We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mason Kuh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mason thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I am very happy being an artist. It does have its ups and downs and is never easy. I am always hustling and putting in a large effort to bring in money to support myself.

I often daydream about what it would be like to have a “regular” job, but the times I have committed to a normal work week/job I burn out quickly and lose my zest for expression. Freedom is so important to my happiness and for the time being I rather have the ability to be wherever I’d like, doing whatever I’d like, and have to work a bit harder to make money than having a set schedule and places to be.

If you can’t tell by that answer, I am somewhat of a free spirit who loves challenging the norm. hehe

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a 26 year old full time traveling artist, animal lover, and woodland fairy with a background in fine art and special effects makeup. I have been an artist my entire life. My parents say that I was painting, drawing, or making mud sculptures before I could make full sentences.

I studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art for a year before transferring to Douglas Education Center to get a degree in Special Effects Makeup. I landed a dream job in California making eyeballs for lifesize s*x dolls and robots and moved cross country. Wild right? After a year and a half of that job my hands stopped working. I was in extreme pain and could no longer feel my fingers. It was so crippling that I couldn’t lift a fork to feed myself. Quite literally an artist’s worst nightmare.

Being forced to leave the job and heal for the next year was a tough transition. Turns out the constant and repetitive fine motor movements for 40 hours a week was not sustainable and my body started to shut down. Thankfully, with help from a chiropractor and PT, I am back to a fully functioning artist. I still have pains in my wrists that set me back. I have to be careful with how much work I do, but I can still do what I love in moderation- which is a big win.

In that time of rehabbing my body I started slowly painting with watercolor again. I had a friend ask me to paint their family’s cat as a gift and I quickly realized that I could start my own business doing pet portraits. Animals have always been a large love in my life. As silly as it sounds, nothing brings me joy like petting a dog.

As soon as I was strong enough to paint more frequently I went full throttle into building my business – Pet Portrait Paintings. It was and still is really important for me to paint and create on my own timeline due my injuries. Working for myself doing what I love seemed like the obvious option.

I have been creating custom watercolor pet portraits for three years now. The love and intention that goes into every painting I believe sets me apart from other artist. I ask about the personality of the pet and am diligent about having the perfect photo to paint from in order to bring the art to life. Almost every single customer comments about how I capture the life in their pet’s eyes. Turns out making eyeballs transfers to paintings too.

Something I am most proud of is that I was able to build my dream home from my artwork. I live in a 22ft vintage RV that I completely rebuilt. It is my studio, my home, and my transportation. Freelancing art allows me the freedom to explore the outdoors, national parks, and travel.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A deep rooted lesson/belief I had to unlearn was that “it is impossible to support yourself as an artist”. My family has always been incredibly supportive when it comes to my art career but no matter how much encouragement you grew up with it… is hard to avoid the narrative of a “starving artist”.

I’ve spent years a fighting the little voice in my head that says “you can’t make it as an artist”. With practicing mindfulness and finding other people who support themselves as creatives – I have been able to expand past this limiting belief.

We live in a society where you are an outlier if you do something other than the 9 to 5 or even pursue your passions. I find this to be incredibly sad. I much rather live in a world where passions are the fuel for your career.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The best way to support artist and creatives is to buy their artwork, share their work with your community, and avoid using AI instead of real artists.

Technology is truly amazing but it is taking away from the artist who have worked their whole lives to create artwork.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.petportraitpaints.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pet.portrait.paintings/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pet.portraits.paint