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

Erin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I’ve been a veterinary technician (equivalent to a nurse in human medicine) in critical care and specialty/emergency surgery since 2015, and before that I was a hairdresser for 5 years. Both of the career paths I chose over the years are very hard on the body. Since about 2018, I’ve been having back problems off and on, have been to the chiropractor and have had PT and a number of tests done. Fast-forward to 2023, about 6 months ago (in March) my back pain got a lot worse, and the thing that seems to exacerbate it the most is the work I do as a vet tech. I love taking care of patients (cats & dogs), and my work in the ICU with critically ill patients is very fulfilling, but my back pain was getting out of control. I had an MRI and it turns out I have a Tarlov Cyst in my back that is compressing my nerves. This discovery led me to consult with a specialist on the disease and learn that I am a surgical candidate. It also led me to needing to decrease my time spent working in the hospital as I was beginning to have pins and needles sensations in my legs and my pain was getting worse. I had to take a leap of faith and see how much I could rely on my art skills that I’ve developed over the years. I have been dabbling in block printing, painting, digital art, and other art forms for a long time – but never seriously and never as a means to make a living. I am now working about 3 shifts a month as a vet tech, the rest of the time is spent participating in and preparing for art markets such as the Melrose Trading Post every Sunday and others trickled in between.
So far it has been an interesting journey – because I am doing this in part to earn income, I have begun to tailor my body of work to be one that is more universally appreciated and I have just recently started my own graphic design/digital art company called Black Bottle Designs which is where I funnel all of my bohemian/eclectic wall art and clothing designs in to an Etsy shop and the in-person markets. Doing this has also freed up time for me to work on painting, so developing my painting skills is my next endeavor. When I first began the art markets, I was primarily offering my block printing designs, which were well-received but not as marketable as my digital art has turned out to be. Building the Black Bottle Designs brand has become my job so that painting can become my passion again.

Erin, 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?

My main two catalysts for getting in to art as a career path were the loss of a dear friend and my own health struggles. In June of 2023 I lost one of my favorite people far too young. This person was a passionate, driven, honest human who was following their dreams and their life was tragically lost too soon. Their passing brought to the forefront of my mind that I was not following my passion for art as much as I should be; if I considered the possibility that I could die tomorrow – I could reflect on what I was doing with my time and that I would not have been satisfied. In honor of this beloved friend of mine, and in honor of myself, I chose to follow my dreams. The second catalyst, as I mentioned, is my health – my back problems have made it so that I can no longer be a full-time veterinary technician. Everyone has their own path and journey to get where they should be, and this has been mine recently. What I offer has been continually evolving over the past year; I started with a focus on block printing, and have turned a corner in to a focus on acrylic painting and digital art.
Through my digital art company Black Bottle Designs I create a wide variety of bohemian/eclectic designs featuring earth tones and shapes. I offer artwork for businesses, individual commissions, and through it all a message of advocacy for mental health. I also have an Etsy store under the same name where all of this line can be viewed and purchased.
My acrylic paintings are still a style and subject matter that I am working out – and I’ve come to realize that it will probably always be changing. So far, my focus has been on black and gray semi-realistic animal skulls and other subjects of nature with an abstract element in the mix. For this body of work, I offer original paintings, hopefully some prints soon, and commissions as long as they fit what I am focusing on at the moment. All of my work can be found on my Instagram and website (@erinisabella.art and www.erinisabellaart.com) I am proud to be such a versatile artist – I enjoy working with a ton of different mediums. It can also bring about challenges, such as deciding where to place my focus. I am learning how to juggle and organize all of these different moving parts.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

One thing that comes to mind that non-creatives might struggle to understand about my journey is that when my health took a turn and I wasn’t able to do my ultra-physical job full-time anymore, why I didn’t just go get a “normal job” working remotely or something like that. As a creative person – someone who feels that they NEED to create – working a “normal” job feels like a last resort. I have these artistic skills and this voice to work with, and the world needs art, so I would be doing myself a disservice if I were to silence that voice and just focus on how to make a living. If push comes to shove, I am not above working a remote job doing something that I perceive as mundane, but I will exhaust all of my other options creatively before I consider that as an option.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The two things that society can do to best support artists is to purchase original artwork and support the artists on social media that they like. There are many people and businesses out there, especially on the internet, stealing artists’ original work. If you are buying artwork for your home, office, or anywhere else – do your best to make sure you are getting it from the actual artist. As for social media – the age we live in almost requires artists to have a presence on social media to be successful, and this takes SO MUCH TIME. Social media takes away from the time we have to make art, and it all has to be done very well and in a very specific way to even be SEEN by anyone. Supporting artists online looks like following them, liking/sharing/saving their posts, and commenting on the content they are sharing. The “death scroll” is the nemesis of an artists’ success online – if you see something you like, interact with it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.erinisabellaart.com
• Instagram: @erinisabella.art
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ErinIsabella?si=jba1C1B-XGyV12A5

Image Credits
Erin Isabella (myself)