We were lucky to catch up with Chris Abigt recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Growing up, I was always creating something with my hands. My grandma, who also love all things artsy & crafty,
was great at encouraging me so fro Christmas when I was in fourth grade she bought me all the painting supplies I would need to set up a little studio space and I started painting all the time! It was then that I knew “THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO FOREVER!” I took every class I could in high school and I had a fantastic art teacher. I was an art major in college and have been stitching together a career in the visual arts ever since.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My husband and I have owned and operated an Art and Frame Gallery since 1984. We are both certified Professional Picture Framers. I have been the in-house Artist which has enabled me to use my passion for creating and my talents to develop skills in French Matting and Hand Craved Matting along with my painting. I have also been a small group art instructor for children since 1984. I have offered a variety of classes throughout the year in the Art Classroom in my home with the goal of encouraging the next generation of artists to thrive in their creativity! The last decade I have been specifically focusing on my Oil Painting and we have been traveling throughout the country to Art Shows and Festivals and loving it!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It’s very rewarding to look back on the winding path that I was able to travel and always be involved in the creative hands on process. I really enjoy all things creative so when we were in our 20s and the opportunity for my husband and I to buy the Art Gallery we were both working at presented itself we had no hesitation. I was able to do a little painting but for the years we were raising our children I was more involved with creative framing methods and teaching art classes through the gallery. When our children were grown and I and I had more concentrated studio/painting time I decided to pursue painting full time and start doing Art Festivals. It’s rewarding to know that my little fourth grade vision of a life in the arts and always having my hands creating something has come true.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think its very important to think long game!

I love talking with young artists around the country at different art show and festivals who see what I’m doing now and feel like it seems impossible. I try to encourage them to just keep diving in and doing the work. For most people a career in the arts doesn’t just fall into your lap. It takes dedication, hard work and resilience. Painting has always been my favorite passion and I continued to work at it all through the years that I was working in the gallery and doing framing knowing that someday I would hopefully be doing it full time…I have been a full time painter now for 15 years. Patience and developing the craft along the way while you keep the vision alive is important.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chrisabigtart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisabigt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisabigtartwork