We recently connected with MUKA and have shared our conversation below.

Hi MUKA, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

If I could go back in time, I’d probably have started my career as an artist sooner. I’ve always loved art and took every art class or opportunity offered to me growing up but I never considered it as a career. It always felt like it would just be a hobby. Fast forward to now, I am 2 years in of being a full time artist and I only wish I would have nurtured this sooner. I would probably have been a lot happier, I would have felt more like myself, and by this time, I’d have years..even a decade under my belt as a career artist. I feel like I would not only have the advantage of more knowledge by now, but I would have had a longer online presence, which is really important. In a world where social media can make or break us, I feel like if I started sooner I would have reached a wider audience by now. All that being said, I don’t regret not starting sooner because I know that everything comes at it’s perfect time, but I can’t not imagine what more longevity as a career artist would have done for me by now!

MUKA, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am most know for my bright and colorful paintings. One of the more constant things I paint are teddy bears! I started painting teddy bears because growing up, my teddy bear would always make me feel safe. My art is an extension of my inner child, MUKA, and all of the things that she never got to say growing up. All of the situations that she never felt heard in. This is why I use fun colors and child-like strokes to sort of induce the viewer into that state of mind. To remember that we are all capable of being vulnerable. I am most proud of the self-exploration journey that my art career has taken me on. I’ve learned so much and have healed so many parts of myself that I had no idea were even broken. This is why I love to use my art and my platform to really promote mental health. It started as just giving my inner child somewhere to be loud but it turned into realizing that neglecting any part of ourselves creates the biggest struggles for us. I believe that mental health should be accessible to all and I only hope that my art work and the stories behind them serve as a conversation starter or even as a support for people to explore their own struggles bravely.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is really all about creating a community. You have to look at it as sort of a digital playground. If you just run onto it and hold up pictures of yourself without saying anything, no one is going to want to play with you. However, if you went in and introduced yourself to the others, said nice things to them, supported them, and actually tried to be their friends, you’d most likely be more popular at recess and then those kids want to tell their other friends about you too! When I first started my social media and really all of my online platforms, I made sure to really find my niche and then stuck to it. I spent hours really scouring through hashtags that most fit my style of art and started befriending those artists and galleries. I’d add them, send them a message to introduce myself and then actually engaged with their posts. I still do this. Again, It’s about creating a community. My advice for those just starting to build a social media presence is to really engage. Like posts, be genuine about your comments, find people who you are interested in and vice versa. My second piece of advice is to make sure your feed represents you how you’d like to be perceived. The majority of social media users are only interested in a post for seconds, maybe even less than a second. If you’re not capturing their attention immediately, you will probably get overlooked. So, make sure your photos are high quality and that your immediate message is clear.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist for me is that I am able to bring to fruition something that has NEVER existed before. Most of the time, we think our thoughts and then that’s it, it remains as a thought. Through art, I’m able to carry those thoughts out into art pieces and others are able to witness something that has only ever existed in a small corner of my own mind. It’s kind of trippy if you really think about it. So at the end, when someone compliments your artwork or relates to it in their own way, it’s a really cool feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.artbymuka.com
• Instagram: Artbymuka
• Facebook: Art By MUKA