We were lucky to catch up with Laura Fox-Wallis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Laura thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?
Before I became a full time artist, I was a high school art teacher for fifteen years. The hardest part of my job was teaching my students to let go of perfection and see progress as an empowering step to gain knowledge, motivation, and confidence in one’s artwork. When I talk about progress, I am talking about the steps we take to develop our skill and move towards mastery. I found when artists create, the focus tends to be on the end result instead of the journey they took to get there.
This has a lot to do with society’s expectation of artistic ability. You either have talent or you don’t. Here is the thing, we know this isn’t true, yet some of us abide by this rule. Maybe not intentionally, but internally. To be an artist, you have to be vulnerable. There is a struggle with the idea of perfectionism because we all want to be the best versions of ourselves but it can be paralyzing to our creative growth.
As an art educator I was able to look at the creative process from an outside perspective. Interacting and observing my students not only gave me insight to my student’s mindset, but also to my own. My beginner students found new materials and techniques to be daunting and overwhelming. My accomplished students worked hard to master a particular technique over time but they also got comfortable. They found something they were good at and didn’t want to explore beyond what was safe. I was frustrated not only with my students, but also with my own work. My work was static. I was not growing my artistic style. I realized I allowed thoughts and feelings of perfection to hinder my own creative ambition because it was easier than exposing myself through my work. I was seeing the same in my students.
Once the realization hit, I changed the focus in my classroom from product to process. The new mantra was “Progress over Perfection.” I started encouraging the students to give themselves permission to fail, take risks, and make ugly art. Together we learned, progress is messy and sometimes unsightly, it doesn’t shine like an artwork ready for exhibit. Fear of failing, making mistakes, fear of not meeting people’s expectations and being criticized, prevented us from producing work in our most creative form. Progress is often viewed as failing. But through failure we learn, it provides more insight than effortless excellence. By holding back you are not allowing yourself to be fully and honestly expressed through your art.
Once we changed the narrative and shifted our mindset to focus on the magic that happens in the process, the classroom became a creative community. We explored together, grew together, and created together. I saw confident, creative students embrace self-doubt, expecting and accepting imperfection along the way. Those moments of fearless creative problem solving is what the progress is all about. It opens doors to new modes of experimentation and growth. This can be true for any creative endeavor, it doesn’t have to be art. We all have the innate desire to explore, invent, problem solve. So whether you are a designer, entrepreneur, chef, don’t shy away from pushing boundaries and exploring your creative potential.
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?
Sixteen years ago I was standing in an art room in Greenwood, Indiana watching my colleague give a demonstration on silk painting to her students. At the time I was 24, in my second year of teaching, and considered myself a ceramic artist. As fate would have it, that year I had to teach one fiber arts class due to additional interest in the class. I had my background in sewing, thanks to my Grandma, but I didn’t know a lot about fiber arts beyond sewing and stitching. Therefore, whenever I didn’t know how to teach something, I would observe the other fiber arts teacher and then teach the same lesson to my students the following class period.
She had already stretched a crisp white silk scarf onto a frame and was talking about how dye bleeds, spreading through the silk fibers. At the time, I was only somewhat paying attention. Then I swear magic happened. I watched as she touched the brush to the silk and the most vibrant, beautiful magenta flowed out onto the silk. I was hooked. The following week, I made my first silk scarf alongside my students. Within just a few months, I walked away from clay forever and started painting on silk.
All these years later, I am still painting on silk. Silk painting is like watercolor in so many ways but also very different. The sheen of the silk, the depth of the fibers, and the ability to blend unlike watercolor creates an elegance that cannot be reproduced on paper. For me, my skills on silk are a marriage of watercolor techniques and silk techniques.
In December of 2020, I resigned as an art educator due to a family move from South Carolina to Texas. This move allowed me the opportunity to take my silk painting from a side hustle to a full time business. Rooted Expressions Studio was born and in one year, I have sold over 200 artworks and silk fashion accessories. Walking away from teaching was really hard, but thanks to the pandemic and an over night push to teach online, I used those new skills to develop two online digital silk painting courses. I am now teaching silk painting to clients all over the world, a reach I never would have imagined two years ago. Moving forward I plan to launch several more online art courses, all with the focus of progress over perfection teaching others to create without fear of failure.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
When I describe myself, I can use artist and educator interchangeably. I am no more one than the other. As a creative entrepreneur, I have two main goals in my studio. One, my journey to become an established artist, having an original and recognizable collection of work. Two, my passion to share my creative education with others, empowering them to find joy in the creative process no matter their skill level.
These are my highest priorities, these two goals direct every business decision I make. By focusing on these two paths, I am able to decide quickly if a new idea is worth exploring or if it takes away from my mission as an artist/educator. This doesn’t mean I am not taking risks or diversifying my profits. Instead it helps me define my brand and my studio into a recognizable space both online and in-person.
Creating a clear mission or goal that defines the overarching purpose of your business will help you build the foundation for your work. When you are a new entrepreneur there is a lot of overwhelm and decision fatigue, which quickly leads to burnout. With clearly defined goals I am able to refocus and direct my energy into opportunities that support my ongoing focus of creating art and sharing art.
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 wasn’t born talented. I didn’t pick up a pencil one day and start rendering perfect, photo real compositions. Did you just pick up a book and start reading one day?
Reading, like art is a learned skill that starts with basic foundations. Just as you learned to identify the letters in the alphabet, an artist learned the basic Elements of Art (color, form, line, shape, space, texture, and value). From there you learned specific skills which taught you how to speak, read, and write proficiently. Same with art. You build on those foundational skills overtime. So when you see an artwork, you are seeing years of experience, not an innate talent.
My work is derived from years of learning, practicing, and established creative routines. I always liked art so naturally I gravitated towards learning more about it. I took art every year I was in school. I then pursued art as a career in college. Teaching art gave me the opportunity to not only teach my students but learn from them as well. I have spent hours creating, experimenting, and exploring silk painting in my studio. My level of expertise as a silk painter did not happen overnight, it is still evolving.
So in the future, when someone tells you they are an artist, don’t respond with, “I can’t draw a straight line.” Instead, ask to see their work, ask about their journey, and ask what they love about art. Otherwise you are going to get the artist’s go-to, snarky response of, “Neither can I, that is what rulers are for.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rootedexpressions.com
- Instagram: @rootedexpressionsstudio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RootedExpressionsStudio
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrn2ba1xdoQQJ0E2xzmCPAw
Image Credits
Alicia Leigh Photography