We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Annika Rhea a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Annika , appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Earning a full-time living with your creative work is not easy, but with persistence and the right strategy it is doable. My advice is to have a job or additional income source when you’re starting out to remove the pressure of making money with your art right away, that way you can find yourself creatively and have the time and space to explore.

I began making money as a professional artist after I created my first intentional series of paintings and exhibited a few in a group show in 2011. With the money that I earned from my first painting sale, I got a tattoo that says, “Fortes Fortuna Juvat”, or fortune favors the bold. I got it to remind myself that if I hid as an artist, I wouldn’t be able to progress and the more that I put myself out there, the more I would receive in return. With that mindset, I began to create and show my work as much as possible. This helped me to set deadlines and put myself in the position to network with buyers.

One thing that I wish I knew as a younger artist is that going out and networking is just as valuable as creating in the studio. I used to hunker down in my studio alone and create for days on end and although that is important to build and master your craft, I’ve found that the biggest opportunities and connections came from strategically picking and showing up to relevant events while wearing my art, standing out and representing myself. When it comes to the fine art market, I’ve found that people are either attracted to a piece of art or they believe in the artist, and then they buy their art. That is how you create collectors. Collectors care about the artist and want to see them succeed. It is also in the collector’s best interest to help fund the artist’s career, since art appreciates in value and is essentially an investment. The more people you can find to invest in you and your work, the more you will be able to free yourself up financially to create more work.

The other thing I wish I knew as a younger artist is the power of social media. It’s something I avoided for a long time and I’m just now taking it seriously. Social media has played an important part in expanding my audience for both performance and visual artwork.

Another important thing I would like to share about making a full-time living as an artist is that it is not always consistent. I had a taste of full-time artist life for about two years before I hit a dry spell with income. I felt like I was going backwards when I had to take on another job again to support myself and my work. However, I realized that this is not moving backwards, it is all forward motion and taking on a job for the time being gave me the peace of mind to create and invest in a new series that did very well and I was able to move into being a full-time artist once again. Something else to note about inconsistent income is that if it comes in quickly, don’t spend it quickly. Continue to budget and spend carefully, hold onto it in case income doesn’t come in as quickly the next month (unless it’s to invest in an income generating project). I say this because I learned the hard way!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The Discipline:
I am an interdisciplinary artist, primarily known for my performance painting technique, BODY MEDIUM. BODY MEDIUM is a technique where I use my body as a paintbrush, motion as the strokes and the canvas as a stage. The work combines dance, painting, production, music, film and fashion. As a young creative, I had passions and talents for many artistic disciplines and after exploring many of them separately, I decided eventually to combine them into a live-art experience where I paint with dance and as I paint, I become immersed in the painting and therefore part of the art itself.

The Philosophy:
The themes behind my artwork are flow, acceptance, authenticity and bravery. My performances and artwork are created in flow, meaning the movement is unplanned and authentic. I typically plan out the music and color palette but the painting itself unfolds in the moment.
Live painting has taught me a lot about life. Flow, for instance, is the ability to move without resistance and to be focused, energized and present in the moment. It takes trust and bravery to put your authentic self out there and trust in your creative abilities. In my practice, when the paint reaches the canvas, I have a basic idea of where it will go, however it mixes with chance and the stuff we can’t control. When the paint lands, I can’t leave the canvas during a performance to clean it up if I’m not happy with how it looks, instead I accept that it’s there and adapt to it. My practice is deeply rooted in radical acceptance, and I believe acceptance is at the root of finding flow. If we are not able to accept who we are, where we are, where we live, what our situation is, what we look like or what is in our bank account at this very moment, then we are resisting the truth and if we do that, we will not be able to create a path forward to achieve our goals. My artistic practice unfolds as a rolling process of accepting and adapting, if we apply that to life, and are able to accept what is as quickly as possible, then we can adapt to it, drop back into flow and live life with a little more ease.

Products and Services:
On the business side of things, I get booked to performance paint at events, I exhibit and sell my paintings and photographs as well as the bodysuits created during performances and other hand painted clothing on my Etsy store. My highest seller however, is my commissioned work. Commissions are a collaboration between artist and commissioner. I work with clients on color, style, size and meaning to create their perfect painting that they then get to watch being made. Some clients choose to have a commission made at an event and others prefer it to be a private experience, either way, this adds an additional layer of sentimentality to the painting because it’s not just a painting, it’s a representation of a memory that will last a lifetime. Lastly, I teach what I call creative flow, which is an authentic embodiment technique that is at the core of my artwork.

What I’m Most Proud of:
I’m proud of my accomplishments. I’ve taken risks and sacrificed a lot for my art. I think I’m most proud of my ability to strategize and take unconventional routes to show work and be seen. It’s challenging to put yourself out there creatively, to be venerable and expose your authentic self. Each time I do, I shed a layer of insecurity and am able to heal myself a bit more.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My very first solo exhibit spanned across two floors where I exhibited 26 paintings, 8 films, several photographs and wearable art. I produced a performance with theater lighting and live musicians, got liquor and food sponsors for the event, had press, received 250 rsvp’s and had over 160 people show up. Sounds great right? Well, all this cost me about $8,000, which I was expecting to at least make back (at least some of it). The event was very well received, however when all was said and done, there were no sales, and I had to sleep on a couch in a basement with no door for almost 5 months to recover that loss. This could be extremely discouraging, and it was for a bit. However, I decided to reframe is as a triumph because I went for it and I learned many invaluable lessons concerning my art in the market. I was then able to go back to the drawing board and examine the situation with a curious and analytical mind, while keeping my emotions and ego at bay. If you’re able to approach each successful or (perceived) unsuccessful situation as an experience to learn from, then progress is inevitable. I believe that perceived failure is your friend, coupled with the right mindset, failure brings about the greatest lessons for advancement.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspects of being an artist and creative is the ability to consciously design my life and inspire others. I’ve been able to create my own art form that takes me around the world and allows me to live my dreams and design how I want to spend my time. I wanted to paint, dance, produce shows, make films and clothing while traveling the world and inspiring others. Most people would say “that’s too much, you can’t do that”. I didn’t listen to them. I instead invented an artform where I produce a performance, paint with dance and create a piece of fashion and a film during each performance. This work has taken me to many places where I get to speak about the principles of my artwork and how it pertains to life. I feel privileged and grateful that I get to inspire audiences and creators when the see my progress. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy, I work very hard for what I have but it’s worth it. I believe in life by design, not by default and being an artist or creator is a great way to be able to do that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.annikarhea.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annikarheaart
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@annikarhea

Image Credits

Javi Alverez, Roy Davis, David Miller, Hugues Willy