We were lucky to catch up with Sami Wideberg recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sami, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

The art I make today is only possible for me because I learned the language of photoshop and all Adobe programs in a Digital Imaging course in college. It really was just learning the tools and having the resources I needed to make the things I saw in my head come together. After I made my first collage it was like learning a superpower and I wanted to just keep creating art. Not all of them were keepers, but you learn a lot from putting in the practice and enjoying the process of trial and error. Honing those skills and creating a portfolio of artwork is what got me my first job out of college for an artist management company where I got to create album artwork, music videos, and creative campaigns for a roster of artists.

Sami, 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 got into the music industry as a visual artist sort of by accident. I was creating the art that I liked and happened to be friends with musicians who wanted me to create art for their projects. That then snowballed into taking photos and making music videos and eventually working with their record labels to help visually direct album and touring cycles. People may know my work best from Katie Pruitt’s Expectations and Mantras album artworks. I also did the creative direction for music videos such as All My Friends and Expectations. It is very special when you get to take a clients idea living inside their head and make it real. Now I run my own creative business where I get to do that with independent artists, signed artists, record labels and more. What sets me apart from other creatives in my field is that I have a no project too small policy because I want to keep art in that hands of humans and not AI.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

An old boss once told me that in this industry it is always “feast or famine,” especially if you want to start your own company, and wow, was he right. I started my company during COVID because my job was being threatened by the new circumstances of not being seen as an “essential worker” for the business (if that doesn’t sum up what it feels like to have a creative position at a company, regardless of COVID!). I was lucky to have a lot of support from clients and peers in the industry after I started freelancing. The first two years I was really feasting and had some of my biggest clients. Then, like predicted, things started slowing down, especially during winters, and I started selling my art on my website and became a vendor at the Nashville Pride Festivals, Tomato Arts Fest, and the Porter Flea markets. Luckily, I am also passionate about cooking, so when I got another job as a cook at Lyra in Nashville, I was excited to learn more about the culinary arts as well. I found that there is somewhat of a symbiotic relationship between artists and the restaurant industry. The mutualism of needing the work and needing the workers and also having the flexibility to still have your own creative endeavors outside of that, whether it be a touring musician or a freelance artist, is very appealing.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients has always been word-of-mouth and markets. Having clients recommend me to new potential clients already gives us some platform of trust to build off of. I also want to give back to the people that recommend me so I offer discounted rates on their next projects to keep the positivity going around. When I am at markets I have the opportunity to represent myself as an artist and sell directly to consumers, not only my art, but the creative services I provide for visual projects.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.samiwideberg.com
• Instagram: @samiwideberg_collage

Image Credits

Photo Credit for Katie Pruitt album photos: Alysse Gafkjen
Photo Credit for Early James//Lone Bellow//Shovels & Rope tour poster photo: Alysse Gafkjen