We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vanessa Pineda Fox. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vanessa below.
Alright, Vanessa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
My creative career started right out of art school as a graphic designer. But it took me a couple of decades till I decided to try to pursue painting as a means of income. Which is fine, because at an earlier stage in my life, I wasn’t ready.
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 started painting as a young adult, making things that I felt were beautiful but had a story in the brush strokes. Even though I mainly paint abstractly, there’s a message there. The story manifests itself in the visual through the color combination, words written on the surface, or simply as I was painting the artwork. Now years later, I paint, when I have something to reveal. Some emotion that is bubbling up inside of me, or that I want to express for someone out there who might be going through something. Be it happy, sad, a sense of calm, or contemplative.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I’m still pretty small in terms of how many followers I have, but recently, it’s been growing steadily. It’s not rocket science, but the more you engage with IG accounts you like and follow, the more people will look at your account and decide to follow you. And most importantly, meeting people in real life will always be helpful to growing your social media audience. We are all tiny specs of sand in this vast ocean of social media accounts out there, so the more you comment and open yourself up to making connections, the more you’ll find your people your tribe of followers.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I’ve joined four arts organizations at different times within the past year and a half. To do so all at once would have been insanity. There’s too much information out there, which is fantastic but overwhelming. I’m also listening to various podcasts and a few artpreneur books. Here are the helpful resources I’m using so far: Connected Artists Club, an online community based in London with members worldwide. I’ve learned the most with this super helpful group led by Alice Sheridan. (I could listen to her accent all day long!) In NYC, later this year, I joined Praxis Art Center, led by Brainard Carey, because its focus on grants and residencies got me thinking I could push myself to further my practice in this direction. A few podcasts I frequently listen to are Art Juice, Curator on the Go, The Inspiration Place, I Like Your Work, New Visionary Podcast, and The Create! Podcast.
Contact Info:
- Website: VanessaPinedaFox.com
- Instagram: @artbyvpf