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

Patricia , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I’ve been selling my art online for over 10 years, and in that time it has grown and transformed in a way that I could’ve never imagined.

I started out selling my acrylic paintings and prints of those paintings. During this time, I also began to experiment with creating digital paintings.

I had always imagined that I would be selling collections of my original acrylic paintings and that that would be the main way that I would make money, but fate had other plans for me.

I started out with a simple Etsy shop. Having that shop brought me a plethora of opportunities from licensing deals with retailers like Anthropologie, to magazine press, and blog features.

During this time, blogs were still a major part of how people shared and connected with others. Numerous bloggers featured my art print in their posts, completely unsolicited from me, and this quickly grew my fan base. After that, everything just snowballed.

Later, I got into licensing deals with companies like West Elm, Pottery Barn, and many more. Art consultants reached out to me to work on projects for the Omni and the Bellagio.

Additionally, my art appeared in movies like Vox Lux, shows on streaming services like Netflix, and cable networks like CBS.

About six years into my business, I made the pivotal decision to drop acrylic paintings from my offerings. and solely focus on my digital artwork and prints. This shift brought me immense joy.

Ultimately, I have been able to make a living as an artist through fostering relationships with other companies, businesses, and people in the industry that have propelled and pushed my artwork forward. It’s a far departure from my original vision, but being open to the unexpected turns and staying curious about the possibilities has led to a satisfying artistic career.

Patricia , 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 Patricia Vargas and I own Parima Studio. I am a digital artist, and I create abstract art that is colorful, ethereal, and deeply inspired by botanical themes. I sell my digital creations in the form of fine art prints, and I license my art to retailers and art consultants.

For more than a decade, I have worked diligently to refine this form of art, which in the history of art, is a fairly new and exciting way of creating. I have focused on making it feel organic, beautiful, and full of depth with intricate texture details. It can be a bit of a challenge to achieve this on a medium that can easily feel flat and digitized, but thankfully I find joy in embracing that challenge.

As a tech enthusiast, I find this way of creating and exploring this medium to be absolutely fascinating. It offers endless possibilities for creativity and innovation. Not only have I delved into the medium itself, but I have also taken the time to craft my own unique tools to bring my artistic vision to life.

I approach my work with a sense of spontaneity and intuition. Playfully applying sections of colors and letting them overlap and interact in a beautiful dance. As I create, I’m always on the hunt for those truly captivating sections. The ones where the digital brushstrokes weave together so magically that hiding them would just feel wrong. So, I make sure to build the rest of my artwork around these delightful pockets of intricate details.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

First and foremost, it’s been important for me to clearly identify the role that social media plays within my business. My goal is to sell my art and highlight it in the best way possible. This goal is different from that of an influencer or content creator, and therefore the actions I take are different. This clarity allows me to let go of the pressure to spend hours researching the best hashtags, follow trends, or post a ton of content. Instead, I post whenever I have something to say or fresh artwork to share and I rely on the connections and relationships I build outside of the platform.

By fostering strong partnerships with various businesses such as retail companies, designers, art consultants, and other industry experts, they effectively promote my art to a targeted audience. These collaborations increase my work’s visibility, leading to increased followers and sales on my account.

To reiterate, the end goal is to generate sales, and not necessarily build a following for the sake of building one. I prefer having fewer but high-quality followers, meaning people who are genuinely interested in my work, as opposed to those who’d follow solely for entertainment purposes. There’s something really freeing in knowing that I don’t have to play the social media game in order to have a thriving business. If it went away tomorrow, I know my business would survive.

For someone just starting out, it’s important to keep in mind that having a large following does not equal massive sales. Some good questions to ask yourself are:

What do I believe I will gain by having a large following? Am I more interested in the quantity or quality of those followers?

What purpose does social media serve within my business? Is my goal to make money from the content itself or is my goal to sell my art?

Do I enjoy the process of creating content and what do I feel comfortable sharing?

How much time do I want to dedicate to it?

If social media went away today, or my account got hacked, would I still have a business? Would I still have a way to reach my fanbase?

If my goal is to sell my art, are there other things that would yield better results? Pitching or submitting your art to galleries and other companies, or reaching out to press outlets are all also free methods of growing your fan base.

Whatever form of marketing you choose, it should feel fun and be enjoyable.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Something I’ve always been deeply fascinated with is the concept of creating passive income. At the beginning of my career, it wasn’t a subject that was often talked about, and finding resources for it was difficult. Nowadays it’s easier to find information on topics like licensing your art for products or using print-on-demand platforms. While these are great avenues to explore, they aren’t the only methods to generate passive income.

Throughout my career, I’ve stumbled upon a variety of exciting licensing opportunities like working with hotels, designers, and art program coordinators. The lack of information available on how to navigate these opportunities forced me to learn by trial and error, and sometimes at a cost.

That’s why I’ve decided to start my own educational resource for artists called The Limitless Artist. My goal is to help artists understand that there’s a vast world of untapped opportunities to generate passive and consistent income from their art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://parimastudio.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/parimastudio
• Other: https://thelimitlessartist.com