Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michelle Baker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Michelle 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?
At the age of eighteen, I was hired by a chain of regional discount stores to be a sign-maker and muralist. The job was fun, creative and even paid pretty well for those days and it provided me some income through my four years of college. It was 1989 when I took that job. I have never had a job or source of income since then that was not under the umbrella of creative, visual arts and I can’t imagine a better blessing than that for me! I certainly don’t wonder what it would be like to have a non-creative job. In high school, I bussed tables, hostessed at restaurants, pumped gas and worked as a video store clerk. (Yes, I’m that old… I said video store!) I don’t regret those experiences because I learned how to interact with people, among other life skills. However, over my decades of earning income through creative skills, I’ve had diverse “jobs” yet always remained in a role that allowed me to CREATE which is about as important to me as breathing, so… happy? Completely! Absolutely! Do I dance around daily with butterflies and unicorns singing along with me? No. There are always challenges and shifts and concerns in any career path. But happy as a creative? Yeah. One hundred percent. When people use the cliche of “thanking their lucky stars” for something… that’s me. That would be how I describe my gratitude for being able to live my lilfe as a creative.
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 spent decades working as a graphic designer serving clients in various roles, from designing printed marketing pieces, to developing motion graphics and multimedia design. I loved it! I learned an incredible amount through various employers and through many years of working freelance. Something that had always set me apart from many designers was my background in fine art. Being able to draw, paint and illustrate added another facet to my design skills. As time went on, I became more motivated to develop my own art and illustration style and sell end products, rather than creating something as directed by another person or company. Initially, this manifested in a modern-rustic style of illustration that played upon a chalkboard style, (it even entailed drawing with actual chalk and charcoal) but was ultimately digital art. Subject matter that I focused on was food and beverage art and my art was immediately successful with restaurant owners, event planners and even nationally known brands. My art could be bought “as is” but the formula of how I produced the works was easy for me to personalize, modify and create repeatable, consistent works. It lead to thousands of sales and an extensive portfolio. Meanwhile, I was also doing a little instruction, locally. I held drawing workshops for kids ages 8-14 and had a lot of fun introducing fundamental drawing, cartooning and even basic animating principles to the kids. I saw an opportunity to reach a wider audience by teaching through an online platform, so I went through the application process, background check and became accepted to teach online. I had barely begun to really plan out what my online instruction might be when –and we all have this funny little sentence that changed everything– COVID hit. In a few blinks of an eye, restaurants were closed, weddings were postponed and those sectors had been my two big categories of customers. But…on the other hand, every kid in the world was on lock-down, with parents desperate to find ways to keep their kids intellectually stimulated. You could say I was in the right place at the right time, there, and I’ve taught several hundred students now, all over the world, and love introducing drawing fundamentals, how to use different traditional tools and also digital art tools. With the instruction being such a focus for a spell, I felt a shift in what kind of subject matter appealed to me beyond food and beverage, so a reinvention came about. I started with things I myself love: Rock music and Classic Cars. It was the beginning of an alternative (maybe masculine, man-cave) collection of home decor. My work is not limited to those subject matters. They are one example of symbols of some objects that can hold a lot of meaning to people. Generally, I create art that is infused with meaning, with passion, and that can truly connect the person or the people who live in that space to a story or an object or a memory that has significance. Because of my years in client-service design, I am the perfect partner for interior decorators. Partnering with others in the industry of design, I’ flexible and can bring them and their end clients personal, customized options for art that is truly one of a kind, that expresses something of importance about their passions, or the region where they live, or whatever the story may be, and yeah… it can be big, it can be small, and it can match the couch and curtains and still be ART. This model springs from a place within me that just believes our homes or our work spaces are an important extension of our energy and when you surround yourself with evocative and inspiring reminders of the joys or the dreams you have, it expands your expression and attracts more of the higher vibrations that fill a space with comfort and creativity. We need this. We need thoughtful things, not random disconnected objects. We are inundated with infinite products and market driven trends. The need to choose or curate what actually connects with us and has meaning is important for our sense of self . I have a theory that the current lean toward minimalism in design and decor agrees with this. I think when people embrace minimalism it reaffirms that people need a break from “noise” and from having too much cluttering their energy. Still, I will admit, my art is the exact opposite of minimalist. It is absolutely, unapologetically maximalist. But when paired with a calm, quiet space, or an intentional and meaningful setting, my images sing a story about what somebody loves.
Have you ever had to pivot?
One of the biggest awakenings I had several years ago was how dangerous it is to rely fully on any platform that is outside of your own control. In my story, the lesson came when things were going very well for me on Etsy. Great sales, great price point, awesome momentum! And then one morning, I woke up to find my shop had been shut down. It was time consuming to get in touch with a human who could explain why this happened. We did get to the bottom of it and in my case, the credit card I used for their billing had expired and I needed to provide a new updated one. They had emailed me BUT those messages went into a spam folder so I didn’t get the warnings. Result: Boom! No shop. We resolved the problem and the shop was up a few days later but that shook me and I think a lot of other creatives have heard endless stories like this. You do not have to write off using third-party platforms but the lesson here is just how many eggs do you want in each of these baskets? If you are unable to generate revenue from one source, how many other points or revenue do you have? How strong are they? What are your risk factors with each of them? My reaction was to continue using Etsy, but I very quickly built my own web site where purchases could be made and I also began to look at Etsy more as a funnel, or a way for people to find out about my business. Upon requests for certain (higher paying commissions) I directed them to my own site. Again, not only are other platforms risky in terms of them simply closing you down, they often have terms that prevent you from building relationships directly with a customer who could become a repeat customer so consider your own marketing and client retention capabilities too. Balance the power across different segments of your buying audiences and the platforms you generate income through.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Being a creative professional allows me to endlessly grow in all kinds of directions while still being in the same “field.” I visualize this like being a child outside, playing in a summer rain, holding a giant, colorful umbrella. The umbrella is the industry of “visual arts” in my case, and I’m the child, playfully jumping over into this puddle or that puddle, from one style to another, or from traditional media to digital media, to art instruction, to marketing, to designing mood boards, to merchandising my products… they’re all different parts of my professional life and they keep different parts of my brain engaged so, on any given day, instead of feeling stuck, I can just hop to another puddle, The umbrella stays. The umbrella is the over-arching constant that is familiar and protective. Being able to bounce around and maintain a sense of wonder and “what if” is essential for me. When I do not have mental space or creative problem solving or “possibility making” to do, that’s when I tend to get down.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.rockinchalk.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockinchalk/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockinChalk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-baker-6746805/
- Other: https://outschool.com/teachers/Michelle-Baker?usid=NR8IXMyo&signup=true&authTrigger=follow_teacher&utm_campaign=share_leader_link
Image Credits
Headshot (myself in pink jacket) was taken by Tracy Hines (I have the rights) all other images are my own