We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Steph Calvert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Steph, thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’ve been self employed as an artist and designer for 14 years now, and being a full-time creative professional can be a little scary money-wise! There’s definitely been times where I’ve made a really decent paycheck as an artist and designer, and times where it’s more of a batten down the hatches, ditch every bit of unnecessary business spending, and be super grateful for my husband’s steady paycheck and our focus on living within a budget without credit cards.

When our son Phil was born and the day job I returned to after maternity leave showed to be a terrible fit, I went into survival mode and emailed every ex-coworker and ex-boss I could think of that might have freelance work for me. Three days after maternity leave ended, I was self employed with enough work to keep the lights on. When you haven’t planned for that jump, there’s a tendency to take whatever projects you can get because billzzz. Which is great, but over time, all of my work skewed to WordPress web design. It was a great paycheck, but code is definitely not my happy place and my husband and I had a lot of talks about me focusing on illustration in 2016.

My work is way more creatively fulfilling now, but the pay is definitely more sporadic as I’m still growing that side of my business. It can be really daunting sometimes being this many years into self employment and not being able to say hey, I make a significant contribution to our finances. But reminding myself that I took a year off from my business to teach as an art teacher a public school, then Covid shut my work down completely for a year and a half, then work shut down completely in January 2023 so I could take two months off to recover from a concussion (and really for four months after that I was on light duty because that’s all my brains could handle)… Plus momlife, am I right? I’m not making a million dollars a year, but my family’s taken care of and that definitely counts for something.

But – being 100% transparent, sometimes it can get really, really daunting that moneywise I’m not where I’d like to be in my creative business. Staying in that zone is dangerous without a plan because you don’t want to get stuck there. I have areas in my business that have proven to be bill payers over the years – teaching art classes in the community, selling art prints in my online shop, painting murals, freelance illustration and design projects, and art licensing for greeting cards and other categories. Knowing those channels that my work excels in, and focusing on growing each of those areas of the business is how I will get back to having a more steady income as time goes on.

Steph, 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’m a friendly one-eyed illustrator with a boisterous laugh and over 20 years of experience working as a professional artist and designer. I live in McDonough, Georgia (just south of Atlanta) with my awesome husband Josh, two ridiculously funny kids, and a pile of happy rescue animals. I’m a big fan of going on adventures, binge-watching old episodes of 30 Rock, and being ridiculous for the sake of comedy.

I’m an honest and dependable hard worker able to handle multiple freelance projects with finesse. I’m a strong self-starter who also collaborates well with a team and takes art direction and revisions in stride. I don’t miss deadlines; my teamwork, problem-solving, and communication skills are top-notch. I have communicated with clients all over the USA via their preferred contact method – phone, text, email, zoom, or carrier pigeon. I have leadership experience managing team members in other countries, reviewing print proofs, and creating on-point mood boards for trend research.

I create illustrations and graphic designs for books, greeting cards, apparel, marketing materials, and more. My artwork is infused with fun, bright colors, hand-lettered typography, and drawings of cute expressive characters. Some of my major strengths include digital illustration with a retro gouache vibe, classic line drawing, and the sense of humor that comes with watching Airplane, Spaceballs, and Blues Brothers 5,000 times as a kid. I’ve been using the Adobe Creative Suite for 20+ years, with expert skills in PhotoShop and vector illustration in Illustrator, and strong skills in InDesign, and also work in Procreate on iPad Pro. My illustration clients include Ooly, Trader Joe’s, Capstone Publishing, the City of Atlanta, the City of Stockbridge, and Visit Henry County.

I’m well-versed in painting large-scale murals in public spaces and creating fine art with markers, pencils, and watercolor/acrylic paint. My public art contributions can be found in several locations in Henry County and beyond.

I am the Henry County Local Liason for the Southern Breeze region of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators and am currently querying literary agents with my first author/illustrator picture book projects. I earned my BFA in Computer Art with a focus on traditional 2D animation at Savannah College of Art and Design in 1999, have experience speaking at conferences, and have five years of teaching experience for ages 3 through adult.

I’m available for illustration, art licensing and surface design assignments, mural painting, and custom art commissions, and would love to hear from you at [email protected]. You can see my full portfolio online at www.stephcalvertart.com .

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Hire a local artist or designer instead of having an art contest!

Most professional level artists and designers don’t participate in art contests because it’s “spec work”, or speculative work – art being done on speculation of maybe being paid if it’s picked. Plumbers don’t do spec work, doctors don’t do spec work, creatives provide a professional service and shouldn’t be expected to provide their skill set for free, either.

So in the case of an “art contest”, you’re already getting less than professional work because most pros don’t participate. But the other problem is a professional artist or designer will help guide your project based on their years of experience. If you don’t work in the creative space, and are picking a project you like best from an art contest, you may not be getting the insight into a good design that will stand the test of time and really serve your business and what you’re trying to promote.

A more sustainable approach that’s fair for the artists and designers in your community is to research who those artists and designers are (Google and word of mouth is great for this!), take a look at their portfolios, interview them, and choose based on their art style and professionalism.

A great art or design project will cost more, but will serve your purposes so much better when you team up with a creative professional.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I love “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron for creatives looking for a book to help them get unstuck, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou for a reminder of how tough we can be, and Maria Brophy’s “Art Money Success” was a great read that really made me think about different ways my art business can bring in an income.

Lilla Rogers’ “Make Art That Sells” courses were great in learning illustration techniques for my children’s book and art licensing work. The Highlights Foundation in Pennsylvania hosts amazing in-person and online retreats for authors and illustrators, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators has been phenomenal in getting me rolling towards the goal of having my children’s book projects traditionally published someday.

Contact Info:

• Website: HTTPS://stephcalvertart.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/stephcalvertart
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/stephcalvertart
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/stephcalvert
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephcalvertart
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/c/stephcalvert

Image Credits

All artwork © Steph Calvert Art