We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katelan Foisy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Katelan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
I can’t imagine myself in another career but I believe that is from working different jobs while putting myself out there as an artist. I spent most of my time after I graduated college trying to get illustration jobs and a rep while working retail to pay the bills. I loved the friendships I made while working retail and in copy and shipping centers. I love that I had hands-on education with customer service, schedules, computer programs, how printers work, and how to ship fragile items safely. I also knew it was temporary. While I enjoyed my time learning I also knew retail, shipping etc was not for me. I would dream about making my art, working for clients etc while I was at the job. I’d get frustrated when I didn’t have a creative outlet at work. I even remember crying on my manager’s lap at The Body Shop after graduating college (Thanks Kim.)I knew it would take a while to build up a clientele. I knew I probably wouldn’t get a break until 10 years later but I was determined. Being in the creative field is hard. It can be feast or famine and it keeps changing with time. Right after I graduated there was a small uptick in illustration opportunities followed by a rapid decline a year or two later. I knew I had to have a secondary job until I could fully make a transition. I also knew my career would be a mix of things incorporating them under an umbrella of sorts. There have been times when I’m looking for new projects and thinking about what it would be like to get a steady paycheck week to week or have a steady schedule with time off, vacations, and weekends. Being in my field can be a very lonely place sometimes. Often when I’m on a project I don’t have a social life. My life can be all nighters with naps in between. I don’t think a lot of people fully understand how much work goes into being an artist and that I’m not fully available a lot of the time. In that aspect I think about what it would be like with a set schedule and time to go out. That being said, I’m very proud of the work I’ve done and what I have created for myself and have no plans of stopping. I feel like I’m building for the future with a focus on projects with ongoing work, royalties etc which will create more stability in the long run.
Katelan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As a child I wanted to be an actress working in film and being famous like Marilyn Monroe. As I got older I found myself more involved with physical pieces of art. I was enamored by photography, I loved theater backdrops, I would leaf through magazines and books and look at the illustrations, and watch videos enamored with the set designs. My career has shifted and changed over the years. I remember in High school I thought I would be a graphic designer working mostly in layouts and on the computer. That changed when I focused on illustration in college working in mixed media. When I graduated I got to work right away sending my work out and emailing people with my portfolio links. I also focused on finding an agent right away. My first few years trying to make it were a mixed bag. There were some big clients like The Grammy Awards and there were many small publications. I never felt like there was a big break but in a way I think I was always waiting for one. I used to get upset when the only people paying attention to what I was doing were friends and then I realized it was my greatest asset. When you have people that support you, share your work, give you constructive criticism, and recommend you it starts to add up. All of my biggest jobs came from introductions from friends or word of mouth. It wasn’t until I got into my 30s that my career stepped up a level. I started choosing my projects and the people I wanted to work with. This gave me more fulfilling experiences. I started working with Tayannah Lee McQuillar on the Sibyls Oraculum and The Hoodoo Tarot first through a friendship that formed and then through a shared artistic vision. My style has changed over the years as well. I started in collage and then focused on acrylic, from there I added in pen and ink, paper shadow puppets, digital coloring, hand drawn images and other mediums. I even incorporated photography and film into my work. This change really occurred when I started working with William Patrick Corgan and The Smashing Pumpkins. In school I was taught to have one distinct style and work with it. I always felt a bit confined by that. When I started to work with William he asked for things in specific styles. I was really pulled out of my comfort zone which allowed my work to get progressively better. Working on the designs for the Starburst and Stage of Madame Zuzu’s Teahouse allowed me to work larger and through a fear of heights. Of course these projects were formed through friendships, once again reminding me of the power of relationships. For instance Nicole Fiorentino, who I have been friends with since preschool, was the former bassist of Smashing Pumpkins and introduced William and I knowing we would get along. We formed a friendship long before working together and it shifted over time. Over the past few years my career once again has started to shift, incorporating more backdrops for tours, props, writing, helping others find their style, large painted backdrops for homes and home design. I think you have to allow your career to shift. Technology changes, the job pools expand and decrease and your interest or personal style may morph into something different. I think it’s important to have your hands in many things and to create many forms or streams of income even if others don’t quite understand your vision. This creates stability as well as broadens your knowledge and experience.
I’m currently working on a number of exciting projects I’m not able to talk about at the moment but will be thrilled when they come out in the future.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I have a few goals. The first is to feel happy and nourished in my art. I plan on creating as much as I can in the next year. I’m setting up projects for the future that not only fulfill my creativity but give back long term. I want to make sure that I am taken care of so in turn I can take care of others. I very much believe in artists supporting artists so that will always be a key piece in my journey.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
There are two lessons I really needed to unlearn to become successful. The first was caring what people thought of me and letting it guide my choices. I used to really listen to people and change to fit their needs. It never worked because you’ll never make everyone happy all at once. I realized some people giving advice had good intentions and others had ulterior motives. I started seeing that when someone would put me down or tell me something I had done or that I wasn’t looking the part etc it was less about me and more about them. Maybe they were unhappy in their life and projecting on me. I found out I had to focus only on my story, not anyone around. I stopped comparing my career to others and remained focused on my strengths. It’s a constant battle. People will still try and be “helpful” some are and some aren’t. If you refocus and really listen you’ll know who has your best interest and who doesn’t. There will also be people that don’t know you, who have never had a conversation with you that will judge or project on you. You cannot control what others will perceive. Once you let that go you’;ll be a lot happier. You won’t let others decide your happiness, your direction, or who you will be.
The second was that having problems and feeling sad was a bad thing. Being sad or feeling uncomfortable just means something isn’t right. Having problems doesn’t mean you’re stuck or that there is no solution. Often we get in a rut because we’re going through something. We don’t exactly have the answer, we’re going through a rough time, experiencing depression, frustration etc. Often when I’m feeling this way I’ll give my self some time to let my body and mind feel what it needs to. Then I will make lists of my problems or feelings and come up with three things I can do to work through it. Under those I put three more backup things to do, then under that I add three more things in case the others don’t work. This allows me to see that I’m not fully stuck. I can make small movements that will shift my mood, the energy etc and that this will not be long term. We learn from what causes us strife. It may take a while but we have that knowledge and we can use it to create happiness and success.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.katelanfoisy.com
- Instagram: @katelanfoisy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katelanfoisy/
- Twitter: @katelanfoisy
Image Credits
Katelan Foisy Corrine Luxon