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

Alright, BJ thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Sometimes, the best idea comes from someone else. I like to travel and see new places. It is exciting to try new activities like caving, climbing and scuba diving. Each of those involves risk, but putting my art out there on my website or at a public venue is much harder for me. I used to paint or draw something as a gift for someone – small risk. I would never have thought of a website or business. That sounds scary and risky to me. In comes family and friends to influence and encourage me. The risk has definitely been worth it overall. My paintings seem to please most people, and I find great pleasure in painting beautiful places I have been to or want to go. I meet many kind encouraging people and enjoy hearing their stories. I especially love to create commissioned artwork for them. It seems like the best way to really capture in painting or drawing a special moment in time for them.

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

My name is BJ Seidel, and my business is Firefly Art. Though I never set out to start a business, it has been a move well worth the work and any risk. My first experience with art was drawing cartoons of my children as they grew and developed. I kept family and friends up to date with our lives by sending copies of the monthly cartoons delivering news and laughs. Then I began creating original greeting cards and an occasional painting or drawing as a gift. Now that my children are grown and married, I have grandchildren who provide fresh ideas for painting and drawing. I am also able to travel more and get fresh inspiration everywhere I go. I find inspiration in nature, people watching and fine art galleries. It is very satisfying to me to help people obtain fine art for their own homes and offices that is uplifting and makes them happy. I think many more people would like original oil paintings if they found paintings to complement their space and personality that were not prohibitively expensive. Firefly Art was created to fill this gap. I especially enjoy doing commissions because of the interaction between the client and myself to get them exactly what they want in a personalized painting or drawing. I am proud to have enjoyed a good working relationship with people who have commissioned art or purchased art from Firefly Art. Return customers, word of mouth recommendations, and customer reviews are of great value and much appreciated. Creating paintings with other viewers in mind helps me grow as an artist. Looking at the world from another perspective has stretched me and helped me in developing new techniques to get my ideas across.

Firefly Art desires to deliver original fine art paintings and drawings that will be pleasing to customers and add value to their space and lives. It is my hope that they are satisfied customers who will return and find another treasure for themselves or a gift for friends and family.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Perhaps it is more difficult for artists to advocate for their work than to actually create the artwork. I had sought out one of the artists I met in Lee’s Summit. She had participated in many art shows and other venues such as Art in the Park and a Taste of Lee’s Summit. I admired her tent and art display. She was very helpful and sent me plans for all the modifications to make inside walls to display paintings on. It was an expensive undertaking, but it seemed worth the expense. Then I was not accepted into the show. It was very discouraging as I had been their first artist the year before. I took a break from art and pretty much considered quitting the art business altogether. But, after a while I considered what I had gained and what other avenues to pursue. I am surrounded by entrepreneurs in my family and could not just quit when they had offered so much help and encouragement, I already have a wonderful website (thanks to Igniting Business) and everything else I need to try again. Though It does not come naturally to me, I found the resilience to try again.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My mom was a late in life artist. She had a studio and went there to paint. My studio is the unused bedroom in my house. I like to organize my space, decide which subject to paint next and paint. I would be happy in my little room painting. I am happy hiking or traveling to get new photos and subject matter. However, in this day and age, there is so much “out there” that an unknown artist will remain unknown unless she knows the market. It is difficult to compete with the internet as well as the instant satisfaction at arts and crafts stores. Of course, one can learn most anything on YouTube, but everything takes time. I first need to learn what I don’t know and fit it into the art schedule.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fireflyart.biz
• Instagram: seidel.bj
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bj.seidel/
• Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits
These are all personal photos