We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shay Holloway. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shay below.

Alright, Shay thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My dad wasn’t around, so I can’t really say that he did much right outside of contribute to my being here. LOL! My mom and my grandparents were the major factors in my life and when I think about it, they actually did a lot of things right. But the one main thing they did right was they always allowed me to be myself and encouraged me, my imagination and my individuality. I actually think about this pretty often. They supported me and however I decided to show up in the world which really set the tone for the foundations of my adult life and how I move through the world. Even if they didn’t understand all the decisions that I made, they still allowed me to be me and experience life the way that I wanted to while offering me love, support, and encouragement to push through whatever obstacles challenged me.

I vividly remember being about 11 or 12 years old and making up a dance to Burn by Usher. I made up my own moves and practiced the dance in my room all day. My grandparents came to visit later in the evening and I thought “okay, I’m ready! I’m ready to debut my dance!” I was really shy as a kid (and to an extent I still am) so the only person I allowed to see the dance first was my Granny. I told her to come in my room and lock the door because I wanted to show her something. She comes in, locks the door and had a seat in my computer chair. *Que Music* The music starts and for the first maybe minute of the song I was doing well then I forgot some of my moves and completely flew off track and improvised a big chunk of the rest of the song. In my head the whole time all I could think about was how much I had messed up, but if you were to have seen my Granny’s face you would have thought I had just won Dancing with the Stars. She watched me with so much joy, support, and enthusiasm that made me feel good. When I finished I bowed and told her that was it and she clapped for me and told me what a great job I did.

She didn’t laugh at my dance, she didn’t criticize my dance, she didn’t lose interest in watching me the entire time. That support filled my heart up so much and helped me develop a lot of confidence in myself. The support and room they left for me to be myself (even still today) is something that I try to carry with me and pass along to others. My heart is always full of gratitude that I was given this life to experience with people like them-people who nurtured a spirit in me that made me feel like I could do anything in the world. That spirit paints my steps in everything that I do today and will do in the future.

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.

I am a visual artist. I create primarily with acrylic on canvas, sometimes I dabble in digital art, but my home is in acrylic on canvas. I have always been creative and liked making things with my hands or just using my imagination in some other form such as writing stories or poems. Something about creating just felt right, so I feel like a transition into painting was probably always evident.

Before getting into art I actually was in school. I attended the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and majored in Psychology and Criminal Justice. In 2016 I graduated and decided that I would take a break from school to just explore life a little bit. I look back on that decision and have so many feelings about it. Some hinge on regret but a lot hinge on gratitude for that decision. I did a lot of things before finding my way with painting. I sold hair extensions, attempted to bake cupcakes for people, crocheted a bit and tried selling my items on Etsy, I even started a house cleaning service and did that for a while.

It wasn’t until around 2019 that I got into painting. A friend of mine at the time noticed how much I would doodle on things and he encouraged me to start drawing. For a while I was just sketching in a sketchbook then one day decided I would try painting. I grabbed a canvas and some cheap paint and brushes and I was off.

I didn’t start knowing what I wanted to paint, in fact, that was always the toughest thing for me-figuring out what to paint. So I started with things like eyes and things I saw on the internet that brought up feelings for me. 2018/2019 was a really tough time for me emotionally, spiritually, and mentally for more reasons than one (reasons that I don’t have the capacity to get into). Because of such a tough time I began reading a lot and unfolding myself (unfolding is what I call the exploration of my inner being). I dove headfirst into books about spirituality, consciousness, and metaphysics. I wanted…NEEDED to understand and make sense of my pain and figure out what to do with it. There’s a pretty personal piece that I don’t show a lot nor do I have any intentions on ever selling, it’s a piece that I painted in the middle of my tough year and looking back on it now, I’d say it was probably a kickstarter.

After about a year of painting random things and continuing to explore my own spiritual essence I landed on galaxies. I was reading a book that my friend Shakira recommended by Deepak Chopra around the time of painting my first galaxy. The book was called The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire. Something about that book clicked with me. The combination of that book, wrestling with the uncertainties of the future with COVID being a thing (mind you this was 2020), really had me thinking about my life, what control I had over it, and how to tap into that control. It was only through realizing that I actually have no control in the greater scheme of things, realizing that on a micro level, the only thing I truly had control over was me and the actions that I took. Releasing control to things outside of myself was what I told myself I needed to do. So I quit my job. I was working at a daycare at the time and that daycare actually shut down due to COVID about a month after a quit-a sign that I made the right decision.

That positive reinforcement in feeling like I made the right decision and flipped the switch in my head before life flipped its switch on me by way of forced unemployment made me feel like I had tapped into a realm of magic. Although the daycare shutting down isn’t something I am celebrating here, but what I do acknowledge is the serendipitous timing. When I decided to surrender my perceived control, I was met with a response that let me know that I had just did something that was necessary-become the creator of my life.

I threw myself into painting galaxies, cosmic art, which is my signature now. The deep rooted source of my galaxies I attribute to this 2019/2020 time period where not only was I uncertain about myself and my overall wellbeing, everything in life was uncertain because of COVID. My galaxies represent what I had come to understand from that time period-that everything in this physical world existed as just energy. Energy with the potential to become whatever we want it to be. Energy that turned into a thought, that turned into an idea, that turned into something physical. They represent the pure potential that exists within the universe and within us. This is why every galaxy I create is titled “Pure Potential”-because not only is it an ongoing series, it’s how each piece began-as the POTENTIAL to be something, until being taken and molded by the creator…in this case, Me.

I take this foundation and apply it to all my work, even work that is not galaxy related. Everything starts as energy. Even colors have energy, which is something that I take into account more when creating. As a former Psych major, the psychology behind colors and how they make us feel, the energy they carry with them draws me deeper into painting, and it ties well with how I approach my art. Intuition and intention guide my art into places that often intrigue and excite me!

I mentioned that galaxies are my signature but one thing I try not to do is limit myself. I like to explore different styles, mediums and subject matter in my work. The things that I create and the way I move through my art career are a testament to the way that I live life-an experimental experience.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think that sometimes people think that creatives have everything figured out and pulled together all the time when in fact, a lot of the time that is just not true. Journeying through life as a creative in a career oriented way involves A LOT of trial and error. There’s so much trial and error that happened that it sometimes feel like you’ll never land on any one thing that works. Then when you do find that one thing that works something out of your control may happen causing you to switch gears and find something else. Often when people see their creative friends posting about their triumphs or successes they don’t see the long pathway of consistent work that went into that success. I attribute a lot of my journey thus far to being persistent.

The art will come because creative energy comes through one’s spirit, it comes from within but figuring out how to maneuver through the world as a creative in ways that support your highest good and the things that you aspire to do is relative to each person on their journey. “Bumping my head” in various ways was necessary in order to give myself the opportunity to examine what could have been done better or differently. The opportunity to learn from error is valuable even though in the midst of the error it doesn’t feel that way.

I’d also say that people probably don’t understand how much internal work goes into being a creative. There is A LOT of internal work that happens behind the scenes for me personally. Confidence, belief in myself, faith in a journey that has a lot of gray areas and no clear cut path all comes from me using my low points (and sometimes even my high points) to unfold myself and make sense of why. I ask myself “Why?” a lot because it’s the most useful question. It helps get to the root of any feelings or emotions that I have difficulty processing. Faith has probably been the greatest tool that I have learned to cultivate. Faith, by definition, means complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Art is not a pathway that has a defined blueprint, a lot of artists CREATE their own blueprint. That means that a lot of their steps are not laid out in front of them

I have moved through periods of stagnation, comparison, and fear by watching the way that I talk to and about myself. Creatives are constantly putting their work out into the world and subjecting it to the opinions and thoughts of others, critique is constantly happening whether we know it or not. I’ve learned that the last person who needs to be giving myself a hard time is myself. It takes time to find your own voice, and stand firm in it while up against all of the images and content on social media. You can easily lose yourself, but spending time with myself, getting to know me, what things I like, what things I don’t like, why I do or don’t like certain things, examining my triggers, forgiving myself, exploring my grief, sitting in silence, being “bored”, exploring my weaknesses, acknowledging my less desirable, darker traits, and making peace with them all contribute to the mindset that I have been able to cultivate.

There is also a great deal of studying that goes into my creative journey. I do research related to my craft, research about business strategies, I study color, people, I watch documentaries and entertain different philosophies. Sometimes the study isn’t directly related to art but rather things that help me get to know myself more. These things indirectly influence my art and how I create because I experience opportunities to expand more as a person. My expansion as a person directly influences my art and my career. Being a forever student of life creates room for expansion on the journey.

The art will come because at our core we all house creative energy. I think the more important part of the journey is managing ones humanness along the way. You’ll always be able to see clearly in hindsight, but I have found that allowing things to unfold however they may in the midst of whatever is happening around me creates and unshakable belief in the steps that I take. Trusting myself despite anything undesirable that presented itself to me has time and time again proven to be my secret sauce, that and cultivating gratitude. When I began trusting myself more the things around me fell into alignment in ways that they NEEDED to. I emphasize NEED because it hasn’t always been the case that something I wanted was the right thing for me at the time. Surrendering to life itself and learning how to not hold on too tightly to anything, being adaptable and working through my fears are all the things that people don’t and can’t see. I have fears just like everyone else but I don’t spend too much time with them. I let them come and I let them go because stewing in my fears would only create more of that energy. Stewing in my fears would leave me stuck and stagnant and that’s difficult energy to dig yourself out of as a creative.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I like this question as I am a lover of podcasts, Youtube, and anything that helps me develop myself as an artist and a person. Personal development has connections to psychology and although I am an artist, psychology has always been my first love.

Anyway, to answer the question, yes! I can’t attribute one single source of content that has been helpful because I feel like I have taken bits and pieces from everything! The book I mentioned previously, The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire by Deepak Chopra is a book that helped me mentally. I read a book last year called The High5 Habit by Mel Robbins which also helped me reshape how I manage myself and my time. (I don’t always get it right, sometimes I slip up but that’s part of my humanness! lol). Creative Quest by QuestLove is another book that has helped me continue to be in the flow of my creative energy. It’s full of insights about how to look at your creativity in different ways. I’m a Disney adult and was a HUGE Disney fan as a kid, and I picked up this book called How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life is a book that I very much appreciated. This book is one that helped me understand how important it is to never lose your zest for what you’re doing no matter what you see happening immediately in front of you. Disney has always felt magical to me figure out how to walk in my own magic.

Audio related; I really enjoy a YouTube channel called Art Prof; it’s one of those channels that just gives you SO many tools and gems to take with you on your journey-everything from professional advice to different techniques for various mediums. Adam Duff LUCIDPIXUL’s channel on Youtube is another really powerful one that I love! He gives you advice and tips on things like how to avoid burnout and encouragement all while you’re watching him create digitally on-screen. So, you are engaged but also getting some amazing advice if you’re actively listening. A Very Well Mind podcast with psychotherapist Amy Morin is another podcast that I have some to love. She interviews people who have gone through adverse times and come out on the other side of those times better and more mentally strong people. Okay and my last resource for right now is The Art Marketing Podcast which can be found on Spotify. It really helps breakdown managing your entrepreneurial journey in ways that feel practical and doable.

I could really go on and on about resources and things I consume because I consume so much and am always on the lookout for more to consume that will help me better myself and create a sense of ease along my journey. I have a whole Youtube playlist dedicated to self development and growth whether in business or as a person that I’d be happy to share with anyone who has time to explore it! :-)

Contact Info:

• Website: artgirlshay.com
• Instagram: @artgirlshay
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/artgirlshay
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/shayjholloway
• Twitter: @artgirlshay (although I am not on Twitter much)
• Other: I have a society6 and zazzle shop. www.society6.com/artgirlshay and zazzle.com/artgirlshay Pinterest: @ArtGirlShay94

Image Credits
Scott Dornberg