We were lucky to catch up with Trish Land recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Trish thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you manage your own social media?

I see Social Media as an opportunity to connect with a community of people that are not only interested in what I do, but are interesting. I happen to love social media.
I’ve met incredible people, found long, lost friends, have been able to stay in touch with family and have been able to use it for my business where I’m able to reach a lot more people than I would if it didn’t exist.

I show my humanity. I share the journey I’m on with my art. I share my travels, workshops, painting process and joy! It’s real stuff.

And that’s why it works. Keeping it real…

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always been creative. I started out making things when I was a little. Out of necessity, because I didn’t have a lot of toys. But I actually enjoyed it. I was influenced by my father, who could make “something out of nothing”…
I thought that was cool.

I grew up as a dancer, and wanted to be on Broadway. I had great successes with that career. And then one day I found a paintbrush.
I had been a make up artist and a hairdresser, and I thought that painting would be very similar to all the things I had done in my career.
So I just started moving paint around with emotion and passion, and I ended up loving what I was doing.

Because I believe if you love what you do, it will show.

I am self taught.
And I pay very close attention to my environment. Because nature influences me. I travel a lot and I love interpreting my environment with paint. I guess I’m a storyteller.
And I use paint and brushes as my medium.

I’m not really afraid of much. And I love to ask myself the question “what if?” It keeps me curious.

I’m fortunate that I get to sell my work and it is how I make a living.
I love commissions because I love providing the creative vision for someone else’s thought or ideas about their space.

I love teaching. And I adore bringing people together in places around the world where perhaps they may never have the opportunity to go. And to paint there and be influenced by the culture or the environment is incredible.

My favorite is to take people to Noyers Sur Serein, France. it’s an incredible medieval Village steeped in history and stories and textures. The light is incredible! And our studios are housed in an art center called La Porte Peinte. Such an inspiring place!

I guess the most important thing for me is to do what makes me happy. To do what I’m good at and continue to grow because of it. Because I can always be better.
And I just love it when someone acquires a painting of mine that brings them peace or joy or love… It’s everything to me.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I learned about international art residencies after I had become a professional painter. I had always wanted to participate in one. So I decided to start applying for them in countries or cities where I was interested in going. I started with France. I had applied to two and was accepted to both. Once those were completed, I decided I wanted to go to Italy. So I applied to one there.
I was gratefully accepted to this one as well.
And made plans for my residency.

It was in the authentic Tuscany region of Italy. And housed in a very old, ancient structure.

After a very long travel day, I arrived to start my residency only to find a very unkempt and disorganized
and pretty horrible situation. I was not greeted well or received well. I felt uncomfortable and ungrounded and shocked at what I was seeing. My room was cold and dark and messy. And the studio where I was to work was a hot mess! With no light and no space for my supplies.
Nothing was at all what I thought it was going to be, nor was it anything like what was presented to me when I applied.

There was absolutely no way I could stay there or work there. I called my family and friends back home and they told me to go down into the village and have a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and just keep my phone available. So I did. And they called back to tell me they had found a place for me in the village that had a studio and that I should go there to see if I liked it.

So I drove up the hill and looked at the space and thought that I might enjoy my time there. It was not going to be an art residency. It was going to be more like an art vacation. But after all my hardships to get to Tuscany I was OK with it. I was so tired as it had been a very long journey. I was just ready to rest and find my inspiration to be able to create a body of work.

I had to drive back down into the village and make the phone call to try to book the place. Upon driving down the hill I got a flat tire!
And damage the wheel well apparently.

No one around me spoken English. My Italian was poor. I tried to get AAA, but to no avail. The host of my new place promised to help me. And she did! But it was not without its trial and errors. And funny stories. Much like an “ American artist goes to Italy” rom
Com.

I finally got someone to put the donut on my car and the next day I had to drive back into the Florence airport to return the car only to be charged $900 for the tire!
So not only was I out the money for the tire, the Italian residency, and I also had to pay for the new place… My dream of having an Italian art residency seemed to vanish.

So I was at a financial and an emotional deficit. But not for long! The new place where I was was incredible! The hosts were full of love and joy. Laura just kept saying “have cake! Have wine!” And to find the goodness in everything that was before me.

I decided to turn to social media to tell my story… And before you knew it, someone on Facebook had started a GoFundMe for me. To help me recoup the funds that I had lost.
I was able to work and produce an amazing body of work that I was happy with. I learned a lot about wine and olives and community support. Not only from the new place where I was staying, but also in my social media community. I was full of gratitude!

My time in Italy turned from sour grapes to a full and rich experience! I learned a lot about trust and humanity.
And I learned that I could get through difficult situations if I allowed myself to be supported and contributed to by those who had appreciation for me.

Once I returned, I sold every single piece that I produced in Tuscany!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Being authentic is an amazing way to build your clientele. I Can’t fake a painting. I can’t fake my experiences. I can’t fake my truth.

I don’t paint for me. I paint for others. And my hope is that they learn that about me and that they feel that what I do is because of them.

My art is not meant for me to keep.

And kindness goes a very long way.

Contact Info:

• Website: Trishland.com
• Instagram: Trish Land

Image Credits
Clay Miller