Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liesl Walsh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Liesl, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’m a landscape and cityscape photographer, and for years I dreamed of selling prints of my work. But when I went to art school no one taught me how to market my work, so I had to figure that out on my own over the years. I tried a few ways of selling online and in person, and discovered Fine Art America was the easiest platform to use. It’s a print on demand company that makes my prints for me and ships them worldwide.

I love using this platform because their prints are museum quality, the best I have seen anywhere. I’ve been using them for ten years. It was a slow start to get sales in the beginning. But over time I learned important strategies to get my work noticed on their website and began to sell regularly. Now I have a large audience who enjoy my prints and collect them.

I knew a lot of artists and photographers who struggled to earn a living selling their prints, and there weren’t any courses that taught how to do it using the Fine Art America platform. Others noticed my success and encouraged me to create an online course sharing my strategies.

So in 2023 I took a leap of faith and spent five months recording videos to create an online course teaching artists and photographers how to sell their art online using Fine Art America. It’s called “Selling Photos Online: How I Broke The Code”. I teach how to build a website on Fine Art America, customize it for maximum impact, build a strong portfolio, and how to connect with people in your niche to increase print sales, without using ads. I also do weekly live zoom coaching videos with students.

And the response has been incredible! I’m getting excellent feedback from students that it is a life-changing course. Students are selling much faster than I did when I started selling online. It’s exciting to see their success and to see my course making a difference in their lives.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I began as an art teacher in Pennsylvania and later became a professional photographer after moving to Florida. I specialize in landscapes and cityscapes. I live on the Gulf Coast in Venice, Florida and enjoy taking photos of the coastlines, nature, and historic buildings in this area. I’ve also explored Europe and have images of France, Spain, and Italy in my portfolio.

I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and trained with famous French photographer Serge Ramelli to receive a Masters of Photography. For a couple years I assisted Serge teaching photographers online from around the world.

After becoming a best-seller on Fine Art America selling prints of my work, I was encouraged to record a class sharing my successful marketing strategies. In 2023 I released the class, “Selling Photos Online: How I Broke The Code”. It’s been a huge success, and since then I’ve released other online courses about photography editing, sky replacements, and give portfolio reviews. I also started a YouTube channel.

After seeing my students’ success I was invited to become an instructor at KelbyOne, an online education community of thousands of photographers worldwide. It is an honor to be selected by them and a pleasure to teach photography and how to sell prints online.

One of the things that makes my images stand out from others is they capture a strong emotion of the location, with a mysterious and peaceful feeling. Sometimes dramatic and soothing at the same time. I like to capture the location at its very best with excellent light and strong composition. My images are unique and well thought out.

I’ve become well-known in my area of Florida for my images, and my work hangs in many local homes and businesses. I’ve been published many times in local magazines. The City of Venice printed my work on vinyl wraps for their public works vehicles, and it’s fun to see my images drive around town. It’s a special honor this year to have my photo of the historic 1926 Venice train depot printed on the book cover: “Venice: A Century on the Gulf” by Larry Humes, a brand new book celebrating a hundred years of Venice history. He chose my image because it portrays the emotion of this historic structure.

My images of the Venice Fishing Pier won the billboard contest on Fine Art America two years in a row, with the images printed on billboards near the Orlando area and in Clearwater, Florida in 2021 and 2022.

An exciting moment was having three of my images of Giverny, France on display in a Roy Lichtenstein pop art exhibit at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida in 2021. My images were printed 20 feet long on vinyl to show what Claude Monet’s garden looked like.

I sell prints of my images, license my digital images, and teach photography.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

When I create images I want them to bring peace and serenity to viewers. I want people to feel that peace when they see my image hanging in their home.

I also want my art to be used for historic preservation. I enjoy capturing the charm of historic buildings around the world and want people to appreciate their history for future generations. I especially enjoy capturing historic “Old Florida” landmarks and meaningful places for locals and tourists.

A local client told me, “You’re not just giving us beautiful art, but preserving pieces of Florida culture and history.”

In my teaching I encourage my students to stay creative, to make powerful strong images in their portfolio, and build their social media skills to connect with more people in their niche to reach new levels of success, and reach their goals faster.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It is incredible the response I get from my art. Over the years I have had many people say how my art makes them feel, what they appreciate about it, and how it speaks to them.

I have had clients say my images warm their heart and clear their head, and that they show the peaceful feeling of places in our town. They feel my heart in my photos. Seeing the joy my prints give to others is priceless.

Last year in 2024 many areas along the Gulf Coast of Florida were destroyed by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, and after the storms I documented how areas near me were affected. Some of the most popular areas in my town for locals to relax and unwind on the coast were destroyed. My images of those areas before the storms bring back good memories now.

Also I’m getting an excellent response from my photography students. I’m very happy my teaching is making a difference in their lives. Some of the things they have told me that they appreciate are my teaching style, my passion for art, my dedication to students, and my attention to detail that sets me apart from others in the field. They enjoy learning from me and have learned more in a short time than several years with other instructors.

It is a joy to be making a difference in the world with my art and teaching, and I will continue to create and teach!

Photographers are welcome to join my photography community to learn more. Businesses and individuals may contact me for prints and licensing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lieslwalshphotos.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lieslwalshphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LieslWalshPhotography/
• Twitter: https://x.com/LieslWalsh
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lieslwalshphotography
• Other: Prints: https://liesl-walsh.pixels.com
  Portfolio: https://www.lieslwalsh.com

Image Credits

Liesl Walsh