We were lucky to catch up with Lindsey Spears recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lindsey, thanks for 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?

Becoming a full time artist was scary at first, the cliche “starving artist” was always in the back of my mind. I didn’t start making a full income right away, it’s something I had to stick with but steadily it grew into a full blown career! I think it’s important to explore all the different avenues of the artistic field. I started out with exclusively pet portraits, then added live weddings and eventually stepped into mural work. I was constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone. While it is important to find your specific niche I also think there is value in trying new things! You never know what will stick!

Lindsey, 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 specialize in mainly murals and live wedding painting. Once I began having my kids I knew I wanted to pursue a different passion in life and art was something I always enjoyed. Suddenly my side gig of a few paintings a month was turning into wedding portraits and large murals every week. I think my favorite part of my job would be the murals. They give me so much room to explore a variety of themes and crazy colors! Sharing my art through my social media has been a useful and really cool tool. I’ve been shocked at the response from the public, several of my art videos have gone viral and knowing literally millions of people have seen my art is just mind blowing!! Something I’m always proud of is my community murals I create around town. These murals are free or “pay what you can” for non profit places. With the help of volunteers and supply donations from local hardware stores I’ve been able to add murals to schools, libraries, nursing homes, and animal shelters.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One of my biggest questions I’m asked is how I book my jobs. While I am approached by some of my clients I wish more artist talked about modern “cold calling”. I send out emails to so many companies pitching why they need murals and a presentation of my work. I’ve actually booked several jobs just by putting myself out there.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was pregnant with my second I just was not doing well. My energy was low, I wasn’t feeling up for jobs but was really afraid to loose the momentum I had built through my social media. I began an art journal illustrating the struggles of my mom life, toddlers, babies, all the good the bad and the ugly. I was pleasantly surprised to see so much engagement from my followers. It made me realize that I didn’t need to fit the “influencer” mold, people really just liked seeing the real life of a tired, artsy mom. I feel like social media has created so much pressure on creators to also be social media managers and influencers, when really you just have to be true to your craft!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paintingsnstuffllc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaintingsNstuff?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_paintingmama?_t=8d1ckg45JMo&_r=1