We were lucky to catch up with Monica Bethelwood recently and have shared our conversation below.
Monica, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
It actually wasn’t until the fall of 2022 that I finally decided to pursue being an artist full time. I’ve made art my whole life, as well as studying as a dancer for years and being a singer/songwriter. For some reason I had it in my head that being creative was a hobby of mine, and invested a lot of energy into “making it” in a senior role at a non-profit. Once I got there though, with the title, the salary and so on, it dawned on me that I wasn’t actually happy. Pushing around emails all day at a desk when I had this massive creative fire in me wanting to be expressed was tortuous. In retrospect I can really see that the combination of marriage, motherhood, and career focus led to me stifling more and more of my authentic self…I felt a lot of inward pressure to be typically successful and not the wild, multi-faceted soul I really am.
In January 2023 I officially left my full-time job and started contracting as an artist for the custom boot company Stitchwalker Leather (doing design, painting and leather carving) and also started my business Arise and Shine ARTS, which focuses on arts education, creative collaboration, and events that inspire. My life has essentially taken a 180, as I have my own studio space for the first time and spend my time making art daily, teaching art to kids, and being part of a dynamic creative community of like-minds. I’m so grateful I made the decision to make the leap into accepting myself as an artist, as more has opened up than I could have possibly dreamed and I feel more comfortable in my skin than ever.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
There are two pillars to my creative expression, the first being Arise and Shine ARTS (ASA), which satisfies my community service drive. Right now I run weekly art clubs for kids and teens, and I’m in the process of planning a collaborative creative festival in the spring called CO-CREATE. I love working with kids and other artists so much, it’s probably when I feel most alive. In my teen art club, there is a young woman who has never been placed in an art class throughout all of her schooling! So I’m her first experience as an art teacher and mentor, and I take that very seriously. Giving young people the opportunity to feel supported in honing their craft as well as a creative outlet I think is a vital offering to a community.
The other pillar of my work as a creative is MOMATU, which encompasses the variety of my personal artistic expression. As a fine artist, I work mostly in watercolor, acrylic, collage and ink with themes that explore the overlap of humans and nature. My work tends to be highly colorful and introspective.
I’ve recently blended my love of vintage clothes and artistic symbolism through the creation of “Talisman Threads”, where I paint abstract/geometrically onto clothes and then create custom leather patches to pair with them. This is a new endeavor, but I’m excited to see where it takes me and if my strange fashion sense is interesting to anyone else but me! It kind of gives 80’s/hipster/spiritual AF vibes meets Harley Davidson (because patches). My favorite piece so far is a red corduroy jacket that has a giant Phoenix patch on the back and I-Ching hexagrams on the front. The idea is that these pieces are unique in symbolism to the owner and act as a kind of “walking talisman”- an item that when worn creates a feeling of power and strength in the self. I’m a tarot reader of almost twenty years, so I’m always drawn to the way people connect to symbology and the archetypes of the human experience.
I’ll be starting a tattoo apprenticeship this fall as well, and I’m really excited to see where that leads. Working with people to create meaningful art that they will wear for the rest of their life fees like a natural extension of what I already do.
Oh! And I’m a singer-songwriter as well.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think people who aren’t actively creative or artistic may find it hard to grasp the sheer amount of work it takes to hone your craft as an artist and build up a body of work. It takes lot of mental, physical and emotional stamina to get yourself to a place where what you do is a marketable, valuable asset. Obviously you can make art for the sake of art alone (and should!) but to make a living off of your creativity, that’s something that takes hours with your nose to the grindstone. There’s a lot of talent out there, so you need to be willing to work for it. In my case, while I had previously been working a 40 hour a week job to pursuing art full time, I am actually working harder now though for less hours weekly. It’s because I work with my hands rather than pushing around emails, and as I’m new to some of the skillsets (such as leather carving) it takes a lot of trial and error to arrive where I need to. But little by little, project by project, I improve. I’m only a year into this journey, so I’m excited to see where another year of dedicated practice brings me.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I believe there needs to be more affordable opportunities for the every day person to connect with their innate creativity. That’s something I aim to do with ASA, with the art clubs for children and teens. I provide an environment for them to explore their creativity. So many people think they aren’t creative or artistic simply because they haven’t connected with the right medium yet. Maybe you aren’t a visual artist, but actually a writer, or have an ear for composition, or feel most inspired when moving, or have a screenplay living in the back of your imagination. How would a person stuck in survival mode (as so many people currently are) ever know that about themselves unless given the opportunity to discover it and receive the right support? So many people also struggle with fear around creating, which is a symptom of the perfectionist mindset rampant in our culture. People fear making mistakes, making something ugly, being wrong, taking chances….all of which are obstacles to making something great. You have to be willing to be terrible first. All artists I know struggle with that at some point, so imagine you don’t even fancy yourself an artist and you’re trying to move through that internal block for the first time…it can be crippling. But with community, connection, and mentorship, people could access their creative birthright and experience it’s healing power.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.ariseshinearts.com
- Instagram: @bee_wood_creative
- Facebook: @ariseshinearts