We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelley Wills. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelley below.

Kelley, appreciate you 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?

As of this year I have been able to earn a full time living from my creative work. It was a long winding road to get here but I think that has been a big part of developing a more unique style. The journey really started in college, around 2012 I made my first show poster for a friends band. I drew the whole design in hand with colored pencil. As more poster opportunities came up I slowly started to use photoshop. I would draw the design in pencil, trace over it with a micron pen then scan the design into photoshop and add color, it was quite the process. Over time I added a Wacom tablet into the mix but it still felt a little clunky. It wasn’t until a couple years ago when procreate came out for the iPad that I really felt like I had my process down and I could see a career coming together. The longer journey of finding the right tools really helped me take the time to develop my personal style. I don’t think I could have sped this process up and maintained authenticity, much like a musician the artist’s voice takes time to find.

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?

I have always found art to be a therapeutic escape and have been creating and drawing as far back as I can remember. I gravitated towards printmaking in high school at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC and went on to study various processes in including intaglio and lithography at the College of Charleston. After graduating I felt a bit discouraged with the professional art world, I always found myself more drawn to folk and outsider artists, like Clementine Hunter, Henry Darger, and Bill Traylor, so naturally I went to work on a flower farm. There I slowly got involved with marketing efforts and opportunities to brand farms nearby. My love of folk art and printmaking have greatly influenced my style to be anything by corporate so working with small businesses and musicians has been a great fit.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

When I first started out, my freelance was defiantly a side hustle. Often I did work for people I directly knew but as word of mouth slowly spread the connections rippled out to new communities. Because I initially didn’t rely on freelance for my full-time income I often did a lot of donated projects, often seeking them out myself. I would reach out to nonprofits or businesses that I felt like could be a fit and would greatly appreciate a free logo. It sounds simple but hard work and a positive attitude have been the biggest factors for gaining new clients, especially in this day and age of social media and sharing.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I have always wanted my art to have purpose, beyond hanging on a wall. It gives me such joy to be able to lift up small businesses with branding that fits their personal styles and to represent the hard work of musicians visually (whether it’s on apparel, album art, tour posters etc). Sometimes I’m overwhelmed, sometimes burnout, but sometimes it hits me right in the stomach with a feeling I can only describe as a positive reaffirming ball of energy that I’m right where I need to be, doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to be doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brainflowerdesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainflowerdesigns/