Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rika Hauserman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Rika, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I did actually have quite a few non-creatively oriented jobs in the past. I have a degree in Biology and pursued veterinary medicine for a few years, as well as spending a few more as an office administrator. While I’m grateful for the stability those jobs provided, I’m now able to define my own processes, methods, and standards. And while “setting your own hours” is actually often “working at all hours”, allowing my artistic motivation to flow has helped me create in satisfying and fulfilling ways.

Rika, 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?

I’m Rika, a nerdy artist currently living in Northwest Florida. My love of art is strongly tied to my love of characters and storytelling, so my inspiration quite often revolves around pop-culture and nerdy subjects. I’ve been drawing ever since I was a child, and never really stopped, despite first pursuing a drastically different education and early career in biology. When life’s twists and turns gave me the opportunity to pursue art full time, however, I couldn’t pass it up. I figured that if I would be making art anyway, I may as well commit to strengthening my skill and being paid for creating. I’m a self-taught artist, and try to add a new challenge with each new art piece or design I make. Seeing my improvement through this kind of enjoyable effort is very satisfying.
The enthusiasm and joyfulness of geekdom fuels most of my creative endeavors. I primarily create digital illustrations that I sell at pop-culture conventions and art markets as prints, posters, stickers, keychains, etc. I’ve enjoyed working with nerdy clients for commissions as well, such as drawing D&D character portraits, designing convention mascots and illustrations, and I even helped create a few custom pinball machine designs.
My guiding drive and creative motivation is to express my passion for the stories and characters I love and to connect with fellow fans who love them too.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I have had to reframe my views on my own artistic capabilities quite considerably, especially when moving to making art as my profession. There’s a phenomenon that most creative people experience, which radio host Ira Glass coined as “The Gap”. Creatives are drawn to create because they have a keen eye and good taste. Unfortunately, as a beginner, there is a vast gap between one’s skills and what that keen eye feels should be there. This good taste is essential to have, but only those who put in the intense work to close the gap will make it in a professional capacity. I had to start looking at my art with this in mind in order to overcome my inner “perfectionist with good taste”. I began seeing each piece as a learning experience, and tried to forgive myself if my skills weren’t able to produce what I originally had in mind. Not every drawing needs to be a masterpiece; you can let the drawing just be itself. And no matter what, it will be another step to narrowing the gap.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Doing art professionally is actually a huge pivot in my life itself. As a kid, I originally wanted to be a veterinarian. I love animals, thrived in my science classes, and even got a bachelor’s degree in Biology. But the idea of getting into vet school, let alone getting a doctorate was too daunting for me. Still, I found a start in veterinary medical technology. This career was cut short after a big life shift that involved me moving a thousand miles from where I grew up, and I ended up in office administration for a few years. Nevertheless, throughout all of this, I was making art. It wasn’t consistent, it wasn’t grand, but I could never stop drawing, painting, or just creating. My hobby of cosplay got my foot in the door to participate in local pop-culture conventions, and I started including my art pieces alongside my cosplay displays. Over time, I had more and more art to share and sell, and I now participate in art markets and nerd cons throughout the area.
I attribute a lot of my unique capability to this weird combination of a scientific, process-driven mindset and an expressive, artistic drive to create.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://petalwingstudio.com/
• Instagram: @petalwing_studio
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/PetalwingStudio/