We were lucky to catch up with Amelia Kaiser recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amelia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I am lucky to have a mom who is highly creative. She shared basic artistic concepts with me (including color theory, perspective, and more) at an early age. Initially, my art was born from following my natural curiosity and playing with different materials. I then moved to formal instruction in middle school through university. These classes exposed me to different mediums. My university foundations art courses included pottery, wood block and linoleum carving, screen printing, oil painting, and more. But I always found myself returning to acrylics and watercolors.

Along with taking classes, I tried lots of different things with my art! In high school I painted murals, designed business logos, sold my work at farmers markets and exhibited paintings at local art festivals. These were great exposure to different ways of making art a career, and they taught me about what I did and did not enjoy spending my time on.

Many of the opportunities above – along with most of my commissioned works and creative collaborations since – have come through word of mouth. Simply saying aloud, clearly and frequently, that I am an artist and I’m looking for creative projects, makes all the difference. Even if you have a “day job” it is vital to make sure those around you know you are an artist and that you’re open to work. Otherwise, you don’t know what opportunities might be walking right past you!

There have been a handful of times in my “adult” art career that I have invested in classes or retreats that have helped level up my art skills and/or business acumen. These have included a retreat focused on creative work at an intersection with the outdoors industry and the Camp Thundercraft retreat put on by Urban Craft Uprising. I took a personal artist retreat at the Sou’wester on the Washington Coast in 2019 (I’m still selling prints of work I made that week 5+ years later!) Currently, I am working on a Nature Journaling Instructors’ certification through the Wild Wonder Foundation. Each of these experiences has offered me three-fold benefit:

1) Creative inspiration! Gathering with other artists always gives me fresh ideas for my own work.

2) Growing my network! I have amazing friends engaged in creative work who I can bounce ideas off of or ask for advice. Many are connections I made through classes and retreats.

3) Accountability. I’ve found that committing some money and time to self-growth in my art business makes a huge difference for me. It’s easy for me to “kick the can down the road” and not actually do something I want to in the day to day of my hectic life. But the time dedicated to a course or retreat ensures I focus.

My last note has to do with finding a personal style. To this, I say follow your heart. There is a lot about having a creative business that is just that – BUSINESS. It isn’t particularly heartfelt. When you sit down to the actual making of your work, that is where I hope you truly love what you do.

For myself, I had to wrestle with the belief that I needed to have one very narrow “style” (subject matter and media) that I stuck to over time in order to have success as an artist. The seed of this idea was planted by an artist mentor I had when I was very young. It took a couple of decades to learn this isn’t necessarily true. I like working in different media, and I enjoy switching up my subject matter. I’ve come to embrace this as a strength. I enjoy commissioned work, and my skill in several media, styles, and subject matter give me a real edge when it comes to helping someone bring their vision for a special painting to life.

In summary, I recommend that fellow creatives do the following to grow their skills:

1) Own and SAY OUT LOUD that you are an artist
2) Try new things and take classes
2) Form relationships with fellow artists
3) Engage in retreats and focused creative time
4) Follow whatever media and subject matter brings you joy

Happy creating to you all!

Amelia, 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 am an artist who creates commissioned paintings, original works, murals, and more! Left to my own devices, my work usually reflects my natural surroundings. Growing up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, this includes a lot of mountains and water views. It’s my goal to share the peace and wonder I find in the outdoors through my work. Whenever I can, I enjoy painting outdoors, and sometimes offer classes for “plein air” (outdoor) painting and nature journaling. I enjoy working with clients to capture a special vision through art (often commemorating an important life moment, like a move, marriage, or birth of a child). I bring diverse artistic skills to my work, and my professional background in nonprofit communications is my secret weapon!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Simply commit to paying artists for their work. Here’s a pet peeve of mine for an example:

It is still fairly common for a call for artists for a mural project to require applicants to include a design / drawing with their initial application. If an artist is not selected for the project, they will never be paid for the time they spent on this design.

A better approach is to ask applicants to provide their qualifications; resume, images of past work, references, etc. From these applications, the selection committee chooses finalists who are each paid a stipend to develop a design for the project. A finalist is chosen from these designs.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As I’m filling this out, my husband and I are in the middle of a big pivot! We had moved to Minnesota primarily for a job for him. The town we were in was wonderful, with a great creative community. I connected with a number of artists, and with only a part-time day job and low real estate costs, I was able to dedicate time and rent a studio space for the first time in my life. This seemed like a dream situation, but, unfortunately, my husband’s job didn’t pan out. We were also missing our family back in Washington state, where we grew up. So we are making the leap to move back to Washington.

While I will no longer have a dedicated studio outside of my home and will have to work more “day job” hours again, there are some unique opportunities for my art where we are headed. I already have a mural project lined up for a few months after the move, and the area we will be living will be excellent for offering hike and paint classes, which is something I have wanted to do more of.

I could mope about what I’m losing with this move. And I am trying to give myself the space to grieve those losses. But I am also focusing on the new opportunities made possible by the change.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ameliakaiser.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amelia_kaiser_art/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100035498481818
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AmeliaKaiser

Image Credits

First image uploaded, showing my hands with art: Brittany Brenski