We were lucky to catch up with Julia Vanderelzen recently and have shared our conversation below.
Julia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
They taught me to be kind and accepting of everyone, including myself. This has impacted the way I move through the world, the way I so deeply care about others. My parents instilling this in me at such a young age I believe turned me into somewhat of an activist, especially those who don’t have the privilege that I do to advocate and fight for themselves. I’m thankful I was raised this way and that in my own life I have been able to take inclusivity and advocacy steps further than they had before me.
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?
After 6 awesome years I am no longer running my business full time. About 3 years ago I took a part time gig in education and ended up falling in love with it. For two school years I have been working in education full time and I have loved every minute of it! Getting to share my love of art with teens has been such a blessing.
I still try to maintain a social media presence and sell my work in person at art shows throughout the year. I do my absolute best to be as sustainable in my art practice as I can be. My values are intertwined with the way I run my business.
Have you ever had to pivot?
A few years ago my sales started declining, I had to add something extra to make ends meet. I took a job as a substitute teacher at a high school, I ended up loving it so much the following year I took a full time job at the school. I’m still able to work my business part time and now I get to help students emotionally full time as well as running an art and meditation club with them!
The first few years navigating the change from full time artist to full time educator was difficult but three years later I am finding my footing with what works for both!
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
Yes it did, when I was in art school I decided to start an instagram page to share my art instead of constantly blasting it on my personal page. Slowly people started asking to buy my art, which I thought was the coolest thing! Things moved quickly after this, about a year in I decided to make it official, get my LLC and dive into the life of a full time artist! Some of the key highlights I look back on was my first 4 figure commission, which was a huge painting and my two solo exhibitions. The side hustle has now gone back to just that, which is fine and I’m grateful for where this journey has taken me!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Juliahopeart.com
- Instagram: Julia Hope Art
- Facebook: Julia Hope Art
