We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Volz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Michelle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I had a degree in Communications and worked in Marketing in my 20’s but realized it felt out of place as a career choice for me. On the side, I was singing in a jazz band and teaching piano lessons which satiated my creative needs for the time being. I took an art class or two as part of my degree but I wasn’t very good at it and never had a proclivity to draw or color or be artistic in that way growing up so I didn’t ever think it would be the direction I would take later in life.

At the age of 32, I ended up having a slew of dreams that I was a painter. They were vivid and memorable even after I awoke. I bought a canvas and some paints in an effort to prove to myself that the dream couldn’t possibly be a reality for me. I didn’t expect to love it.

I loved it. I drank it in. I studied it. I practiced it. I was afraid of it. Never had I experienced such a strong desire to want to do something, be something so much. It was at this point, when the need to create was like a raging fire, that I knew I needed to create art for myself and professionally and it would be part of me for a long time to come.

Within the first year, I had created a website, finished 12 commissions, staged 2 homes with my work and signed with a local art dealer. And the rest is history.

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 am a contemporary landscape artist and texture junkie. I love adding texture to my art and really making nature pop off the canvas like it’s real and not just a painting, which is what really sets me apart. The greatest compliment for me is when someone reaches out to touch the painting. I only sell original paintings, even my art magnets, ornaments, cards are all hand painted so each one is unique. I also host paint nights in and around the Salt Lake area. I love introducing people to art and different tools they can use to create.

I love creating art but I’m most proud of my work with The Handprint Project, a side project and community art program that uses handprints from community members to unify them and bring attention to social issues and then raises funds for programs supporting these issues. I recently handprinted veterans and active military and their families to create the Veteran’s Handprint piece. Prints of this piece will benefit organizations that help veterans.

I think the previous question answers the question of how I began. How you begin doesn’t matter as much as how you keep going. There’s always those times where you have no idea what you’re doing and what the next step should be. But you try and fail and ask questions to strangers and you do this for 9 years and you get better at the business and your craft as you go.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

This is an interesting question. As a fine artist and a collector of art, I believe that the appeal is the tangible ownership of the art. Collectors want to see it and experience it as it hangs in their home. I don’t believe that NFT’s for fine art makes sense as rarely the buyer receives any tangible right to the art itself or the right to create copies, and a digital version may only decrease the value of the art itself.

I view NFT’s like trading baseball cards, but digitally. You collect and trade an image and your collection of certain images gives your collection greater value. If you create digital art and put it out there I do believe there may be a place in NFT’s for you to sell and trade and collect images. However I do believe the world of NFT’s has buffered greater value for itself than I believe it has considering there’s no tangible asset.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

You’d think that creatives just create all day. Some think that my job is to just paint and that’s all there is to it. But I am an entrepreneur and therefore have to run my business. I am the painter, the accountant, the marketer, the public relations, the sales person, the agent. I need to know what people want and are looking for and where they go to find it.

The greatest resources that have helped my business have not been about painting. I loved Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T Kiyosaki and have tried to translate what I learned there into helping my business thrive. I also loved Essentialism by Greg McKeown which has really helped me compartmentalize how I work. I also love listening to the podcast About Progress with Monica Packer. Her podcast helps my business as well as my parenthood and how to intersect the two.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.volzart.com
• Instagram: @volzart
• Facebook: Volz Art
• Linkedin: Michelle Volz

Image Credits
Vika Reid