We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dita Montana. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dita below.

Dita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

Everyone in my life knows me as an artist and I’m not always able to thrive in creative environments so I will seek employment in another industry. I am also passionate about herbalism, culinary arts, and science so I landed a job at a fine dining steakhouse. Managers and employees alike we like family, very welcoming and comforting. The supervisor was always ready and willing to extend his resources and knowledge to us, even if we don’t verbally ask for it. He was the best boss because he was a communicator, resource and great at his job. When I wanted to pursue fulltime artistry for the first time, I put in my 2 weeks’ notice and told the owner that I was leaving to pursue being a fulltime artist. He was highly confused, but my supervisor was supportive because he knew of the talent I possessed and had faith in me. That was a great foundation to begin my journey.

Dita, 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?

I started my artistic journey as a child, painting and sketching on every surface I saw. I always found peace in creating so I carried that with me throughout grade school and beyond. I entered several art competitions and group shows and a solo show during my early 20s. I am a multidisciplinary artist, so I sculpt, paint, illustrate, create natural products, garden, etc. Being an artist is the essence of who I am. My supporters keep me motivated and they reassure me whenever I am feeling uneasy in my artistry. My passion, dedication and originality sets me apart from other artists. Granted, there are a few artists who are creating variations of figurative artwork but none of them hit like an original Dita Montana.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I do not support NFTs, and it was always questionable to me. it felt like a money grab for people who are not artists, to exploit artists, for monetary gain. It was a slight to digital and traditional artists, in my opinion. Every so often some fad comes into the art industry, like it’s the best thing since sliced bread and they look down on anyone who chooses not to be a part of it. I attempted to understand NFTs but the people who reached out to assist, didn’t fully understand it either. It was the blind leading the blind and I definitely am not going to allow someone uneducated to guide me. I also hated the NFT Gorilla, I am glad that came and went. Good riddance

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

I had to unlearn that being a fulltime artist was not to be a struggle, no more than anything else in this life. The starving artist moniker never sat right with me, maybe because that wasn’t my experience for the duration of my fulltime artistry. There were times I did struggle but I stayed resilient, consistent and confident. No one said this to my face, but I’m sure people have a skewed idea of what a fulltime artist responsibility consists of. When you express to someone that you are going to pursue your craft, they automatically project their insecurities on you and sometimes artists can internalize that.

Contact Info:

• Website: artbydita.bigcartel.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/ditamontana_
• Other: Tiktok.com/artbydita