We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lady Delaney. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lady below.
Lady, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
My book, All Dolled Up, was an exciting challenge, calling upon a host of skills, many of which I had to develop in real time as I worked on it: book page layout, photography, copywriting. The first half of the book takes the form of a storybook, following the adventures of two misbehaving paper dolls. The second part is packed with DIY craft tutorials teaching you how to sculpt their wardrobe out of paper. Because writing, designing, photographing, and laying out the book was such a challenge, it was especially gratifying when it enjoyed some time as an Amazon #1 New Release it its category.
Lady, 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?
I am an artist primarily known for my miniatures. Miniatures are a form of storytelling like any other medium. For me, storytelling means losing myself in worlds of my imagination, and leaving trails for others to follow. The articulation of these invisible worlds is just as much a discovery for me, as it is for my audience.
In terms of art business operations and the craft itself, I am self trained. My first building blocks were scraps destined for the garbage bin. Now the things I create scatter in many directions: private collections, public installations, and photoshoots. I also collaborate with businesses in bringing their schemes to life. My work has appeared in the Tiffany & Co. holiday windows, the (miniature) wardrobes of Anthropologie, and, last summer, the Ann Arbor District Library’s Summer Game. In June 2023, I was invited to the Edward Gorey House museum, along with a coterie of other artists, to participate in a day of exploration and art making. Beginning July 22, some of my work will be part of an exhibit there, celebrating Gorey’s legacy. When not in my studio, I’m traveling, chasing ghosts and slipping into any open door I can find: chatting everyone up along the way, turning strangers into friends on trains, planes, and automobiles. Then writing some of it down.
Any business savvy I’ve cobbled together comes from YouTube videos, and by way of nurturing relationships with other movers, shakers, and troublemakers. The second has been especially important for my work, but also for enriching my life. One of the things I am proudest of is the wonderful spectrum of humans I’m honored to call friends: republicans, democrats, libertarians, socialists; street performers, voodoo priestesses, hoteliers, rocket scientists; Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims; people of every hue, persuasion, and stripe. My friends set a high standard in my life and challenge my thinking when it is too rigid. They also keep me buoyant when the vagaries of freelance get me down (which they still regularly do, so don’t be discouraged if that part sounds familiar). People will surprise you if you are generous enough to give them a chance, and one of the great delights of life is discovering that they’ll never quite fit into the boxes you’ve prepared for them.
As my fellow college graduates headed off to advanced degrees and internships at fancy firms, I went to work at a Colorado dude ranch. Experience over academics has been a hallmark of my journey, though I don’t regret any time spent as a mediocre student in the classrooms of teachers who gave it their best shot: I wouldn’t be the same if you removed any single rung of my journey. If you are interested in embarking on a career as an artist, put yourself in the way of meeting all kinds of people, and placing yourself into unfamiliar terrain. Consider prioritizing this over incurring debt to hang a piece of paper on your wall. It’s not the only way, and it’s not the right way for everyone, but it’s been my way.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Life’s challenges disguise opportunities. We roll our eyes at cliches like this, while simultaneously knowing in our hearts that they can contain life’s truthiest truths. In speaking with others post-covid, again and again many will sort of timidly offer up the silver lining they discovered in its upheaval. It doesn’t negate the seriousness of crisis, but it’s a lovely attribute of humans that we are able to adapt, and to find opportunities in hardship and disruption. I like narratives that emphasize resilience over victimhood. It’s easy to bemoan the state of the world, and it doesn’t take a lot of creativity to list what’s going wrong. It takes imagination—and courage—to say “Yes, but…”
When my brick & mortar shut down during Covid, fellow New Orleans artist Kathy Hume and I launched an adventure of which I remain tremendously proud. For the price of a cup of coffee, we offered a downloadable chapter of a story each week which explored—in words and DIY projects—the rooms of a haunted New Orleans mansion. The adventure was engineered so that you could construct this tiny mansion at minimal cost, using objects that would be readily available in most households: kitchen sponges, stray buttons, cardboard boxes, etc. We received wonderful feedback from people who took real solace in being able to escape into its rooms and pages, and it reaffirmed for me the truth that craft and art can be therapeutic, a fact which many crafters chuckle about amongst themselves. I believe I also speak for Kathy when I say that crafting this adventure for subscribers offered us purpose, comfort, and distraction at a time when it was needed. “Adieu Grimm Gables” remains a popular item in my Etsy and online shop. With almost 200 pages of instantly downloadable fun, it’s not just for a pandemic; it’s also great for a rainy day, or as accompaniment to your favorite ghost story podcast (mine is Real Life Ghost Stories Podcast with Irish host Emma). You can purchase Adieu Grimm Gables here, should you dare:
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
There is a pervasive idea that you need to say yes to everything when you’re first getting started. Don’t. It pays to be discriminating and some collaborations will turn out to be derailing time wasters. You get entrapped in a few and then you recognize them when they come knocking.
When you feel stuck, tackle a new skill. My daily and weekly schedules are all over the place, but one thing I am consistent about is submitting myself to monthly and yearly reviews, taking inventory of everything from theater shows and museums I’ve attended, to work I’ve produced, to inspiring coffee sessions with friends, or how engaged I’ve been via social channels. It helps me to be accountable to myself and to track progress against different variables, both measurable (like revenue) and a little more fluid (what kind of time am I giving to personal relationships and putting myself in the way of inspiration?). I use the same form (simply a running Google document with monthly bullet points) to project goals and bigger-picture aspirations. I’ve made peace with being flexible within these projections as interesting opportunities come along. Google calendar and Asana haven proven indispensable for daily task management.
People want to hear affirmation that they can “do it,” but what a lot of people miss is that success depends on the very unglamorous day-to-day grind and persistence, moving the dial forward just a bit each day. Stop overthinking and get started. That means spending a single hour today following that impulse that’s been nagging at you. I know it can be hard but your art supplies are feeling neglected. So go and destroy the paintbrushes. They can’t feel pain (that we know of) and that’s what they’re there for. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.LadyDelaney.com
- Instagram: @lady.delaney
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theladydelaney/
- Other: https://amzn.to/3NUQVYr
Image Credits
The photograph of me + topiary animals is a portrait by Adrien Broom: https://www.adrienbroom.com/ All of the rest of the photographs were taken by be.