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

Morai, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Earning a full-time livable income with my art was a shock for me in the beginning. As artists, it’s not uncommon to hear the stigma of being a “starving artist”. I had just quit my almost 10 year career with a company shortly after I had the courage to step out on faith with my art. I had done my first art show (Pancakes and Booze) and made $500 in that one night. Now that might not sound like much, but making $500 that fast and for something that I loved to do was unfathomable to my subconscious belief that you couldn’t be successful doing art. That was only the beginning to the start of being a full-time artist.

Soon after I began searching for more art shows to participate in by looking on Facebook groups and inquiring through other artists that I had met at previous art shows. I had my fair share of experiencing poorly coordinated art shows, as well as very prestigious ones. The experiences helped me choose more selectively for future shows.

One of the major steps that helped increase my profits were selling prints of my artwork. As an artist who paints large scale, I was limited to the amount of pieces I could showcase based on space, and most people may not be able to afford originals. Art prints are super accessible and affordable, making it an easy sell for people to be able to still get their hands on your work for a more affordable price. This changed the game for me, and is the reason why I was able to earn a full-time living.

I don’t think I would have been able to speed up the process per say. A lot of my success came from connecting with other artists and being present in the community for access to some of the prestigious events I had been a part of.

Morai, 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 Morai Elise, an independent fine artist, illustrator, and animator. My work focuses on uplifting generations to come by creating art and illustrations representing the beauty and strength that is inspired by my community. I was very fortunate to be blessed with the natural gift of creation. I am a self taught artist with no formal training, and have been drawing and creating since as early as six years old, where my mother would encourage me and challenge my skills in the home.
I am the owner of Morai Art Studios, where I provide an array of abstract portrait artworks for homes, and own the ever growing brand, Lil Sista Gurls™️, a brand that uplifts and facilitates positive self views to young girls of color by providing self love activity books, journals, card games, and more!

My driving force of creation is to really leave a positive impact behind that canbetter the upcoming generations. I use my gift to inspire, teach, and create positivity that the world really needs right now.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After I had quit my career to pursue my art full time, I was ecstatic that I had a whole year booked with auctions, live paintings, and art shows. You canimagine how devastated I was when Covid shut the world down, which in turn resulted in the cancellation of all my events for that year. My anxiety crept it’s way up and soon I fell into a depression. I had no idea how I was going to generate an income when I couldn’t even get out in the world to showcase my art.
I unintentionally pivoted my business, when I one day decided to bring out my ipad to create characters. This was something I loved to do as a child, and thought it was something that would uplift my spirits.
Well, it soon turned into Lil Sista Gurls ™️. A brand I created of characters that represented young girls of color that would instill positive affirmations and facilitate healthy views of their self image.
I began using my intermediate animation skills to make cute positive videos on Instagram. It then turned into self love coloring books, journals, backpacks, and more.
I ended up being a partner with multiple stores across the country who wanted to carry the brand, and have also been represented on the local news. This pivot was something I didn’t expect. It was something I wanted to do for young girls, because Iin my adolescent years I had dealt with depression and poor self views of myself.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Anything I create is only to help uplift. I put love and intention into all of my art and work. I find that creating inspiration through my art fuels me the most when I see how much impact it has on my community. That is priceless. As I venture into more success with my art, I would love to build a facility for young future artist where they can showcase their work, take art classes, and rent studio space. That is the bigger goal that I will be accomplishing next.

Contact Info:

• Website: Moraiartstudios.com
• Instagram: @locsiren
• Other: Linker.ee/locsiren

Image Credits
Mk Smith