We were lucky to catch up with Melissa Payne Baker recently and have shared our conversation below.
Melissa, appreciate you 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?
My artwork has provided a beautiful life for me and my family. I could not be more thrilled and feel more blessed for what has come my way along the way. Success doesn’t just happen, it comes from hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, loving what you do. After leaving my full-time job in management at an interior design firm in Atlanta in 2006, I felt like I had done my research towards my next steps but I found myself sitting in my kitchen with zero income coming in. Looking back I didn’t feel scared, I trusted myself to make this work no matter what. Opportunities are all around us, we just have to see them and act on them. Since I was 14 years old I have worked, from scooping yogurt, hanging wallpaper, babysitting, running errands, interior design to painting. All the positions I have held, I worked my hardest and learned all that I could because you just never know who you will meet or where it is going to take you. It has just always been in me that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, having my own schedule and one day raising my child with one hand and a paint brush in the other. That day in the kitchen, feeling lost, I grabbed a piece of paper and started brainstorming, making a list of my skills, then a list of people to contact who I trusted, respected and who inspired me. Before the day was over, I had two jobs, assisting an interior designer and nannying a friends child. These two positions were fun for me and gave me time to work on my art. Throwing myself into my studio any time I could, I discovered my style that is unique to me. Researching everything art, attending every art show I could and meeting artists and clients fueled my journey. Before I knew it I was in one of the most fabulous galleries and the top artists markets in Southeast. Within a year I had won a blue ribbon, sold 21 paintings at my first show, painting for three galleries and featured in several magazines. I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Here I am 16 years later and still loving every aspect of being an artist and raising my now ten year old son. The greatest compliment as an artist is when someone comes to me and says they recognized my art in a home or gallery, if it was a piece from 16 years ago or recent, my look has evolved but my style and commitment shines through each piece. That is when I know I have always been and am continuing on the perfect artistic journey.
Melissa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
“Through my art, I love to celebrate the beauty around us, layer by layer, unfolding life through color and texture onto my canvas. Different mediums allow me to express different ideas in my abstract work. Strongly influenced by interior design, my art flows onto walls creating movement on the canvas yet calming emotions within the viewer. I strive to convey the sense of calmness through the complexities of life. These emotions, I paint from my heart and I hope my collectors feel each time they view my work.”
After graduating with a marketing degree from the University of Mississippi 1998, I moved to Columbia, South Carolina where I worked with an interior design firm. After just a year in South Carolina and meeting my best friend Michelle, we decided to move to Atlanta where we found a great group of friends. We started a girls night we called “art night”, these nights quickly grew from three girls to two dozen. Michelle always encouraged me to sell my work but I had no idea how to get started. Just four months after Michelle was killed in a car accident, I heard about an artist auction at a private school fundraiser so I offered to donate a painting. This being my first art auction I did not know what to expect and I procrastinated until the night before to paint the piece. It was my first angel painting, these paintings I still paint today. At the event there was a bidding war, I received my first commission the next day and it led to my first gallery representation. My angel was watching after me still. Now 16 years later I am still living an artists dream.
My work has been represented by dozens of galleries including the wonderful Huff Harrington Fine Art in Atlanta.
My work has been published in Traditional Homes, House Beautiful, Southern Home, Southern Lady, Cottage Journal, The Atlantan, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, VIE to Nashville Arts. It has been featured in designer show houses across the Southeast including the The Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Southeastern Designer show house. It thrills me that I can provide my art to fundraising events throughout the Southeast including Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Children’s HeathCare of Atlanta, the American Heart Association , The Comprehensive Cancer Center and more.
In 2012, with a strong desire to always create, I discovered the need for smaller artsy pieces and created an extension of my brand, Art For Every Palette. This unique hand painted collection includes a line of hand painted glassware. These jewels have been highlighted at the Atlanta Neiman Marcus Holiday Pop-Up Shop, Spotlight on Art in Atlanta and featured in Southern Lady and Good Grit magazine. You can find them in boutiques and galleries around the Southeast including custom palettes at the Grand Bohemian Hotels. In 2019 Art For Every Palette was named by StyleBlueprint as “10 Southern Brands You Should Know About”.
My art career quickly became a full time business with consistent hard work but I never lose focus on what is really important, creating art that touches the heart of the viewer. You could say that I have mastered my art but I would say that it is just the beginning, the best is yet to come. You can find me in my Atlanta studio with my cat Gesso, designing or wallpapering for clients and chasing my ten year old son, Payne, who keeps her creativity in full bloom.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the joy that I see in my collectors when viewing my art. It is also rewarding that it has provided a full time career that has allowed me to always be available for my son. With my interior design background I have always loved providing a comfortable and pretty environment within homes and I can continue that with my art. I love that my art in homes creates feelings, conversation and brings happiness to the owners.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Being an artist doesn’t stop in the studio, it is a business and continues into hours and hours of social media, computer work, website design, email blasts to accounting. With my marketing degree and all that I have learned from working with interior design firms I am lucky to have had those experiences. When I first began I learned all aspects of the business side of being an artist on my own, including website design. Social media wasn’t even a resource yet but I marketed myself with unique business cards and just getting myself out there in person. Just like my art, social media and business techniques are always evolving and it is a constant learning process. Now there are so many resources you can easily get overwhelmed. I try to stay up to date on the new trends but there is something about sticking with what works for your business too. You have to ask yourself, is this going to better myself and my business or is this a waste of time to dive in to.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.melissapaynebaker.com
- Instagram: @melissapaynebakerart
- Facebook: Melissa Payne Baker Art
Image Credits
Aharon Hill Photography