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

Brian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew I wanted to become a professional artist when a former professor of mine told me that he believed in my message of hope, love and understanding. That my pieces would resonate with the world and would change the way people felt about oneanother.

Brian, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My reason for wanting to be a professional artist resides in having the opportunity to help people heal themselves. Everything starts with how we feel about ourselves. Nothing can be done without motivating our own souls. I feel the problem(s) that I solve for clients is getting them to understand their truths about themselves. The pieces I create allow clients to have an immediate feeling and personal response to how they need to prepare themselves to be better each day. There is nothing more profound than an individual who knows their strengths and weaknesses and survives each day to make themselves better. I am most proud of the fact that my art helps people recognize their strengths within themselves.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is passing along the opportunity to live by example. I have been an elementary art teacher for 17 years. I pride my existence on cultivating relationships that last a lifetime. I pride myself on understanding that life is bigger than art. Art is a conduit for life. Not the other way around. Teaching and guiding young minds to think for themselves and allowing relationships to grow because of the experience of art with me is everything to me. The reward is building strong children and sending them out into the world better than when I recieved them first. These children are my legacy and I am the keeper of theirs.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience by being as genuine as I could possibly be. For me, it has and never will be about the likes on social media. Believe me, I know that is the “big part” about being on social media. I continued to make connections and speak with people. I will comment as much as possible and follow people. Not just artist. I follow a lot of different people and agendas that fall in line with what resonates with me. Early in my Instagram journey, I did a commission piece for someone I met through Instagram. They went to my Etsy.com site, (www.livnsol.etsy.com) and looked at the pieces I had for sale. They were able to brainstorm for themselves the kind of custom piece they wanted. I agreed, created a large piece and we both were happy. What I didn’t realize was that this commission piece was from a prominate author in London. He prefaced a conversation by saying, “once I put this art piece on my social media, your Instagram going to “blow up”. And, it did. At that point, I was at 2,000 followers. At the end of the week, I was at 16,000 followers. Sometimes, you say or do the right thing at the right time and it works out in your favor. The message from me to a person first starting out is to be kind, be open and be real because you never know who you might come across in the social world.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.livnsol.etsy.com
• Instagram: @livnsol
• Facebook: Www.livnsolbybrianhearns.com