We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Taylor Wilson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Taylor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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 have been earning a full time living though painting murals for about a year and a half now. I decided I wanted to pursue muraling while I was in my last year of college, and I was able to save up a bit of money from the job I was working at the time which gave me the confidence to give it my all following graduation. I landed my first mural gig relatively quickly by basically walking into businesses and offering my services. Each mural job came with a learning experience, but I am also very luck that I learned a lot from other women muralists in San Diego. The biggest learning curve for me was to start treating a career as an artist like any other business. I had never taken a business course, and I highly recommend taking one to others who are pursuing art as a profession. Knowing what I know now, you make consistent money from consistently putting yourself out there, going to networking events to meet business owners and sending loads of marketing and outreach. It is a lot of work for one person to do, and one big challenge is switching between my business brain and my creative brain. It is all about balance.
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 go by TWILSON CREATIVE and I am a local San Diego artist and muralist. I graduated from SDSU School of Art and Design and I am currently working on my own as a full time muralist. I work with many different types of businesses to bring art to their or their clients’ physical location. Murals are great for bringing more visibility, foot traffic, and also increasing sales. In office murals are becoming increasingly popular for their tendency to increase productivity and benefit employee mental health. My artwork is very nature inspired, and I am driven by environmentalism. I think murals are a great way to bring nature back into our buildings, in a larger than life sort of way, to re-root a love and awe for nature back into the population. Because I work with a wide range of businesses, I can also help bring a vision to life and cater towards your individual branding and aesthetic. My goal is to always have a shared vision with my clients and get to know their specific wants and needs.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Something I had to unlearn was the “starving artist” stereotype. Society really drills into your brain that the average person cannot make money as an artist. Something else I have been told is that artists should not make art for the purpose of making money- lots of artists are shamed for this. The thing is, every artist is passionate about creating, it’s why we do it, but that does not mean you need to do it for free. I always remind myself about the value of what I am doing and how much it helps businesses and the community. There is a lot of self doubt that comes with turning art into a business, and one of the biggest things to learn is to never devalue yourself.
What do you find most rewarding about being creative?
I think the most rewarding aspect of working as an artist is to see how my completed projects affect my clients and the people of the community. I have worked with many different people who all have different backstories, and I love seeing how excited they get when I present designs and end up transforming their space. A lot of my clients, when we first started talking, mentioned that they had been wanting murals for a while and we just happened to align at the perfect time. I do believe in divine timing and how every person comes into our lives for a reason. I think about this every time I meet someone new whether it be a potential client meeting, or someone passing on the street while I paint who decides to chat with me. This career has driven me towards meeting more people than I would’ve ever thought, and I think that is super cool!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.twilsoncreative.com/murals
- Instagram: @twilson_creative
- Other: [email protected]