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

Sherstin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes, I have been a full time artist for over 2 years now. Prior to that I worked on my art business for 4-5 years while I had a full time day job. It was exhausting at times doing both and had lots of challenges. I doubted if I would ever be able to take the leap to full time artist or if I was just wasting my time, but a voice deep down said that art was what I was meant to do. When I finally quit my day job, which was during the pandemic no less, I was actually really excited rather than scared. But it really took me a good month or two to get into the groove of working for myself. I don’t think I could have sped up the process during those 4-5 years of working on my art nights and weekends. Really I think I went at my own pace and if I had quit my job sooner it wouldn’t have worked out as well. I’m a big believer of things falling into place at the right time. There are challenges along the way, but you need to conquer those to get stronger.

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 polymer clay artist who sculpts magical and unusual floral pieces. I mainly focus on creating colorful gardens on canvas and as of this year I started a project to sculpt a rose every day based on different themes. The themes have been, objects in front of me, crystals, mushrooms, insects, outer space and spooky things. The roses can be hung on the wall and have been a massive hit! It’s something I didn’t know would work out, but I’m glad I started this project. I also sell stemmed flowers that I sculpt from clay, succulent pieces and prints of my work.

The reason I sculpt mainly floral pieces is because I was a floral designer for many years and it was very easy to translate all the knowledge of plants/flowers into sculptural work. I love experimenting with different tools and mediums with my clay pieces and have an ongoing series where I use “unusual texture tools”. Notable ones include dinosaur toys, tiny hedgehog toy, screws/nails, Ikea furniture hardware and pretty much anything that I think will create an interesting texture on clay.

I think that’s what sets my work apart from a lot of others, is that no piece is exactly the same. The texture tools I use are often random and I get a different design on the flowers each time. I usually film the process of making each piece and post it on social media, so I think it’s really cool for the buyer to see how it was made and the thought process behind it. It creates a sort of interactive experience for my customers.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I started with an Instagram account when I first started Life of a Paintbrush and at first posted just once a day or every few days. When I started researching more on how to grow my account, a lot of people suggested posting at least twice a day so I started doing that. That is when I saw my account really take off and more people seemed interested in seeing my journey. In the 2nd year of that account I started a daily challenge of painting something new each day and the following year I did another challenge of taking a photo every day. Those challenges made me grow a lot more as an artist and is what actually brought me to sculpting flowers from polymer clay. After I pivoted to polymer clay, that is where I saw the most growth and have been posting pretty much daily ever since I started IG. I do take days off though! It’s important to give yourself a break from social media or else the numbers will consume you. Then when I saw TikTok getting popular in 2019 I made an account, which really caused me to grow the audience I have today.

My advice is go with the flow when it comes to social media, everything is always changing. For example photos really were “the thing” on Instagram for many years, but as of a year or so ago, video is what the algorithm really pushes. Posting consistently and at the same time every day really helps as well. Also the main thing is to have fun! Engage with your audience and create an authentic environment to share your art. I see so many artists complain that they have to “make content” now, but you’re already making art… why not film it! I don’t really see it as “content”, I see it as sharing my art and my process. Just shift how you think about posting to social media.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I have always been a fan of Gary Vee and his videos are what I watched constantly when I first started out. Also Marie Forelo’s interviews on YouTube. Josie Lewis’ Instagram page has such great advice for artists and for social media as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lifeofapaintbrush.com
• Instagram: @lifeofapaintbrush
• Other: TikTok @Lifeofapaintbrush

Image Credits
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