We were lucky to catch up with Brenda Macon recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brenda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I grew up during a time when there were not many obvious lucrative career paths for creatives. Thankfully, this could not be further from the truth today. The magic sauce for success appears to lie in being both an expert in your craft as well as in the business of your selected industry. If you sell jewelry, then figure out how to sell it and be as good at business as you are at your craft. I have been fortunate to make a full time living from my creative work, and it has been part luck but also part timing and willingness to accept that my years spent doing left brain work (going to college and law school, working in offices, etc.) weren’t in vain. I started teaching art in my early thirties, and later became a painter and calligrapher. I was delighted to discover the vehicle for interest (and sales!) that social media platforms provided.. I could complete a painting for a client, post it online, and have a number of new orders for custom paintings the very next day.
Because of an online global marketplace and a variety of ways to share, the reach and range is larger than ever and it’s possible to forge successful relationships with patrons. It begins with an online post and moves to a phone call. This is followed by a visit and then (optimally) an art installment.
The story of how I became a full time painter happened when I was teaching middle school art and doing calligraphy on the side. A friend who was in construction built a beautiful spec home and invited me to come see it. It reminded me of a modern art museum with soaring ceilings, cement floors, and a lot of light. “You need some big pieces of pop art in here! Like a Lichtenstein or something” I said, and my friend responded “Why don’t you paint something for me?” So I painted his black and white dog, Paco, on a large canvas with a bright sunburst pattern of purple and yellow. The painting helped define the space and the colors were reflective of the color of the sky at dawn and dusk. The dog was larger than life and whimsical. I posted a photo of this on Facebook and the next day, several friends and friends-of-friends asked me to paint their dogs. I never expected to fall forward into a full time pet-painting career, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.
I have a background in mediation and a little law school under my belt, which taught me that a good relationship always begins with a good agreement. I used contracts to define my scope of work, the proposed timeline for each piece, the price, and the delivery details. My clients appreciated the clear communication and my willingness to co-design the pieces with them. My feeling is that custom work lives with the client, and they need to be 100% delighted or the piece is not complete. A strong customer service background has also come in handy. I am committed that my clients love the art they receive, and that their expectations are fully met. After painting Paco, I painted for three years nonstop, for clients from Africa to Arizona, Michigan to Maryland, and many places in between. Each painting started with a photo shoot and color evaluation of the space where the painting was to go.
I found that not many other artists were willing to work with clients as co-designers, and I discovered this niche. It worked well for me. I would encourage other artists to think deeply about the thing that makes their work process unique and steer their career in that direction.
Brenda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
While I loved the work of being a full time painter, and was amazed at how lucrative it was, I found myself nose-to-canvas most of the time and it was hard to remember to take breaks for food or exercise. I became lonesome for company. I got a dog myself, named Trixie, just as a reminder to take a walk a couple of times a day. But when the opportunity came up to help others fulfill their life goals to be full time working artists, I took the job as the Executive Director at the Durango Arts Center. (Trixie still comes to work with me and sits at my feet as I write this.) Now I work with visual artists as well as performing artists within the scope of a 55 year old nonprofit with a 100 year old building and many moving pieces. The pandemic happened my second year on the job. The challenge was to figure out a way for the arts to remain relevant throughout COVID. We offered window-only exhibits, and pre-recorded art classes on YouTube. We hosted Zoom performances so the kids could still act in a play. It wasn’t optimal, but creative engagement has been and continues to be the focus of my life and my career. I’m so proud that the Durango Arts Center made it, and continues to thrive.
I still paint about four paintings a year, and certainly plan to continue painting, but my next personal goal is to write a book about the creative process. The timing seems fitting, as people are realizing now more than ever before, how important it is to exercise our creative potential. It’s what sets us apart from animals and robots, and is arguably our highest and best use as humans.
It is an honor to be an artist and a supporter of the artists in 2023, and my personal mission is to continue to inspire future creatives. I am certain the world is in desperate need of these people as we continue to face more complex challenges. I encourage everyone to grab a brush or a stage curtain rope, pick up an instrument or tie on some dance shoes. The pandemic has taught us that life is short and may be getting shorter, so it’s a wonderful time to take on a creative passion project.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I cannot tell you how many times I have had parents of talented art students tell me they would prefer their children select a career outside of the arts. These are parents who have the means and commitment to invest in private art classes, and who encourage their children to engage in performing arts. Yet these parents don’t have the confidence in the arts industry that it will support their children as adults. If I could wave a magic wand and change this assumption, that there are not as many promising and lucrative career paths in the arts, as say, in engineering or biomedical research, I surely would.
In addition, people who take on the mantle of being an artist in any arena, be it within digital coding or animation for video games, sound engineering for movies, graphic design or architecture, creative work allows for a mindset expansion that is rarely seen in other industries. We now know that right brain exercises like painting and drawing help strengthen capacities once thought to be “woo woo”, like intuition and instinct. Non-linear thinking may be hard for many people to follow. Think of Sherlock Holmes’ mind palace. He can ‘see’ the interconnections between seemingly non-connected events and things. He also played the violin and painted in between his cases. I believe we all have this same capability, but only those who strengthen these skills through artistic pursuits see improvements. In turn, they are better thinkers, better problem solvers, and more confident within their creative prowess. Why wouldn’t anyone want that for their children?
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
It can be hard to be a generalist. Specialists seem to have more advantages, but I’ve learned through the years that that is not necessarily true. We all knew someone who “knew what they wanted to be when they grew up”, and perhaps that person truly went on to do just that. Such people are rare, and I’ve often wondered how long they do just one thing before getting bored, or before they wonder what they may have missed out on along the way. When I graduated from college I had a double major in math and philosophy. I enjoyed singing in the college choir and dabbled in renaissance art studies. Mostly, I studied the great books and loved the general approach to education. Upon graduation, my parents (whom I shall remain ever grateful for their unconditional love and support) offered that I had two paths to consider: law or real estate investing. My parents grew up in a farming community and didn’t come from a place of means. They were the first in their respective families to attend college, and while they married young, they supported each other through their respective educations. In sum, heir lessons were hard earned and I respected their advice.
While they knew my passion for painting, they suggested that I maintain that as a hobby. I did it their way for a good decade. I learned a lot along the way. I learned the business of business. I failed many more times than I succeeded. Finally I decided to put myself through a MFA in painting, and paid cash for my credit hours as I worked full time in a law office and managing executive leadership training programs for a local chamber of commerce. At the time, I remember seeing people ten years my junior starting out as artists and I wondered if I had wasted time learning business skills. Too much time was spent fretting about that. Now I see that all life experiences drive you to the place where you need to be. No lesson learned is wasted. I am grateful now for all that I’ve learned within and without the arts industry, as I can approach challenges more objectively and enjoy a broad spectrum of experiences from which to pull from.
The last, and most important part of all of this, is that I have enjoyed unconditional love and support from my husband, Todd Macon, whom I met in college and married just after. He has gracefully rolled along with me on this bumpy path of being a creative, and his own pursuits in writing and photography have been a source of inspiration to me. He also reminds me daily of the “why” to the “what”, which means the purpose that drives our work to help others succeed. He is generous and smart and has encouraged me to be my best self for the past 28 years. Family is both what drives me toward success, and what matters the most at the end of the day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.durangoarts.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/durangoarts/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/durangoart?ref=hl
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/durango-arts-center/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DurangoArt
- Other: LINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/durangoartscenter VIMEO: https://vimeo.com/durangoart
Image Credits
Credit: Todd Macon for figure drawing photo and one of Brenda Macon with painting. Durango Arts Center for youth theater photo. Brenda Macon for photo of “Paco” the dog with painting of “Paco” by Brenda Macon