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

Hi Whitney, thanks for joining us today. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

Honestly, it makes my day when I receive a new order or get a commission request. I get to live my dream making art every single day. It wouldn’t be possible without my customers and I want them to know I recognize and appreciate that. Buying art is an investment. It’s not a decision people make lightly. I strive to make sure my customer service reflects that it little and big ways. I include handwritten notes with every order and follow up after shipping to be sure there were no issues. I make small notecards out of the scraps of my paper pieces. I like to send a few of those or a free print with each order. Just a little something extra to show my appreciation for their support.

I love to send little surprises throughout the year, also. During the holidays I release hand painted ornaments and mini paintings. I always send one to collectors who commissioned or bought a painting during the year as a thank you. Sometimes my test pieces turn into small works of art themselves so I’ll frame one and send it to a collector if it matches the color scheme of a painting they have or it goes well with their other pieces.

Whitney, 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 encaustic artist and I paint with fire – both literally and figuratively.

Over the years I worked in politics and non-profits before taking some time off after the birth of my son. Motherhood made me realizes there was so much more I wanted from life than my past jobs provided. I tried to figure out what career would fulfil me, afford me the time to care for my young child, and help me live a life I am excited about. This soul searching, and the encouragement of friends and family, helped me realize building a business around my art was the answer..

Many years ago I attended a painting workshop taught by the amazing Penny Treese. I’ve always been a creative and a bit of a pyro so when I realized you could use a blowtorch to paint, I was hooked. Creating works of art with fire and and wax ignited something within me. It felt so innate and like something I’m meant to do. I want my paintings to help my collectors remind my collectors to take a deep dive inward, reignite their inner fire and recognize the beauty within themselves and the world.

I use a blowtorch to fuse layers of molten beeswax and pigments together to create abstract and semi-abstract nature inspired paintings. I love the unpredictability of the wax and the many different forms and textures it can take. You can manipulate the wax but it is not a medium you can control. I love that. It really forces me to follow my intuition, disconnect from all the thoughts in my head and get lost in the process.

My painting materials come from nature – pigment from the earth, wax from the bees, panels from the trees… I try to honor that by being resourceful, ethically sourcing materials, reusing shipping and packing materials, and donating part of sales every year to an organization helping to save the bees.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The mission driving my creative journey is to create a life authentic to who I am. From as far back as I can remember, I have always had a need to create. I am lucky and grateful to be able to say that painting and making art is “my job”.

I want my art business to energize me and ignite my passion for working with my hands to make beautiful things. I don’t want to spend my time at a computer doing “business” things or promoting myself on social media. I want to spend my time creating art and doing the things that inspire my work like going on adventures with my family, walking with my dog, and laying in the grass… Building a sustainable art business requires a balance between the two. Admittedly, I spend more time creating art and less time on activities that promote business growth. It would be amazing to say I made a million dollars this year, but it feels better to know I spent my time and energy doing things that bring me peace and happiness.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the best part of being an artist/creative type is the gift of seeing the beauty in the world. I tend to get lost in the colors and beauty of nature and the outside world around me. I don’t just see a tree, I see all the shades of greens in the leaves and all the different textures of the trunk. When we go to the beach, I’m always lost in the sky and the clouds or wondering how I could manipulate molten beeswax to look like the waves. I obsess over all the tiny, gorgeous details that make nature so breathtaking.

It’s also really rewarding when someone connects with something I’ve created enough to hang it in their home. I love it when collectors commission a piece to capture a significant memory or feeling. My top collector is my seven-year-old son. He has a great eye for art and offers lots of helpful insights as I work. It melts my heart when he asks to hang one of my paintings in his room. He has his own gallery at this point. Last year I made several mini seascapes to sell around the holidays. I ended up giving half of them away to my son and all his neighborhood friends who kept sneaking into my home studio and asking to keep one.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.whitneyluallen.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/whitneyluallenart

Image Credits
Katya Vilchyk