We were lucky to catch up with Nailah Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nailah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I first knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path professionally when I saw a beach mural in a magazine in someone’s home. Being a transplant in Atlanta, from Florida, I greatly missed the beach. I thought that if I could paint a beach mural in my in home art studio, that I could feel as if I was at the beach everyday. Then I thought, if I paint this, other people may want it or their own murals too and I could maybe charge for it.

I never got to paint my beach mural. My former husband at the time didn’t approve of the change, so I never did it and that really hurt my feelings. That’s when I realized it meant something to me and I really needed to do it. Two years ago, I moved out and got my own place and painted several murals there. Sure enough, others wanted them too after sharing mine and I finally took a leap of faith to make painting my career.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I have been painting for 20 years, however, I only began sharing my work less than 10 years ago. Once I started sharing my murals 2 years ago, I started getting work. I now paint commissioned paintings on canvas, commissioned murals and I create my own artwork to sell (and sometimes keep).

Making a photo come to life through paint on a canvas brings my clients and I both so much joy. Working with my clients to create the vision they see in their heads but can’t illustrate is such a mind blowing process and always ends in the most majestic results. Creating pieces from my heart and my collectors jumping to collect them brings everyone joy. To me, art and joy go together. And I am so grateful for that.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The answer to this question is to accept and pay artist’s prices. We work extremely hard both physically and mentally, and to be honest while the job is joyful, it is also very taxing. Yet, people think that because we are doing something we love, we shouldn’t get paid or shouldn’t get paid very much. Artists have the same bills everyone else does. Materials are expensive. Scaffolding is expensive and dangerous. Paintings take hours upon hours upon hours. And we have spent so much time perfecting and mastering our craft and are consistently coming up with ways to make it even better. Art is not just a talent, it is a skill. We require sufficient payment for that.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

This may sound silly, but spray paint! I am a brush girl but I have recently been getting to know spray paint and let me tell you, I wish I tried it sooner for murals. I am still working on perfecting it and how to properly use it, but it’s amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: iamnailahd.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/iamnailahd
• Youtube: Youtube.com/@iamnailahd

Image Credits
Photo of Nailah Smith taken by Brinson & Banks.