My name is Michelle Alexander and I’m a Canadian artist with a sweet tooth. Although I’ve always loved desserts, I haven’t always considered myself an artist. I started creating and selling my artwork in June 2020 and I’ve outlined 5 of the lessons I learned very quickly along the way.
1. CREATIVITY IS NOT SOMETHING YOU HAVE OR DON’T HAVE: Creativity is a skill that can be developed and practiced. I’m often asked how I come up with my ideas and the truth is that I work on it constantly. Then I ride the snowball effect because creativity leads to more creativity!
2. IMPOSTOR SYNDROME CAN BE OVERCOME: Truthfully I had never considered myself a ‘real’ artist because I didn’t go to art school and I was so often humbled by other artists. An exercise that helped me with this was writing down all the reasons why someone would think I’m an impostor, and then all the reasons why I’m right where I should be.
3. GREAT CONTENT ISN’T ENOUGH: It takes vulnerability to put your artwork on display and in an effort to remain authentic it can feel ‘icky’ trying to push sales. Unfortunately artwork doesn’t just speak for itself so this is where my marketing and business background has really helped me to succeed. It’s also been a fun challenge learning the ins and outs of platforms that I used to have little experience with (e.g. Pinterest, Wix).
4. IT TAKES A VILLAGE: The art community has been overwhelmingly supportive. Instead of treating each other like competition, it’s been encouraging to see so many artists champion other artists! We have so much to learn from one another and you get what you put out there. 5. HUSTLE IS KEY: I originally assumed I’d have my most sales during month 1, after my close friends and family purchased my work ‘to be nice’. I was wrong. I kept at it, introduced a variety of designs made specifically for face masks - capitalizing on a unique opportunity, put intention into analyzing analytics, kept creating artwork, learned new skills, and I continue to put myself out there, every day.
It took me 35 years and a global pandemic to begin this artistic journey. Luckily it’s never too early, or too late, to learn the value of your creativity.
With all this being said, I’d love for you to check out my junk food inspired art and let me know what you think.
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