We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aurora Bewicke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aurora below.

Aurora, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Persistence. Sure, there is talent and luck, but those aren’t things that are necessarily within our control. I’ve have my best success by simply not giving up, whether it be with my art career, my burgeoning surface pattern design business, or in my human rights/legal work. Motivational speakers often talk about the “three feet from gold” phenomena, about the man who gave up mining just three feet away from a huge gold deposit. While, if we give up, we will never know if we were just about to have our big break, it’s a sure thing that if we do give up, that big break is not coming. In our instant gratification world, it is difficult to have patience. Yet, often we just need to stay the course for quite some time before seeing the rewards.

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

I am definitely a multi-passionate person who thrives on variety. In terms of my fine art practice, I work primarily in mixed media, employing a lot of stitching and textiles. Themes I address include gender roles, politics, world events, and the personal.

This love of fabric led me into a new line of business recently – that of surface pattern design. My digital patterns are more commercial than my fine art. I also stick to lighter themes, like my love of the Buffalo Bills, rainbows, and, yes, even puppies. Usually, but not always, my surface designs begin with hand drawings and paintings. The finished patterns are sold on fabric, via websites like Spoonflower, and on finished products, currently on sites such as Redbubble and Society6 under the abbreviated name Aurora B. I’ll be looking to license my work in the future. For the time being, I am enjoying the freedom that comes with beginning a new exploration and the liberating feeling of not needing to always concern myself with the deeper meaning of my work (though I certainly also enjoy delving into the deep, when I do). While some fine artists might feel the opposite, I get a kick out of seeing my work on everyday items.

Finally, my legal/human rights business is also something I am passionate about. I find it incredibly meaningful to fight to protect individual’s fundamental rights and work on capacity building projects across the globe. It’s the business that I spend the least time promoting, however, as it could easily take up all of my time, leaving little room for my artistic pursuits if I do not impose limits.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Print on Demand. I wish I had started uploading art to print on demand websites earlier and, also, that I had not been so hesitant about using these sites once I did find out about them. The way the POD websites work, you get more traffic the more you have uploaded and the more you sell, so there is a bit of a snowball effect. The earlier you get on the platforms and make use of them, the easier it gets to make sales. There can definitely be a stigma about this kind of art. The thing to remember, however, is that you don’t have to put all your art up on the sites. I actually do not put my fine art up for sale (for what is often pennies) on these sites. The pennies do start to add up, however.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Put yourself out there. Whether it is on social media or in person, the only people who are going to support your work are people that see your work and know who you are. There is a lot of noise out there and a lot of people trying to be seen. It really helps to just start with the people you know. You don’t need to be salesy. You can just let your network know what you are up to and where they can go to learn more if they are interested. Since the people who know you are often your best supporters (in all areas of life), get to know more people – and not for the purpose of growing your client base. It’s rewarding, in general, to be a part of a community and to connect with others. Here in the US, we can be so overly individualistic. We think of making friends and getting involved as “networking.” Most places, getting to know people is just called living.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aurorabewicke.com
• Instagram: aurora_bewicke_art
• Facebook: aurorabewicke.art
• Youtube: This Creative Life with Aurora B
• Other: www.bewickelaw.com