. I need them both to help me balance myself out. While I strongly believe you don’t need to make a business out of your hobby, I do find that having another “thing” in your life, aka like how I am not “just” a chiropractor, but I am also an artist, has helped me balance the demands of working with people in pain every day.

You create the life that you live. I love having clients say “wait you created those?” when they look at the posters on my walls. It allows for further conversation as well and gives me more dimensions.

Also as a new grad, fresh out of school, I liked having something additional to help me pay the bills. If I wasn’t creative, I would be back bartending. I don’t ever want to feel so much pressure to bring in patients that I seem desperate.

Being a creative has given me the out. Also, I think of new ideas for the creative side every day while I’m working as a doctor. “Oh that would make a good visual” or “I could use this diagram to explain this type of injury to the client”.
People often forget how visual humans are or how much a healing and calm environment can affect the health outcomes of the patients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sandyspines.com
• Instagram: @sandyspines