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

Alright, Luz thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The biggest risk I’ve taken in my life is leaving the highest-paying secure job I’ve ever had at the beginning of a pandemic to follow my passion for Creating.

I grew up in an environment where art was just a hobby, nothing to make a living off of. I was always encouraged to find a “good job” with great benefits that I could move up in so that I could buy a house and be financially stable. I tried, for so many years, but I never lasted more than 3 years at any job. As soon as the excitement was over, and I’d remember that I wasn’t doing anything worthwhile with my time, that dreadful feeling of wasting my life away would set in and dragging myself back to work became a weight that grew heavier each day. It took me until my 30s to seriously consider painting as my “next thing”.

I don’t know about anyone else reading this, but I’m a firm believer that the Universe will support you when you’re aligned with your path. And that’s exactly what happened. Don’t get me wrong, it was terrifying and stressful not knowing if I’d make rent or be able to pay my car and phone on time – all necessities for me. It was difficult facing myself: learning to identify and move past my excuses for not doing better, realizing how little I actually thought of myself and learning to change that, accepting that so many things I thought to be true for so long were no longer valid. It was certainly a breaking down of everything I was in order to become someone new. And I still struggle with it all, but it tends to get easier with time.

As I continued on that path, opportunities and people showed up in my life that I would have never expected or thought of. It’s human nature to want to plan and seek out possibilities to set ourselves up for success, but the most impactful moments and connections appeared to me out of nowhere, and they still do. I realize that the more I go with the flow and trust my gut, the more the Universe gives me the tools I need to keep going. And trusting that has been a difficult lesson to learn in times of panic, but a life-changing one nonetheless.

I’m a couple of years in, taking my work as a serious source of income, and I still consider myself being in the early stages of what I want to create. The first year I relied solely on myself for income (painting murals/commissions and working deliveries in between), I matched what I made in a year at the job I left. This year I’m still maintaining, and still working side jobs where I don’t have a “boss”, but I’m also experimenting and getting to learn my Self more intimately, both creatively and personally.

Outside of doing things that I actually enjoy, I’ve learned that living life for myself and following my desires is a completely different world than that of working a 9-5 corporate job. In so many ways, I’ve gained peace that I never thought possible, and I’ll never give that up again. It’s like a fog has lifted so that I can see more clearly, and it’s important for me to inspire others to seek their own happiness so that they can experience the same. There is a new life that is possible for me that I would have never imagined, and this is only the beginning.

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?

My name is Luz Angel, aka Liight. I’m a muralist, painter, and visual artist. I started drawing at the age of 10, experimented with acrylic paint in my teens, took painting classes in my twenties, and have focused on oil painting and murals for the past 6 years. I am now incorporating wood and other materials so that I can take my paintings beyond the canvas, and I’m currently exploring repurposing furniture. My mission is to Create, with a purpose, and finding the right pieces and forms to get the messages that I’m trying to share in each piece across.

I paint interior and exterior murals, for commercial and residential spaces, that can be customized for the clients’ needs or completely creative. I offer sign painting, logos and text, basic interior and exterior painting. I also paint commissioned canvases and sell my personal work.

It’s important for me to have an open dialogue with my clients to understand what they want to accomplish and project through the work, and to offer my own creative insight on how we can make that happen. I’m available to paint logos and copy specific images that clients want, but I thrive when given a space to get personal with my clients and use that as a base to be creative.

My own personal style holds a lot of meaning – I see my art as my tool to share powerful messages and make a difference in this world. I put a lot of intention into the elements I use, their placement and colors to give an overall feeling of harmony and connection. I typically group animals, humans, and nature to encapsulate the importance of coexistence. I want to ignite the desire in people to see themselves as significant pieces on this Earth; to reflect on who they are in this lifetime and how they impact the world around them.

In your view, what can society do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

One of the first things that comes to mind is dropping the term and mindset of “the starving artist”. Society, including artists themselves, need to acknowledge and appreciate the true value of Art. It’s in everything – tv shows, books, music, websites, marketing, fashion, etc, etc, etc.

We’re in a weird in-between phase right now when it’s the “new thing” to have murals painted in hip new restaurants and live painting at events, but the same people who want the artists to attract a crowd for their own gain don’t think the artists deserve to get paid well for their time, energy, and creativity. As a society, we treasure expensive high-end brands where everything is streamlined, but don’t see the worth in paying a person who is willing to work long hour days, sometimes for weeks at a time, painting or creating something with their own hands. We forget that taking on those jobs take away from their time to make money elsewhere.

Artists offer a different way of seeing things, problem solving, entertainment, enlightenment, decor, advertisement, a door to emotional exploration, and so much more. It’s time to stop devaluing their skill, especially if you’re a business owner who can’t do those things for yourself. An art business is still a valid business – one that oftentimes takes much more effort than others who charge high prices for doing less. It’s time to pay artists what they deserve.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Art is much more than painting a pretty picture. The end result is usually what is judged, but non-creative people don’t understand the work that goes into everything.

There is art that is “simple”, but a lot of it is more complex than what’s seen. I once painted a 2-inch face for 4 and a half hours. Viewers will see how small a portrait is and think it’s easier, not realizing that one wrong small stroke can completely change a face. I’ve painted large logos on a building and wasted hours on a few words because the wind kept me from placing the decal correctly, or because I had to keep going down the lift to step back and make sure it was straight and centered just to go back up again and adjust it.

Those are only a couple of examples, but A LOT of physical energy, and even emotion and problem solving, goes into creating. And the things that look the simplest, like logos and text on a building, can be the most difficult because there is no room for error if you want it to look clean.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.liightones.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liightones/
• Other: Email: [email protected]