We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Keisha Finnie. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Keisha below.
Hi Keisha, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
My journey as an artist began from my very first art class in kindergarten where one of my first murals now lives (Nurture Your Mind). I’ve always taken art classes in grade school as well as trying to take the college route but plans changed when my financial aid didn’t go through. I came home and received my first full time job as a now graduated adult. Art was off of my radar for a few years until about 2015 when I started working at a local AC Moore Craft Store that ultimately exposed back to the artist lifestyle. Over the next few years I was working many part time jobs to support my art in hopes of being able to quit and earn a full time living from my creative work. I showed in a local gallery and did a number of pop up events locally as well as neighboring cities like Philadelphia. The piece of work that changed my career and life was in 2020 after the tragic killing of George Floyd; myself and a few local artists I knew collaborated and created a mural in the midst of the protests honoring the lives of those lost to police brutality. From that day my art career has been taking to places I couldn’t have even imagined without all of the support and love of those around me. I was able to finally quit my part time job in June 2021 and have been working non-stop since.
Keisha, 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?
Art has always been something I been naturally good at since my very first class in kindergarten and it’s been a lifelong journey since then. A big start for me in the beginning of the year was social media; alot of my very first sales and support came from people on instagram. I provide a list of services from canvas paintings, drawings, digital art, murals, workshops, henna tattoos and just about any way art can be integrated in life I will try it. I think what sets me a part from others is my energy, work ethic, discipline and my natural ability to learn being that I am a self taught artist.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
One goal driving my creative journey would be evolution. Growing up and seeing myself now and as I was as a child; my ultimate goal is to just be myself and love and appreciate everything that has brought me to this point. I want to create art that is true to myself and the black woman/artist I am. A lot of my work depicts black women not only because thats who i see in the mirror everyday but to show the beauty strength, resilience, joy, softness of black women that isn’t in the history of art they teach us.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding this for me as an artist is to be seen and supported for exactly who I am and the art I put into the world. Of course artists create to make a living but even without the money art would still be heavily incorporated in my life; being able to do what I love and have nurtured my whole while being able to sustain a living from that would be my most rewarding aspect of being a creative because I know how hard it took to get here. It’s not an opportunity that everyone has the privilege of.
Contact Info:
- Website: keishafinnie.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/keishafinnie
- Facebook: facebook.com/keishafinnie
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/keishafinnie
- Twitter: twitter.com/keishafinnie
Image Credits
Michelle Johnsen Photography Rune & Rook (headshot)