We recently connected with Lacey Finchum and have shared our conversation below.
Lacey , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
The short answer is, I taught myself through practice, videos and tutorials, seeking out teachers and apprenticeships, and gleaning information from everywhere I could. While I’ve done lots of fun and interesting things regardless of art and painting, I can’t help but wonder where I might be if I’d pursued the craft at an earlier age. I didn’t have the confidence in myself to pursue it earlier. However, I can also see how the things I did pursue instead of art and painting now influence my work. If I could share one message through my story and my work it’d be, “Just start! Wherever you are, no matter what age, etc., If you have any kind of dream inside of you that you haven’t started to pursue, just start then practice every day.”
I always wanted to be an artist, though that’s not always what I told people nor what I was always working toward. That was the first thing I remember wanting to be and it never really went away. I didn’t start painting until I was in my 30’s. When I did start, it was because someone asked me to paint a scene on an old saw blade. To be fair, I did do some creative activities like photography, wire sculpture, and jewelry before that but, I didn’t think of myself as an artist and certainly wasn’t a painter.
So, when the friend asked for me to paint something, I wasn’t really sure that I could do it but, I was excited to try. I hadn’t really painted much of anything since I was in middle school so, I did some research and found a tutorial of how to paint a snowy mountain/cabin scene on a saw blade. As I followed the tutorial, I realized that we were doing exactly what I thought you should do and that it wasn’t looking too bad!
That year and a half I painted about a dozen saw blades with various scenes on them. Twelve is a really tiny number but in those 12, I learned a whole lot and saw huge improvement. And most importantly, I loved it! I couldn’t get enough! I was slow and struggled thru most of those 12 but I knew I had to keep going.
About a year and a half or so after starting I had my first commission from someone I didn’t know. That’s when I knew I was going to turn this hobby into a career but, I didn’t really know what that would look like, I just jumped in. I moved from the saw blades to painting on canvas. At first, I was incorporating my wire trees into the images then, as my images began to be able to stand on their own, I started focusing solely on canvas. For about 2 years I was painting nearly every day for at least 2 hours. I knew I liked surrealism but didn’t really know where any of this was going. It was when another friend asked me to paint a mural for her that I knew what I really wanted to do with my art.
That first mural was her entire lounge/library room. Each wall was a different scene as if standing on a hill and being able to see all directions including the sky. One corner was a sandy beach at sunset in the summer and the opposite corner was the northern lights over the rocky beaches of Lake Superior. Walking into the imagery in that room, the imagery that had been only in my head a few months before, was the best feeling in the entire world. That’s when I knew what my real art business was about, turning dreams into reality and creating life size imagery from the visions, dreams and imaginations of my clients and myself.
Lacey , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hi, I’m Lacey Finchum of Lace Finch Art and I bring dreams to life with my surreal and fantasy murals, and trompe l’oeil doorways. Trompe l’oeil, literally trick the eye, is a style of painting that uses perspective, and light and shadow to trick the eye into believing what you’re seeing could be real or 3D instead of 2D. This style of painting is used often in murals and decorative painting to enhance a space by giving the illusion that a wall has been removed and some other world is within view.
I began this style of painting by painting on walls but now often prefer to paint on a fabric like material that can be hung indoors or out in a similar way to wall paper. By using this fabric, I can take my time in my studio to create some fairly realistic looking images and ship my work anywhere in the world. While I do some installations myself, my methods allow for my work to be hung by local wall paper installers according to my specifications and allows my clients the ability to invest in the artwork and not travel expenses.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding part of being an artist is seeing my hard work pay off and my visions come to life. I didn’t think I had the ability to do what I currently do so every completed painting is a bit of a surprise to me. To stand in front of, or in some cases within, some imagery that existed only in my head before that, is just the greatest feeling. It’s also pretty great to witness the surprise and delight in others when they see the finished work.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think non-creatives may not understand what a personal journey being an artist is. An artist pours their heart and soul into their work and are often their worst critics. So part of being an artist is constantly overcoming your inner gremlins and opening yourself up to the judgements of others. And, no matter how good you get, your inner critic will always be able to find an issue with whatever you produce.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lacefinchart.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lacefinch_art
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/lacefinchart
Image Credits
Lacey Finchum Brittaney Finchum Ray Christine Riutzel