Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kaitlyn Page. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kaitlyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?
About 4 years ago, I had been successfully running my art business solely through online means. This was and still is a great avenue for me and my artwork, however, I really wanted to take the plunge into putting my work out there into the physical world through vending at various shows and events. This presented a lot of questions that I didn’t know the answer to. Where do you start? How much inventory do you need to invest in? Which shows are right for me? I had a good idea of what shows I wanted to do but had no idea how much I would need to take into consideration if I wanted this to become a main avenue towards selling my work. It was also a huge risk in many ways, as the amount of money I would need to invest into the materials was scary enough, let alone taking vendor fees into consideration. I first purchased the tent I would need, along with Pro-Panels to hang my framed art, tables, display cases, etc. The first time I paid a vendor fee, I was in utter shock at how much I was going to need in order to invest in all the right materials. It was terrifying, as I had no prior knowledge on the subject. With the help and encouragement of family and friends, I finally took the plunge and did my first event, and to my pleasant surprise, I did very well! The first year I took on these events I only did about 3 or 4. Within a few years’ time, by 2022 I was vending about 10-15 shows at much larger and more established events. As the events got larger, the price tag of investment got higher. I just had to keep telling myself that it was a risk I was willing to take, as I was seeing great results. It was an extensive learning process that I am still working on each and every year. It evolves constantly, just like my work. With time, it has become less scary and more impactful. The risk in this scenario was not only life changing but forced me to do something I was completely unsure would even work out in the first place. However, I now see the reward associated with the risk I took. It has taken me several years, with several upgrades to my booth, inventory, etc and requires a lot of diligence in concerns to keeping up with e-mails and vendor forms, but I am so happy I stuck with it. People from all over the country now approach my booth during the summer months to tell me how much they enjoy following my work online, or how happy they are to see it in person. This, in and of itself, makes it all the more worth my while.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Sure thing! I am an Erie, Pennsylvania based watercolor fine artist who enjoys exploring depth and meaning behind unity, oneness with self, psychology behind emotions and feelings, and man’s relationship/
I first began drawing and painting around the age of 12 but never saw myself as becoming a professional artist. Becoming an artist came with time, just as most good things do. At the age of 18 I began my journey with watercolors and at this point I have been painting in watercolors for about 10 years – attempting to master the medium.
Right after highschool, I struggled with thinking I should have gone to college to study art. The first few years of my career were focused solely on commission work, but as of recently, I have gotten away from this to focus on personal work and things that inspire me. I wanted to feel something; a spark that envelops you when you get an idea. That idea can give me the most visceral experience because I imagine what it would feel like to put down on paper and it’s just glorious. It’s more of an urge than a simple desire to paint. I often enter into a “flow state,” where nothing else around me matters except for the world I am immersed in when painting and listening to music. It’s a place where the outside world can be tuned out and my inner world can be turned on.
And now, as of 2023, my work has been featured all over the world in various formats, from magazine publications to book covers & album art, to gallery shows and solo shows. It’s been a long process and it’s always improving. I’m always learning, finding new ways to get my art out there, and continuously practicing and mastering my craft.
How did you build your audience on social media?
In 2007, at the age of 12, I was a young, budding creative looking to share my sketches with the world. Social media back then was much different than it is today, and a big social media presence was almost non-existent for many. I, like many other young people, had flocked to the coolest art-centric social media website in town called, “Deviantart.” Deviantart was my kryptonite as a tween, a place where I would spend hundreds of hours looking at my favorite artists, many of them whom inspired my own art journey in one way or another. At the time, I, like many others, were just looking for a place we could share art, look at art, and connect with other creatives. Gaining a huge following wasn’t the goal at the time, just a hobby I loved to pursue and a place to forget my worries. As the years went by, and Deviantart sort of went to the wayside, Facebook & Instagram became the new, “hot” places to post and share artwork. In 2014 I created my current Facebook business page under the name, “Fine Art by Kaitlyn Page,” which would later evolve to just my name, “Kaitlyn Page.”
Back in those days I would mainly post my art to Facebook groups with a link to my page. This is where I first began to truly build up a following. I also had some large pages, like the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine & The Artidote page, share some of my earlier works, which helped to get more eyes on what I was doing. However, I really started to see progress once I developed a solid style I could call my own. The first time I posted a tutorial video about working with watercolors, it went viral and got millions of views. I was both shocked & amazed so many people enjoyed watching me paint! My following soon exploded and now my Facebook page sits at a little over 460,000 followers. Those videos were vital, as many beginner artists found them to be helpful. As for Instagram, I didn’t begin posting my work there until much later and it has taken much longer to build a following – I now sit at around 160,000 followers on Instagram and am learning new ways to navigate it all the time.
Videos have become the main form of entertainment, ways to learn, etc on social media, so posting videos is now one of the absolutely best ways to have your work seen by a larger audience. I would recommend anyone just starting out to take their time with it; social media can eat you alive if you spend too much time trying to pump out content. Create content that satisfies your creative desires, create tutorials, and stand out among the crowd with your own personal signature style. I believe stretching the boundaries of watercolors in various ways helped me to build the following I have now. Post your works to Facebook groups, Reddit groups, or anywhere else that may get more eyes on your work. But most of all, don’t lose yourself in the process of trying to gain a large following. Just do what you love, be relatable, share your “before & after” photos, and just be yourself! People love engaging with those who are authentic.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I think one of the most rewarding aspects of being an artist, is in the ability to create a visual storybook of how I feel/where I was in my life when I painted a particular piece. I love being able to communicate my ideas visually, as it is very therapeutic for me. I also LOVE that I can do something I enjoy each and every day and am grateful I don’t need to work a regular 9-5 job just to get by. There are many rewarding aspects to being an artist, not just the few I mentioned. Some others would include the ability to relate to others through painting or inspiring a person of any age to pick up a paintbrush for the first time and start their own journey. Every person sees a painting differently and I find it beautiful that one person can look at the same image and see completely different meaning within the same piece.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kaitlynpage.storenvy.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/theinnerobserver
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/theinnerobserver
Image Credits
Alexandra Bochkareva