We were lucky to catch up with Amy Wetterlin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Amy, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I grew up in a household that did not celebrate holidays (except Thanksgiving) or birthdays. I didn’t have toys or anything to play with. My dad would bring home blank pads of paper from his job and give them to me, and it’s there that i learned to draw and create. I spent hours drawing. I learned to copy things first. I started with famous people. I drew the band mates from KISS in second grade and made money for candy i would get after school at the liquor store down the street from my house. Word spread fast in grade school about my drawing skills and i would always be chosen for creative – such as decorating the classroom, or painting the biggest pumpkin the school acquired for fall. I was not a mathematician, nor a reader, hated science, and not an athlete in any way but I always excelled in art classes through middle and high school. I was told by my mother that art would never get me anywhere, and to just get married. My mother said college wouldn’t get me a job and it was too expensive to go besides. I really thought i was not college material after i graduated. My fiancé urged me to apply to a local 2 year college near my home town. I was reluctant due to placement tests given when you applied, but i went for it. I started at the bottom of everything, meaning it was like starting middle school over. I learned something about myself though in pursuing more education; I loved to learn! I took art appreciation and was fascinated while the others slept through the class. I had taken drawing 101, and painting 101 where you’re taught the basic shading of the cone or ball, and painting common objects, I was in a studio setting with other artists, and it’s there that i was challenged in thinking abstractly and really creating out of my mind, rather than just copying things to draw or paint. I took every art class that school had and then some until I finished all my requirements to graduate with an Associates in Art. I then got my B.A. in Visual Communications, which was done online. That was mistake number one. I was told by someone very influential to me that I would make no money being an artist, and that graphic design was what i should shoot for. I managed to scape by with a 2.5 grade average due to the math and graphic design classes i had to take. I did not excel at graphic design. There was no studio setting, no other artists around. Just me at a computer. I was just glad to be done with school. After graduation, i could not find a graphic design job due to a poor portfolio and basically lack of skills in the different programs and software used for publications, photography and video. So I did the only thing left that i thought i could do, and that was sales, which was mistake number two. I abandoned that after 3 years of employment trying to be a charismatic numbers person. I kept failing at every endeavor that wasn’t art related. I decided to take some more studio painting classes. I started thriving as an artist and felt happy again. I went to galleries, and show openings and started to talk to local art curators. I started to LEARN again.
What could I have done to speed up the learning process? I remember a famous quote that one of our presidents said, and that was “stay the course.” I had no business doing anything other than growing as an artist. What I needed and should have been doing was LEARNING from other artists and questioning their thought processes and techniques. I found out that some of the skills you need as an artist is the ability to mingle, ask advice when you mingle and observe the work you admire with a critiquing eye.
The obstacle that stood in the way of me learning more was ME. I had a real issue with feeling like i was better or worse than other artists when I could have been learning from them instead.
My long winded answers boil down to me maturing as a person and growing my craft through that maturity. Don’t beat yourself up, but keep your pride and attitude in check. Keep drawing, painting, doing the thing you love most the very best you can, and be open to critiques. And remember, if the critique that you receive isn’t a raving review, suck it up, and keep going. Always keep going.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
The first half of my life i was making art here and there, but when i turned 50, I said to myself that i needed to get serious about my work. So, I shared some of my work on social media and I started to get folks asking if I have ever done pet portraits. I replied no but honestly i know i can! I educated my customers that I work to bring their pet’s personalities out with the use of a lot of bright colors in the fur and the background of the painting.
My creative style consists of a whimsical portrayal of their pet, with a palette mixture of bright colors in their fur to make them “pop” off the canvas. I think that’s sets me apart from other artists who do pet portraits honestly..
I think what I am most proud of with my work is my attention to detail and my ability to capture the essence of the subject I’m painting. I also would like folks to know that i do more than pets or people portraits. I’m a critical thinker that wants to be noticed for my other works that show my wide range of talents such as mixed media and abstract work that borders on surrealism.
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Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My struggle with being a creative person is the motivation to get started on whatever I’m planning to create. I have major anxiety and start to avoid even going to my studio. I make excuses as to why I can’t get started such as “it won’t turn out right” or “I won’t be able to show my work because it is so weird” and “I’m not good enough to call myself an artist, I mean who do I think I am?” I struggle with major “imposter syndrome” and it can be crippling.
What i do to overcome all of this is to sit alone with my thoughts and start up some chill music with no words in it, just a nice tempo and beat. I look up some of my favorite artists like Edward Hopper, Rene Magritte, or Frida Khalo. Then I look for new and upcoming artists and art styles. I start planning. Then I start sketching. I find that my plans and my sketching coincide and before I know it I have a piece that i think i want to execute on canvas. To conquer my fears, i look at other artists work. This gives me inspiration and hope. I become excited to get started on my new venture.
So what i would say to anyone suffering from anxiety about getting started in the creative process is this: It is all process! You have to prep. Get your coffee or whatever gets you going in the morning and sit alone for a bit. Start scrolling in social media or hard copies of art, Find some pieces you like and zoom in to see the texture, the color, the composition etc. Next, get your sketchbook/journal out. Now start playing. If you have to, put it down, and come back to it, but here’s the most important advice i can probably give, and that is DON”T QUIT. KEEP DEVELOPING and CREATING.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
To conclude, I find that the most rewarding aspect of being an artist-creative is knowing no one on this earth can do what I can do, and that goes for YOU as well! What you do is truly unique. You own that talent. With time and mistakes, will come learning and growing. You will only get better. Don’t let your fears conquer that inner voice that needs and wants to create.
I am leaving behind a part of myself to my loved ones. My hands, my heart, and pieces if my soul are in my work/on that canvas. Knowing i can pass my work on to loved ones and future generations is the ultimate reward for me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: amy_wetterlin
- Facebook: Amy Wetterlin Visual Artist