We recently connected with Spencer Welch and have shared our conversation below.

Spencer , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’ve always been an artistic child, I’m pretty sure it runs in my family. I love making paper outfits and designing things with leaves and sticks,. When my older sister wasn’t around, I’d take out my notepad and copy her drawings from her sketchbook. I want to draw just like her, because to me, she was the most amazing artist. As I got older, I continued to practice drawing, but I was never “the artist”. I was always friends with the artists, and instead I took classes like pottery and photography. It wasn’t until after I had my first child when my boyfriend (now husband) discovered my hidden passion for art. He encouraged me to take classes, and I ended up signing up for an oil painting class at a local community college. That class truly inspired me, and my now husband continues to be a cheerleader for me and my creative journey. Since that oil painting class, I’ve only taken one other art class and it was beginning watercolor. Everything I’ve learned apart from those two classes has been from books, hours upon hours of practice, and endless YouTube tutorials. I am definitely a self-taught artist, but it’s because of the excitement of that first oil painting class and the encouragement of my husband that I have made it this far in my craft. I continue to learn and grow every year, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After I had been studying art for a few years, I started to share my work on Instagram. By then I had a second child, and I was constantly inspired by how wonderful and beautiful they were. I’d never planned on being a portrait artist, or was just the subject matter that spoke to me the most. People started seeing my work and asked me to paint their loved ones too, which is how my business got started. I continue to do portrait commission, work, but I’ve also expanded to figurative art, still-life and landscape. At one point in my career, I came across a post about childhood cancer and reached out to them, offering a portrait as a gift to the family. Little did I know that I’d be working with her years later for her non-profit company Glimmer of Hope Foundation. I am honored to paint portraits for Ali and the families that she supports through her foundation, it is some of my most important work. Painting children, mothers, breastfeeding portraits, and daily life is what really speaks to me. I seek to explore the mundane, showcasing its beauty, responding to the world around me with my paintbrush and pencils. Being an artist is so much more to me that what I create, it’s who I am, it’s how I see the world.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Last year I had reached a successful point in my career as a portrait artist. I had started to earn enough income to apply for an LLC, and was able to officially announce my business. I was so proud! I really thought I’d be able to create portrait commissions and feel supported enough in that. However, I quickly started to feel burnt out, causing self-doubt and insecurities. I thought I had reached a goal, but realized it wasn’t a very manageable way to run a business, and I was quickly depleting my creative well. I decided to take a break in 2023 from commission work, and began focusing on re-learning new skills, study the masters, and begin new collections of work, personal collections. I had to pivot from seeing success as solely financial gain, and begin to look at it from the view of being as artist, a creative, and living my life as such. So far this year I have earned significantly less than last year financially, but my mental health and creativity are striving!

Business and creativity can exist together, but it’s an ebb and flow. You can’t give them both your all at the same time, at least I can’t! I have to fluctuate and adjust depending on what season I am in.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I like the fact that being an Artist and creative makes me feel unique. I can be my quirky self and all I have to say is “well? I’m an artist” and no one bats an eye. Actually, everyone usually laughs and nods in agreement. However, I’m not so sure I’m that much different than anyone else. We are all born to be creative in our own, different ways. Being an artist is a part of who I am, it’s a way of seeing the world, how I respond to my surroundings. I’m not sure I could have chosen to be an artist, I was just born that way, a love for beautiful things and an urge to create. That doesn’t mean I was born as a good artist though, that took a lot of time and a lot of hard work! What does “good” even mean, anyhow?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.spencerwelchstudios.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/spencerwelchstudios
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/spencerwelchstudios