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

Vivienne, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

when I was a child, I had the most difficult time with everything in school. the only places I excelled were riding horses and art. I figured I could join a circus but even as a child I saw something a bit creepy about the circus world. so it was art by default.

Vivienne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started as an illustrator and at the time that was wonderful. I was paid well, had plenty of work, traveled the world working for clients, and lived in Manhattan. absolutely wonderful! but as the years went by the fees stagnated and the work deadlines grew worse. creativity died because the creative directors lost power to editors, clients, lawyers. I decided to try my hand at creating my own work without the input from clients and was immediately hooked. I have just finished my website and while it was a slog, I am so excited to see all the art I have done and see the new direction is it moving towards.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I thought success was merit based and people would see that my work was good. when I first began showing my work as an illustrator, I was doing something new. no one wanted it. then I got into a book that was the coolest thing to be in at that time, in illustration. suddenly people who had turned me down were calling. people are sheep.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I get to live my life the way I want to. i don’t report to an office or the same job everyday. I can travel and be freer than I might have been if I had worked for someone else these many years

Contact Info:

• Website: http://vivienne-flesher.squarespace.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fleshervivienne/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vivienne.flesher