We recently connected with Brooke Singer and have shared our conversation below.

Brooke, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I have been in the performing arts for as long as I can remember. I started acting, singing and dancing the minute I was able to walk and talk. My dad works in the entertainment industry and so naturally I fell in love with life in the theater at a very young age. I was lucky enough to audition for regional theatre as well as Broadway National tours and perform throughout my childhood. I never felt like it was a “job” or my “career”. I actually don’t think I was fully aware that doing what I loved so much could be what I did with my life, until a teacher in middle school told me I should attend the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and really dive into making it my future. While I was going through a rigorous, stressful and quite frankly, demoralizing, conservatory program in college, I started to use painting as a form of therapy on the side to process my emotions. It was a way for me to be creative without needing to worry about teachers, grades or external validation. An extracurricular that was for me alone, and I never felt the need to share that side of myself. During the pandemic, I was forced to stop performing, as so many of us were, and I felt so lost and out of control. I started to lean back into my visual art side in order to stay connected to my creativity and make sense of who I was and my identity without my “performer” side. In the midst of that emotional chaos, I moved into my own space- which was a first for me and something I thought I would NEVER have the opportunity to do as a free lance artist in New York City. When I was envisioning the art I wanted on the walls of my apartment, I decided I wanted to create it myself. I was making art for no one but me and I loved what I was creating! It was MY home, so I didn’t need validation from anyone. This… was a huge revelation. However, when I began sharing some of my work on the internet, I was blown away by the responses. For the first time in my adult life I felt in complete control of the art I was putting out into the world.The more I shared what I was creating, the more people wanted it. The more I explored what I was capable of, the more my storyline started to wander away from Musical Theatre performance. It was a huge risk to step away, and I had NO IDEA what I was venturing into within the world of visual art, but deep down I had a feeling that if performing was meant for me it would make its way back in an organic way. I believed that whatever journey I was about to leap into artistically would only make me a stronger performer or artist down the road. I let go of all of my ties and quit the jobs that made me feel like I was waiting for something to happen and started to create. I would wake up and collage, play with charcoal, watercolors, broken guitars, you name it. I began playing with a new material, resin, because I wanted to make a wedding gift for my two dear friends. I shared some of my creations on social media and someone I happened to meet ONCE on vacation saw it and connected me with a friend who had a small start up company creating custom gifts out of resin in Brooklyn. That was almost 4 years ago, and now I am a co-owner of the Sprkl Studio working with resin every day. Somehow through letting go, I rediscovered my younger self. A version of me who was fearless and unafraid to try something new without fear of failure. I once had a friend see one of my drawings and ask to buy it. My response was “that it was an unfinished mess up,” but she said, “not to me.” I now say one of my greatest strengths is failing, although it used to be the thing that held me back. Now, it usually leads me to something good .
It was a huge risk walking away from the only art form I have really known for 30 years, but the best part is, 4 years later, I can say that Musical Theatre is currently making it’s way back to me organically and in a way that is even better than I could have EVER imagined or dreamt it would be. I do believe it is because was able to let go and find myself again-my younger fearless self.

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

Through my own personal brand, I preserve wedding bouquets and items of sentimental value or really just about anything from or for any occasion. Something that sets me apart from others who do similar products is that I really make an effort to create a unique piece of living art that is a forever keepsake. My special touch is not entirely submerging the flowers so it feels as though the sculpture is alive. One of my favorite things I often create with wedding flowers is book ends! They are not only beautiful but also a functional way to have a special memory on the shelf. I really can make anything. You just have to ask! My creative services expand beyond resin, though. I’ve been sued to make props for children’s theatre productions and installation builds for corporate events. A friend once asked if I could create art out of her placenta as a gift for her Doula, and, of course, I said yes! I ended up making pressed prints of her placenta which ended up so stunning that I even saved one to frame for my own wall.To this day, it is one of the wildest and most incredible artistic experiences I’ve ever had!
With Sprkl Studio we specialize in custom gifts out of resin, including; phone cases, dog tags, jewelry. key chains and more! Think Lisa Frank 90’s kid core nostalgia goodness. We make every product by hand in our production space in Brooklyn and no two items are ever the same! You can choose from our stock color designs or get as creative as you want with a full custom experience! We also have workshops where you can sign up and learn how to design and make the items yourself.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

My mom recently told me “art is an act of courage” and I think it does take a level of vulnerability to share parts of yourself in the form of art. The world can be full of tough critics and people with strong opinions, but, to me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is getting to experience other people’s interpretations of my work and the opportunity of collaborating with other creatives. As artists, we have to fearlessly put our art and ideas out there, and you never know where your next collaborator might be.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to stop waiting for permission to begin! That is the musical theatre girl in me. The performance industry has so many levels in the hierarchy and, being in it for so long, I forgot that I could be in the driver’s seat of my own creativity and life. I didn’t need anyone to tell me if what I was creating was good enough. Also, I think, as adults, we try to avoid “looking dumb.” It feels uncomfortable to not know how to do something the “right way”, but just beyond that fear is where the good stuff happens. Alleviating the pressure to reach my goal for success in one direction allowed me to find my sense of play again in a different, but still, very creative way. Trying something new and failing over and over was frustrating but inevitably has led to somewhere much larger than what I was envisioning for myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sprkl.studio/
• Instagram: @Bsing20 and @Sprkl.Studio

Image Credits

Justin Patterson, Samuel Pickart and Jenny Anderson