We recently connected with Sara Wilczynska and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sara, thanks for joining us 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?
Yes, I’ve been able to make my art my full-time job, but it hasn’t happened overnight. Like most creative businesses, it’s taken time to build something that feels both sustainable and aligned with my values. When I left my career at Google, I didn’t have a roadmap. I just knew I needed to reconnect with what felt true and meaningful. During a sabbatical in Southeast Asia, I began painting again after years of focusing on technology, and that small creative spark slowly grew into a practice. People started buying my pieces and asking for commissions, and I realized there might be a way to turn what I loved into a livelihood.
When I came back to the US, I officially started Swil Arts. In the beginning, it was just me, figuring things out as I went. I learned how to make prints, build an online store, find my artistic voice, and connect with people through my art. I started showing my work locally and collaborating with small businesses that share my values, which helped me grow a community around my brand. I began selling through my website and in local shops and galleries, and I built partnerships with other values-driven businesses.
It hasn’t been a fast process, and that’s something I’ve learned to respect. My business has grown slowly but steadily, at a human pace, shaped by the same values that guide my art: savoring life, living in spaciousness, and practicing intentional stewardship. Every quarter brings new lessons and opportunities, and I’m proud that I’ve been able to make this my full-time focus. I’m still on the journey of turning it into a full living, but I can already see it taking shape. What I’m building allows me to live creatively and with purpose, and that, to me, feels like the definition of success.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a watercolor artist based in San Diego and the founder of Swil Arts, an illustration and art studio rooted in helping people slow down and reconnect with themselves. My work invites people to pause and savor small moments, the glow of a lifeguard tower at sunset, the nostalgia of a surf van by the beach, the ritual of grabbing coffee at a favorite truck. While much of my inspiration comes from the ease and spirit of California life, the deeper thread is about presence: creating art that feels like a small breath in the middle of the day.
Before becoming an artist, I spent over a decade working as a software engineer, most recently at Google. The work was interesting and challenging, but over time I realized I was losing touch with the part of me that felt alive. So I left my job and took a sabbatical across Southeast Asia. While living on a small island in Thailand, I picked up a simple set of watercolors and began painting again. What started as a daily creative ritual slowly turned into something more. People began buying my pieces, and I realized art could be both a personal joy and a way to connect with others.
Today, I sell original paintings, fine art prints, greeting cards and other products through my website and in shops and galleries in Southern California and beyond. I also collaborate with local businesses and create custom illustrations that reflect a shared sense of place and care.
What sets Swil Arts apart is the values behind the work. My art is guided by three principles: savoring life, living in spaciousness, and practicing intentional stewardship. That means creating at a human pace, producing in small batches, and making sustainable choices at every step, from paper sourced from responsibly managed forests to biodegradable packaging and cruelty-free supplies. Five percent of every sale goes to charities aligned with those values, so each purchase becomes part of spreading care beyond my studio.
The problem I try to solve through my art is the same one I’ve had to solve for myself, how to slow down in a world that moves too fast. My work helps people reconnect with moments that bring calm, gratitude, and joy. I’m most proud when someone tells me that a piece they bought brings them a sense of peace in their home, or reminds them of a memory they want to hold onto.
What I want people to know about me and about Swil Arts is that it’s more than an art brand. It’s a way of living. I believe in creating intentionally, giving back, and building a business that reflects the same care I hope my art brings to others.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to unlearn is the belief that my worth depends on how much I produce. For most of my career, especially when I was working in tech, I equated busyness with success, like most everyone in our society. There was always another project, another goal, another metric to meet. It took me a long time to realize that living like that kept me disconnected from myself and from the present moment.
When I started painting, I approached art with the same mindset at first, trying to be “productive” with creativity. But watercolor has its own rhythm. You can’t rush it. The paint needs time to dry, to move, to settle. That process became my teacher. I began to understand that rest and reflection are not distractions from the work, they’re part of it. To go even deeper, I finally understood rest as resistance.
Now, I try to create and live at a human pace. My art is about savoring life’s small moments, and that begins with how I move through my own days. I tend to my nervous system, practice slowing down, and work in cycles, periods of focus followed by periods of rest. Unlearning urgency has changed everything. It’s made space for joy, clarity, and a kind of creativity that feels more grounded and alive.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
A story that stands out for me is one of my early commissions, which didn’t go as planned. I was hired to create a large watercolor piece for a couple who wanted to remember the view from their San Diego home before moving away. I poured two weeks into that painting, it was detailed and delicate, and I was proud of how it turned out.
When the package arrived at their new address, though, it was completely damaged. Creased, folded, unsalvageable. I learned the hard way that my shipping insurance didn’t cover artwork, and I remember feeling devastated. I had spent so much time and care on that piece, and it felt like all of it had been lost in a single moment.
After the initial shock, I decided to figure it out rather than give up. I researched how to repair creased watercolor paper, experimented with different techniques, and eventually found a way to restore the painting. It took extra days of work, a lot of patience, and several deep breaths, but I managed to deliver it to the clients in perfect condition and they were extra happy with the result.
That experience taught me that resilience isn’t just about pushing through, it’s about staying calm, finding creative solutions, and keeping your heart open even when things go wrong. It also reminded me that the way we handle challenges says as much about our work as the final piece itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.swilarts.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/swilarts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swilarts.studio
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-wilczynska-swil-arts/
