Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tate Hamilton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tate, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you 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?

I’ve been a professional full time artist for 25 years. I had many other businesses prior to becoming a full time artist. These various other businesses groomed me for my current one though. I made many mistakes along my journey and they were great lessons. I always looked at these mistakes as feedback and not failures. As I got better and better in my understanding of how to run a business I required less and less feedback. One huge obstacle was being comfortable around other people enough, so that I could sell my work to strangers. I had always been an introvert which, there is absolutely nothing wrong with except, it was very uncomfortable to talk to others about my work. NLP (neuro/linguistic/programing) resolved those internal issues I was having when it came to being more outgoing and extroverted. I do recommend NLP for anyone having any difficulties in any aspect of their life.

Tate, 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 am an artist for many reasons. I love creating. One of my earlier businesses was as a professional guitar player in a rock band from 1968 to 1983. I have extended that creativity to my art business. I love learning. I am still learning how to paint and will continue learning for the rest of my life. I love networking with others. My wife and I do art festivals all over the US. We love getting together with our artist friends for dinner and at the shows and visiting with them. I love when a customer walks out of my booth with my art. I provide beauty for peoples homes and businesses. I have a style with my art and I have been told by others over the years that it is a recognizable style. The paintings I create definitely come with my signature in addition to my actual signature.

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

Many times throughout my career people have spoken to me about having an” innate ability”, “born with the artist gene”, “god given talent”. I would be lying if I said that these were all true because, I believe we are all born with all the abilities to accomplish what ever we DESIRE. Desire is a big ambiguous word that has many meanings for many different individuals. Desire for me has been a very personal word as it can be for all of us. For me it includes not giving up on my goals and also being flexible enough to change those goals as long as they align with my overall purpose which is to create.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I started out on my artistic journey as an oil painter I painted on rock. Flagstone rock. It was very difficult and took too many hours to compose a piece and I could not justify charging what I need to charge for the time I spent creating them. I joined the Art Student League of Denver and met my mentor, Ken Valastro, there. He was able to create an exceptional painting in a matter of hours and seemingly effortlessly. I trained with him for six years and learned how to create my own work in a matter of hours too. If I had continued down the path I was on with my flagstone paintings I don’t know if I could have made a decent enough living at it. Again, flexibility enabled me to change the course I was on and I went from spending two weeks painting on a 12×12 rock to, a few hours painting on a 30×40 canvas. Success!!!

Contact Info:

• Website: tatehamiltonfineart.com
• Instagram: tatehamiltonfineart
• Facebook: Tate Hamilton