Interview with Susan Walker, Pastel and Oil Painter

At Meylah, we love to help our fellow artists, crafters and photographers and from time to time we share their work and feature their stories with you.  Well, today we want to introduce you to Susan Walker, Pastel and Oil Painter.  A few weeks ago we met Susan at the Sammamish Art Fair where she was showcasing her wonderful paintings.  Today, she discusses her passion and the inspiration in her work as well as some of the challenges she has faced in managing her art business online.

Meylah:  You create beautiful scenic paintings, what is your inspiration?
Susan:  My desire for each piece is to create beauty with a strong element of curiosity…and I am equally inspired by the ongoing, visible signs of my mastery of technique...finding ‘my mark’ over and over again.  My current body of work has been my exploration into Stillness and Pathways…places I go to listen, look, breathe, and basically not rush around.  I am committed to being still and finding pathways as I unhinge from my former work as a frantic elementary school principal.  It is a joyful experience!  I am struck by my own new-found vitality as a human being.  I had forgotten how motivating LEARNING is (kind of funny for a school principal to be saying this!).

Meylah:  You mentioned that you were a school principal, where did you get your art background?
Susan:  I thrived studying drawing and painting under Wayne Thiebaud as a college student at UC Davis, and earned my B.A. in Studio Art.  Have you seen his work?  Breathtaking!  Combines Beauty and Curiosity!  The scattered attempts to keep my art alive over the years were enjoyable, but not sustainable or truly satisfying.  I worked in colored pencil for over ten years because there was no mess and it was easy to pick up the pencils when I had time.  Time was limited because of the hours I devoted to being a principal.  Time is not a limit anymore.   Onward to being a full-time artist!

Meylah:  We see that you are passionate about learning, how do you currently learn or improve your artwork?
Susan:  I made a commitment to myself to join a community of artists and find a great set of teachers.  First step:  University of Washington’s Certificate Program in the Fundamentals of Drawing  Painting.  It was a year of study with seventeen students, unknown to each other initially, who became a learning ‘community', like the guilds of old.  With a strong instruction in the basic elements of art in the fabled Art Building on the UW campus and coupled with the collegial environment gave us (students of all ages, professions, and ethnicities) a sense of confidence and excitement about our work as emerging artists.  I am currently enrolled in the UW’s Certificate Program “Figure  Portrait Painting”.  I am joined by most of my colleagues (my ‘community of artists’) from Year One at the UW.

Meylah:  We see that you have great tutorial on your website to learn about pastels, do you ever teach art classes or have an interest to do so?
Susan:  I do not currently teach, but would really love to…someday.  I think it aligns nicely with my former skill set - every school principal starts as a teacher.

Meylah:  With all of this learning and creating going on, how do you manage your art business on a daily basis?
Susan:  I am self-disciplined and intrinsically motivated…good combination!   And, I have a process that works for me although my weak area is marketing:

• I have gone back to a paper calendar
• I use one credit card for all art expenses
• I keep an envelope of every receipt for tax purposes
• I set aside ‘studio time’ for painting and ‘office time’ for correspondence and invoicing
• I keep paper files of all aspects of the business

Meylah:  So, you mentioned your weak area is marketing.  What challenges have you found while trying to share/sell your artwork online?
Susan:  My website, susanwalkerstudio.com, has only been up and running for a few months.  I did not choose to have a PayPal system yet, but rather have people contact me if they are interested in more information (prices, commissions, etc.).  Just having a website gives me plenty of credibility.  Now, I need to figure out how to do more with it.

Meylah:  Susan, we are here to help you and others like you.  You have a great website and we see you also have a blog.  One of the easiest ways (it’s FREE too) to get your marketing up to par is to use social media.  Here are some quick marketing tips for creating an online presence using social media platforms:

• Use your website (or blog) as the hub to link to all of your social media accounts (Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, etc.) so visitors can find and connect with you in multiple places and lead them back to the place to purchase your work.  And remember, use your blog to tell your story and your artwork stories - customers love to purchase pieces because of the story that it tells, so be sure and tell it.
• Use Twitter for all it’s worth!  It’s a great tool for businesses (both large and small) and if you need help understanding Twitter, you can read our Introduction to Twitter post as well as take our Byte-Syze Learning on How To Get Started on Twitter to create a Twitter account and begin to tweet!
• Another great tool is Flickr!  Sharing your images through Flickr will create tremendous reach and connect you to others just like you.   You can join groups or create your own and we have a great post on The Basics of Flickr as well as Byte-Syze Learning tutorials on Getting Started on Flickr and Creating a Group on Flickr.
• Finally, Facebook.  Yes, it’s an account for friends, but also for sharing your work.  You can share upcoming events or new pieces of work you’ve created and send all your friends back to your website to increase visibility and ultimately sales.  We have a great post on Why Facebook and a Byte-Syze Learning on How To Get Started on Facebook.

We sure enjoyed talking with you Susan and look forward to seeing your online marketing efforts pay off!  Good Luck!