Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nat Rosa. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Nat, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

OH DEFINITELY! I think I would be such a different person if I had taken art seriously or if I had been told pursuing art professionally was an option as a kid. Sadly, like many of my friend and colleagues, I was raised on the idea that yes, art can be a super fun and cool thing to pursue but it wasn’t seen as a real “career” (whatever that means) and that I was going to be a starving artist because art would leave me broke. Well, they both so right and so wrong. Art can leave you broke if you don’t surround yourself with other artists, share tools and resources with each other, and don’t know how to practice art in a way that is both fulfilling and sustainable.

I have been a lifelong artist; I treated it as a summer hobby for most of my life, was always the kid in charge of any drawing projects in school projects and family activities. There weren’t many artists in my family, except for my grandfather who also does multiple mediums and is a musician. He tried to get me into playing an instrument, but it never stuck but drawing did. So, I spent most of my youth and adolescence drawing whenever and wherever I could. When art shifted from being a hobby and far away fantasy to my career was in college. In 2019, I had gone on a trip to Tampa with a childhood friend and gotten some supplies at a Blick for inktober. This was my first time ever participation in any art project like it, and the first time I had ever made art for so many days in a row. By the end of the month, I had made my first product ever: I turned one of those illustrations into my first ever sticker! I received such good feedback and so much encouragement from my friend group at the time that I just wanted to keep going and never look back. But, at the time I was waitressing at my family’s restaurant, now closed, and I was pursuing a bachelor’s in accounting. Waitressing was fun for a bit, tips were good, and I could re-invest in more supplies but I was exhausted from juggling college, art, and waitressing. I’m shocked I didn’t drop out then and there. Only reason why I didn’t was because months later lockdown happened, so I had all the time in the world to make art since I had nowhere else to be and that year was my last year.

I spent that whole spring locked in my home making so much art, I had never felt so at peace, so seen, so fulfilled. Days before we were sent home to do online classes, one of my friends (shoutout Juván ilysm) lent me his iPad because I wanted to try out digital illustration and God knew I was too broke to get my own yet. I proceeded to make art on that thing for MONTHS, until I was able to get my own with my scholarship money in august (thx Fafsa for pulling through). In the span of 6 months, I had made a ton of art; stickers, prints, air dry clay pieces, and whatever else I could try out and was selling it all via dms. I mad enough money that I could officially made my first online shop so my work would be more accessible to my friends and family, who were the ones fully supporting me at the time. And it’s been nothing but art (and a few part time jobs to hold it down when business is slow) ever since! I have participated in tons of markets, pop-up events, and have started to dip my toe in the gallery/expo scene. I had made amazing, life-long friends and colleagues because I decided to pursue art and do the thing that makes ME happy.

I won’t lie, I often think about how different my art could’ve been or how “far ahead” I would’ve been if I had started sooner or had been more pushy with myself to pursue art in school or college. But a: I didn’t know that specialized schools existed and that I could’ve been pursuing and taking normal classes as a kid, and b: I am a firm believer that in some instances, divine timing is at play. I was meant to pursue art when I did, meet the people I did, and create the art I’m making. I don’t think I would have changed anything because I truly didn’t know this is the path that awaited me. I thought I would just finish my degree and find a simple admin job so I could use that money to feed into my hobbies, but even then, I believe that would have led me to this exact moment. I would have realized this was a viable career and left it all to be an artist. Realizing I wanted to pursue art in college gave me the flexibility to choose to finish my degree and then go straight into this, instead of already having a 9-5 and feeling tied to a career I found interesting to learn about but was never passionate about. But hey, I’m not mad I went into accounting because I recognize it made me financially literate which is a very useful tool to have when running an art shop. So, in the end I think it all worked out just as it was meant to.

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.

Hi! My name is Nat Rosa (they/them/elle), I am a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Puerto Rico and I lead my studio project, Little Sad Big Happy. This project is my little experimentation love child to make all the silly art I want, without feeling the pressures of it not being “serious” enough. I have tried many mediums but some of my favorites are screen-printing, block-printing, traditional + digital illustration, and ceramics. I got into art full time fall 2019 and have been juggling many part-time jobs and freelancing while doing art full-time ever since! I like to describe my work as naïve, colorful and child-like. There are some more edgy elements, as I’m a Scorpio so I can’t help it (gotta keep up the dark façade), but it still cutesy and colorful. I mainly like to make designs for myself, just for experiment’s sake. But like any artist, I occasionally take on commissions for projects that align with my work. I have done album/single covers for local artists, flyers for events, logos and brand identity design, etc. What sets me apart is the fact that it’s me; just like everyone else that make art, our perspectives will always influence our process and finished outcome. The thing I hold most pride in is my morals and the time I invest into other causes because of my work. I will always lend my time and my art to social movements and collectives that need artistic support. Right now, I am working with the people at Queers for Climate Justice, an intersection I am very passionate about because it represents two very important parts of me, being a member of the queer community and living in Puerto Rico where we have experiencing so many of the consequences climate change. I want people to remember that art is political, and we should be using our platforms, skills, and talents for change.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

The best way we can support artists is by fostering spaces since youth where art is presented as a viable life path, not as this risky rogue alternative that, unless you “make it big” will lead you nowhere. Art can be an awesome hobby AND a professional life path. We should be providing resources on how to properly value our work without feeding into capitalism and feeling like we have to offer competitive pricing. Art is art and its worth whatever its worth.

We should be fostering gatekeeping-free practices, out of fear that someone will steal our ideas. Gatekeeping materials, techniques, residency opportunities, ANYTHING. It says a lot about the artist who isn’t willing to share what they know with their community. I can understand it can be frustrating if you have dedicated money and time studying and becoming a master at something, but the only thing separating you from being like other artists is the fact that you had the resources other artists didn’t. And gatekeeping that just makes you an elitist. Also, accepting that art has always been political and will continue to be.

Stop pressuring artists into feeling like all their work must be something extremely innovative for it to gain traction. Yes, being unique helps gain an audience and set you apart, but there’s nothing wrong if that’s not you. Damn near everything has been done before, don’t worry about and draw the smiley face. WHO CARES! It’s going to be super cute anyways. Additionally, your art doesn’t have to look a certain way or mean anything to be art. It’s nice for your work to have a general theme or identity, but it doesn’t have to. For the past couple years, I struggled a lot with taking myself seriously because I felt my art had no meaning or didn’t look technically difficult to achieve, and because of that I wasn’t considering what I made “art” when in fact it always was and always will be.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My main goal is to let people know art is still a viable career, that you can be an artist while doing other things on the side and theres nothing wrong with that. I want to continue to advocate for different communities and collectives with my skills and begin hosting workshops locally, so everyone can have the chance to try new mediums with as little limitations as possible (like cash for supplies, work space, transportation). I also want to continue to develop my studio project (Little Sad Big Happy) into a physical space people can visit and provide tools, like the workshops, not just keep it in a corner of my room. Basically, I want to get funding to create the space and materials to give back to my community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://msha.ke/littlesadbighappystudio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilsadbighappy/