We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Karen Light. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Karen below.
Karen, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
Being an artist means that I get to feed my innate desire as a human to create. For that and for all the self-awareness, insights, explorations, connections, and fun it has brought me, I know that I am happier.
But sometimes, here and there, this question does arise when I have times of financial stress or want something that I simply can’t afford. Or when I feel a little fatigued in the process of bringing in new work.
I think it is healthy to question, check in, and make sure you are on a good path. So, I let myself go there for a bit.
This has been coming up for me lately because I have some new artistic ideas that I really want to dive into. A part of me ponders, “Would it be easier to make money at a regular job to free up energy/time to unravel these new ideas?”
It does seem like it would be easier in some ways. All the effort I put into the marketing and content creation could be redirected. I wouldn’t have to stress about money as I follow the new ideas…
I picture myself at the two full-time jobs that I have had. Both were incredibly meaningful jobs that, at one point, I thought I would do for a long time. I had lovely co-workers and was passionate about the mission. These weren’t boring 9-5ers. And they paid the bills nicely.
But I soon remember the moment at the first job when I sat down at my desk one morning and felt zero motivation for anything. I stared at the screen wondering how I was going to get anything done that day and realizing that I hadn’t made art in months. And I also remember the moment at the second job when I realized that the job was never going to nurture me in the way I needed to be nurtured and, instead, left me depleted.
Then, I am flooded with gratitude that I had the bravery to quit both times in pursuit of a different, more creative way of living. I remember how I actually enjoy creating so much of my marketing content – how it is a creative process that has spawned so many new ideas and helped me to grow. I remember how much I enjoy meeting new people at networking events and online. I’m obsessed with how much I get to co-create with others all the time.
Colorful and playful stories, meaningful and insightful imagery are the main characters of my life. Art is the heartbeat of my life. And my decision to pursue a soulful living with art and to help others to do the same is reaffirmed.
The truth is I didn’t make this decision. This path chose me. I know it has chosen me because I am obsessed with the journey and transformation that takes me further along. I feel full of purpose and usually full of good creative energy. It is my job to look for the signposts or breadcrumbs that help me to know I am still on it.
Furthermore, I believe that if you feel called to live as an artist, then you have to find some way to see that through (which could look like a lot of things). It is a responsibility given to you for a reason.
Sometimes, I really want to shirk that responsibility and just “be normal,” as I’m sure most people feel about their callings. But I can’t because my most driving mission, and the reason I think that I am here, is to awaken creative power. As an artist I have a tremendous responsibility to play my part in creating a new world. We help people imagine, question, and create things. We know this process. And it is a superpower that we all possess and must unlock for a different future than the devastating one we have now.
It sounds so serious, but the irony is that there is sooooo much fun to be had in the making! Such a joy to create. I live for it. And I live for the moments when I get to help others experience that for themselves – unlock their own unique creative visions, take the risks to go for it, feel the power they possess to make something they imagined turn into reality. There is no bigger thrill for me.
And it isn’t just about making art – it is about creating your LIFE! So, as artists, how do we find a way to do business in the same creative way we do art?? That is such a juicy question and a necessary one. Because it HAS to be sustainable and things that are grueling are not sustainable nor attractive to others. And we HAVE to unpack all the lies that tell us we should accept very little and be starving artists. We have to thrive so we can bring this creativity into the world for the world to evolve.
So, long story short. I’m here for the long haul. I’m going to continue to peel back the layers of fear and scarcity and continue to find that well of abundance, creativity, growth, and fulfillment that I am here for. That we all are here for.
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 background and context?
When I look back over the last few decades of my life as an artist, I see a common thread that has only shown up in words in recent years: Awaken Creative Power.
Doodling has become my muse, my mindset, and my tool to help myself and others playfully discover the creative power within and use it in the process of both inner and outer transformation.
Through my company, Studio Light Illustration, I partner with self-publishing authors and artists to create illustrations for stories that nurture humanity. I believe that through a process of deep listening and co-creation, we can make something together that is more magical than the sum of its parts!
I often work with first-time, self-publishing authors who are a little unsure about how they can make their dream come true. Therefore, I am passionate about supporting them through the whole process and giving them tools to feel empowered in not only producing their book, but promoting their book.
On the artist side, I have built my business with an apprenticeship for beginning illustrators! This is a program through which I mentored illustrators who wanted more freelance work in exchange for their creative help on numerous business projects. Talent, practical skills, support, and joy can go a long way and now most of them have become Studio Light represented artists with numerous illustration projects under their belt.
I continue to take one Apprentice at a time and have also built a Creative Group Coaching program for struggling artists who want to make a soulful living. About once every other month, I hold a free Practical Creativity Gathering for creatives to learn from experts on a variety of topics that can help them to build a successful creative career.
How did I get here?
Art was always a given. I was always an artist and always going to be an artist. But what I do with art in the world is an ever evolving process.
The first strong vision I had happened while watching Dead Poet’s Society in my 8th grade English class. I wanted to be Mr. Keating. I was going to be an art teacher.
I went to college as a double major in art and education. My education classes were awul. I hated them. They depressed me. I dropped education and decided to get a BFA. But I kept teaching. I taught at a camp during the summer and tutored kids during the school year. I graduated, moved to Chicago, got a studio, and became a nanny to pay the bills where I kept making art with kids.
I went back to school for a “more practical” education in Arts Management. I had learned about the concept of using art for social change and wanted in! I interned with an arts organization doing just that, wrote my thesis on why arts needed to be a part of social justice education and came back to the States where I worked for a few activist organizations, using my creativity. I also discovered the whole world of Teaching Artist where I could combine my passion for art, education, and social justice.
Somewhere along the way, I met a fellow teaching artist who wrote a story and asked me to illustrate it. I did it. Someone saw it and wanted me to do their story. And I began as a freelance illustrator alongside teaching. Until I was completely and utterly exhausted by the teaching profession and struggling to pay high rents in Chicago.
I took a leap of faith, started my company, got rid of 90% of my things, and traveled around part of the country doing farmwork in exchange for rent/food while I tried to build my company. Pandemic hit. I had nothing else to focus on, but my company. It grew and is still growing…
Where am I going?
As I mentioned, what I do with art is always evolving! I have really landed on the tool of doodling as a way to unlock creativity and new ideas in both “artists” and “non-artists” alike.
Because of this, I have written a children’s book called Once Upon a Doodle and created the Creative Wisdom Doodle Deck. I have more ideas for doodle books and doodle decks unfolding…
Doodles have also become the focus of my blog. I have regular Doodle-Shops for anyone to come and see what amazing things their creativity can reveal to them. I now offer one-to-one doodle guidance sessions too.
I know. I should be neat and tidy and have one thing to focus on and present to you dear reader. But I LOVE creating, I LOVE evolving, I LOVE new ideas, and I am a messy artist indeed :)
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I have been unlearning that changing yourself and the world has to be serious, hard work.
Look, I don’t know why I came into this world with an intense desire to make it a better place, but I did. My heroes have always been artists who make a difference, who speak out through the things they create and otherwise.
So I have always gone there with my art and pursuits – gone there into the deep dark caves. I have always wanted to see it for myself and understand why these things were happening.
All this is well and good. Except that, then, I would just be upset and get really serious and have to do a million things to try to make it better…
The end of my teaching career really flipped the switch on this. I had really loud voices that said I was giving up on my ideals and the kids who needed me to just go have a little fun. But I really wanted a little fun. I really wanted to feel lighter. I really wanted to play with colors and be outside. I felt smothered by the weight of what I had been carrying.
Little by little, I started to unpack this lie. I started to see what Joseph Campbell really meant when he said to follow your bliss.
Your bliss is your guidepost – your breadcrumbs – that say, “This is your path!! This is where you will create the ripples of change you seek!! I put it in your joy so you would want to do it and never tire of it!!”
I am still unpacking it and probably will for a while. But everytime I rip off a big piece, I feel a difference in my energy, an excitement in my bones, and I literally SEE in real-life evidence that this is the truth of it all.
I remember having a breakthrough at the beginning of the pandemic and immediately being contacted by three people who wanted me to illustrate their books. I had another one a few weeks ago, and immediately three people with really fun opportunities reached out to me (like this one!).
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
A few thoughts:
1. Realize that you are not separate from the creative eco-system. Supporting artists/creatives is supporting yourself and the world you want to/do live in. Stop and think about it for a minute. Art is constantly making your life better.
2. Don’t ask for them to do work for you in exchange for promotion. We have real bills to pay and real skills to offer.
3. Support your children and the young people in your life who want to pursue the life of an artist. Don’t freak them out about it. Help them find the plethora of resources and opportunities available to them.
4. Recognize and respect the valuable role of the artist. They help us to imagine what is possible. They model the necessity and joy of making a mess while we figure things out. They teach us how to create what was once just a vision. Some artists do this directly and some do it indirectly. Some make art about the issues of our times and some make art that makes us pause, reflect, see beauty, feel something, and/or get curious. We need it all. The stories, the paintings, the songs, the shows, the poems, the dances… all of this ignites our humanity. Reconnects us to our souls. Calls us to our highest selves. Reminds us of our connection, our oneness.
5. On a super practical level, ask the artists in your life how you can support them. There are so many little and big ways, unique to the type of artist they are and the vision they are working to achieve. I promise your life will be richer for it.
Contact Info:
- Website: studiolightillustration.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/studiolightillustration
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenlight/
Image Credits
Photo of me with the doodle is a screenshot captured by Andy Swindler.