We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ydaly Mer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ydaly below.
Ydaly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Pursuing an art career was a huge risk for me as art was mostly a hobby of mine and most of my time was invested into my professional career. When I lacked confidence, an art career wasn’t something I considered a possibility but more so something I would do on my free time. I honestly don’t have a story as to what pushed me to fully pursue it but more so the feeling of wanting more and not being satisfied. I know I do not want a routine or ordinary life and I know that my overall goal is freedom, to do what makes me happy and truly brings me joy from within so I decided to fight for something as to settling to society standards. That of course came with lots of challenges…..
Being a creative and technically a small business owner (as that’s what essentially it becomes) its very hard as you have to take on many roles all at once. You have to be your own manager, editor, photographer, stylist, craft-person and the list goes on……. plus the income and time invested that goes into drafting, execution and advertising. Its quite a challenge to manage it all at once and a huge risk as you’re just investing while giving time away without knowing if it will even work out but yet were hopeful and determined to believe that with consistency success is attainable.
However, I believe this huge risk was indeed one of the best decisions I have ever made. At first I faced challenges such as lack of resources upon starting but that didn’t stop me from working towards it. I consistently found ways online to learn certain things, networked and created a calendar to follow to allow me to meet my deadlines and wanted needs. Of course working a full time job while trying was another challenge but the theory turns out to be right after all, with consistency success is attainable. I scheduled myself to work and get things done during my time and days off while also assuring I would get enough time for myself and sleep for the next day. I looked online for resources and learnings on how to promote myself, look for vending events and get better at my craft. Eventually as I followed this my audience and networking grew to the point my revenue started growing monthly and great opportunities started to fly through! and so far it has turned out beautifully.
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 am a visual artist, illustrator and self-taught artist. During my early years, I did attend art school for a short period of time but felt like my skills exceeded the type of teachings I was being taught, so I decided to continue to seek knowledge outside of school. What makes me stand out as a creative is not just my skillset and uniqueness but my ability to meet my clients needs outside of my personal artistic views. I know how to visually create things to captivate and appeal to the eye. I provide services such as graphic design, logo making, garment customization and arts and crafts. I have been in the field for the past 2 years and what I am most proud of is the amazing community I have managed to build.
My purpose is to continue to utilize my talent and given gifts to provide for my community and help excel others as much as I am being exceled. It has been amazing to witness growth and see my dream still in the works but fully come to fruition. What I want others to truly grasp from me is the passion and love that I have for what I do and the creativity and hard work that goes into it. My brand is me and I hope to continue to grow and encourage others that want the same path to pursue just that.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
This was a very interesting question because aside from everything that I do, I also create digital art. I feel like there’s a lot of conversation whether NFT is actually valuable or something “dumb” and quite frankly I believe it’s something that was introduced too early.
Our world is obviously changing with technology excelling and Ai being introduced and we seem to come to face a lot of pro’s and con’s with that. NFT (which is a non-fungible token) is meant to be unique asset that cannot be replicated which essentially certifies ownership over the asset and I think this is great for creatives and brands as we continue to face improvements with technology. A lot of work now gets replicated from all over the world and it’s very hard to find an original source especially when the source is not popular or unknown. Who’s to say someone can’t screenshot or print a photo they saw online, hang it up on a wall and call themselves the original source? An NFT is what sets that a part. It’s the proof that you are the creator and owner of the asset.
It’s equivalent to buying a painting and a print. There’s so much that goes into it but this is a brief example: An original painting will have more value as to the print of that same exact painting. They will sell at a different cost and have different value based off the fact that a painting is original, requires skillset and time as to a print which is by machine a photo of that painting and overall that’s what I see the point of an NFT being in the digital world as the move towards it.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Society can support artists by attending. To thrive to have a better creative ecosystem we just need to learn how to show up for one another.
Art just like music speaks and moves people, it’s also a messenger and can encourage societal change. Art is a visual poem, a story, a feeling and history. To support in the best way is to show up for us. Go to a show, buy a piece and if you can’t do that simply go online and share. Support by spreading the word to a friend or spreading the message of what’s being absorbed. It’s so emotional and challenging to not only be blessed with a gift but have the ability to provide change and change cannot be done without community. The least we can do is support the artists that are brave enough to share messages that influence, shape and create our world on a daily basis. Go outside, everything you see is art !
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ydalymer.com
- Instagram: @ydalymer
- Facebook: Ydaly Mer
- Linkedin: Ydaly Mer
- Twitter: @ydalymer
Image Credits
Photographer : Tjddn