Today we’d like to introduce you to Lea K. Tawd

Hi Lea, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

My path as an artist has a lot of starting points that I could talk about and go as far back as childhood. But what feels most relevant to me at this point in my life and in my career are the compounded tragedies of the pandemic and losing my husband just as it started to feel like the pandemic might be over.

In 2020, ironically, I had the most productive and the most profitable year in my art business I had ever had before. Being stuck at home with my kindergardener and my husband drastically restricted how many hours I was able to work. My side jobs all ended. But I had a couple of hours a day to myself and I think the limited time made me so hyper-focused on my work that I was able to accomplish way more than I had before. I also found a great network of people to help support my work.

Then on December 31st, 2021, my husband died suddenly. I was thrust into a life that I had not expected. I had been a single mom raising my oldest and now I was not just a single mom, but completely alone. I was (am) grieving and I was not able to find the motivation that I needed to work for myself. I took a sabbatical from my art for about 18 months. I still painted, but just for myself. I also started writing again (something I did when I was younger) and singing, looking for new and different expressions of my voice.

I am still coming out of that. Grief never ends but it transforms as much as it is transformative. My work is changing and I am curious to see where it takes me. The way I work business-wise is changing as well as I learn to protect my time and take care of myself and my kids above all else.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

It has not been a smooth road but an ever-changing one. I am extremely privileged in that, at this point in my life, I have a little financial wiggle room so that I can make decisions based on what I want and need rather than just feeding the hustle-machine.

There have been, and continue to be a lot of struggles. One of them was how to find the energy to create art through grief and what my business would like when I was able to start it back up again. I had built up so much momentum and success over the years that it feels really overwhelming to have lost it and to try to come back from that loss. It feels a lot like starting all over again.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I am an artist, author, and Reiki (RAY-key) master/teacher. I make heart-centered, spiritual artwork that explores the divine feminine and is infused with healing energy. My current body of work is also an exploration of grief and aging. Lately I have been offering grief workshops that combine art and reiki healing.

I think the thing I’m most proud of is sticking with this path throughout the years. I got my BA in art in 2002, when my oldest child was 2 years old, and really started my career in 2006. I was a single mom with him for 10 years and I had a million reasons to stop trying to be an artist. I’m a solo mom now and a widow reaching middle age and have a million more reasons to stop. But art is a part of who I am and I can’t imagine my life without it. It’s part of my identity: it’s how I move through the world, it’s part of how I parent and express myself, how I relate to others and connect to something bigger than myself.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?

Networking sounds so cringy when you are an introverted artist like me. I think of men in suits giving out business cards and talking at you. But networking can be so valuable if you think about it as building relationships instead. Just be yourself and listen and share and offer what you can to the room that you’re in.

I get really anxious with people that I don’t know, so that can get in the way of listening. I try to take notes as soon as I meet someone so that I can remember what they said and reach out to them again. I like to collect emails instead of giving out cards so that I can send a thank you instead of just waiting and hoping they’ll contact me.

The other advice I have is to find a group of peers that you can be a part of. I have a great network right now that I joined last year. Alyson Stanfield is an art business coach and I have learned tons from her over the years. Joining one of her programs gives me ongoing access to learning as well as a wide group of other artists that I can connect with for questions, conversations and collaborations as well as inspiration and accountability.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.leaktawd.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/LeaKTawdArtist
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/LeaKTawdArtist
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@LeaKTawdArtist

Image Credits

Lea K. Tawd