Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erika Donaghy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Erika, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Last fall I had the opportunity to paint a set of murals at a local gym in Frisco, Colorado. The gym is a woman-owned business, most of their trainers are women, and many of their clients are women. The gym owner wanted a mural depicting a mountain scene and the design we landed on was an image of a woman hiking alone in the mountains. For me, this design is one the most meaningful pieces I’ve created. I am a trail runner and while I love running with my friends, I also really enjoy running alone. It give me time to process my thoughts and emotions. However, when I tell people I trial run alone, I am often met with concern. People love to tell me that it’s too dangerous to be on the trails alone. I’ve never heard those same people express concern when I husband says he runs alone. He runs the same trails I do; why is he safer than me?

So, for this piece of art to be showcased in a gym that serves so many women is especially meaningful to me. I hope it inspires more women to go out and do the things they want to do even if society says they shouldn’t.

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

I’m a self-taught artist living in the Colorado Rockies. In 2017, I was looking for a fun creative outlet and took a watercolor workshop with a few friends. I was hooked immediately. Suddenly, I didn’t go anywhere without my sketchbook and travel watercolor palette. Painting changed the way that I see the world; I find greater appreciation in the beauty of the tiny details along the trail and that is the feeling I want to bring to you through my work. While watercolor will always be my first love, I found a new artistic obsession when I started playing with clay.

​I tried my hand at wheel throwing for the first time in 2019, and just like with painting, I was immediately in love with it. It didn’t take long before I had my own wheel and was planning to build out my own studio. However, I never would have expected that I would have my very own studio less than a year later. When the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down, my husband and I finished the shed in our backyard and turned it into a beautiful ceramic studio.

​Making art brings me joy and starting this creative business just feels like me. I hope you can feel this sense of joy and curiosity when you look at a one of my paintings or have your morning coffee in one of my handmade mugs.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I don’t have the most followers on social media, but I’ve been focused on building up my social media following little by little. This type of organic growth can feel frustrating, especially when you see other creatives blowing up seemingly overnight. But, I firmly believe that by showing up on social media consistently and authentically you will build a more engaged following than the massive growth that comes from going viral on that one post. So, that’s my simple strategy. I try to post regularly and show up as who I really am. I want my followers to get to know me and want to come along on my creative journey with me.

While social media is an amazing free tool, it is important to remember that it is not the only place to sell work. In fact, some of my favorite accounts lately have been sharing how seeing massive growth in their follower numbers hasn’t lead to greater monetary success. I’ve been trying to keep that in mind as I work on creating a healthy relationship with social media. It is a wonderful tool, but not the only road to success.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Beginning my career as an artist came out a need to pivot in my professional and personal life. My husband and I lived in Denver where I had a successful career as a nonprofit fundraiser (grant writing more specifically). We had been wanting to get out of the city and into the mountains for sometime, and he got offered a great job in the mountains. So, we moved. And, I found that despite the many, many nonprofit organization in Summit County, there were not really any similar jobs here that paid what I was making in Denver. This left me with some interesting choices to make as we moved into this new community.

At the same time, I had been sharing my art on social media and had been getting requests for paintings from people I didn’t know, but who found me on Instagram. This began to plant to seed that I could maybe make a successful career as an artist. So, I decided to go for it and here we are!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.erikadonaghy.art
• Instagram: @erikadonaghy.art