We were lucky to catch up with Brittany Schall recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brittany, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Learning the Craft:

Luckily enough, Schall was artistically inclined from a young age thanks to her creative family. However, she truly learned how to hone her fine art skills when she first arrived to New York.

Schall managed to connect with artist in NYC by using her Denver art gallery internship as platform to start a blog. She primarily featured artists who were working in the city that had a Colorado connection in an attempt to help cultivate community between the two locations. Through these interviews, she was able to meet incredibly talented individuals, one in particular who was an unbelievably skilled photorealistic painter. Fortunately enough, they were looking for an art assistant and offered Schall a position in their studio. While working here with the best of the best, she learned more in 4 months than she did in 4 years at art school. From refining hand eye coordination, to learning the mastery of color matching, this experience is what elevated Schall from being a proficient artist to a professional artist.

Looking back, Schall comments she could have expedited the learning process had her skill sets not have had came to a standstill after her neck trauma. In 2014, a complicated injury left the entire right side of her body numb and caused inarticulable pain in her neck, shoulder and lower back. There where times her nerves were so inflamed that even slightly turning her head to the right would cause her to faint. Schall remarks how she would go from a standing position to finding herself crumped on the floor with no memory of the fall. It was a struggle to walk and she couldn’t manage to hold a pencil in her hand more than a few minutes, so time lapsed and the external evolution of Schall’s craft halted.

The stress and the pain were compounded as her work, primarily her hair series, was plagiarized by other artists. This series was also non consensually used, and still is, by various companies throughout the world for advertising purposes. Not only did she worry that she would never be able to create again, but Schall also deeply grieved the misappropriation of the work she did make. The recovery process took years, but she was able to to reagin full mobility. When she came back to fine art, Schall discovered that she had lost some dexterity in her hand. By shifting the paint brush/pencil from her index finger to bracing it between my middle and ring finger, she was able to reteach herself how to paint/ draw again.

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

While recovering from her neck injury, Schall developed her immersive experience and wearable art company La Adorna in New Orleans. Known for its colorful palettes, creative use of materials and unique silhouettes, La Adorna provides avant – garde garments, creative makeup, and styling for editorials, events, and film/television. By transforming performers. guests, and spaces, Schall creates unique and unforgettable experiences and memories.

After a 7 year stint in NYC, followed by another 7 year stint in New Orleans, Schall is back in her home state of Colorado. Since coming back, she has showcased her work at Meowwolf’s Hallowed Howl this past October, launched her collab upcycle bag collection with New Orleans based Epiphany Throws as well as participated in Denver’s Fashion Week’s “Emerging Designer Challenge”.

Since relocating back to Colorado, Schall’s fine art has evolved as she shifts away from her well known “Hair Portraits” to her new “Glove Series”. Here, the impact of exploring the never ending materials of La Adorna are expressed through her recent works. By sewing her own gloves, and covering her own hands in creative makeup, Schall photographs her hands and creates references for her drawings and paintings. These new works focus on the difficulties of being a female artist in the male dominated art world as well as delving into personal past experiences. Detailed images of these pieces can be seen via bschall.com and @brittanyschall on instagram. Available original works along with a limited edition print list are available via email at brittanyschall.com .

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

Early on, Schall’s work gained popularity through Buzzfeed, tumblr, and what is now known as Adobe’s Behance network. Though these platforms were instrumental in facilitating Schall’s career, there is a tremendous amount of regret that came with the exposure. Limited resources about intellectual property rights were made available as these sites gained momentum in the mid 2000’s. Despite the popularity of Schall’s work, little to no financial gain was made as 3rd party companies and other artists appropriated her work. The vast global exposure came as a heavy costs as Schall watched her most technical drawings boiled down to key chain fobs, phone cases, tshirts and no cost clip art sites like PNG Tree. The lack of IP protection resulted in her work saturating the market with no personal economic gain, thus making it difficult to create work and maintain financial stability. Had more information and resources regarding intellectual copyright been made available early on, Schall’s might have promoted a higher production rate.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Though the early years of her career were difficult and navigating the ever changing landscape of the art world can be exhausting, Schall notes there is nothing more rewarding than creating. By making work, she is able to cultivate her own universe which she has absolute authority over. In this place, everything is beautiful, filled with color and wonderment. Here everything is safe. Each moment is an opportunity to grow in every direction, and fall deeper in love with life.

Contact Info:

• Website: bschall.com / laadorna.com
• Instagram: @brittanyschall / @la_adorna
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/7vLU1djkwU8

Image Credits
brittany schall fowink art