Why not?
do the thing!!!
I’ve been running myself ragged this past year with work, but I don’t think I’d ask for anything else: Moving into two different studios away from my home, doing nine art shows in less than six months, teaching private lessons, doing my “regular” graphic design job”, throwing a few commissions into the mix, and also making time for not only personal studio time but somehow still having a social life. I’m seriously so happy with how things are going at the moment despite how weird, scary, and crazy the world is at the moment.
If you told me as a kid that I’d be living solely off of creative endeavors, I’d say you’re lying. Actually, that’s not true. I KNEW from childhood that being a full-time artist was the only choice. I never had a plan B.
My mom was an interior designer and an amazing typography artist. My dad was a graphic designer and illustrator who taught me Photoshop at the age of four (I remember us going to Target as a kid to buy the 5-6 CDs you needed to download this software for like $600 and being amazed at the price). Plenty of other people in my family on both sides are skilled with their hands – carpenters, mechanics, painters, comic makers, poets, writers, fiber artists, musicians, etc. It’s only natural that one of us was bound to be a full-time artist, and I’m somehow making it work in a capitalist society that it should definitely not work in.
That being said, I also never thought I’d be an instructor or a teacher. But when you have more than 10,000 hours of practicing something, then I feel like you need to share at least some of that knowledge. It also helps kids to see someone living their dreams. Every time I was taught by a living and working artist, I always soaked in every bit of knowledge they wanted to give me.
I just hit a year of doing private art lessons, which I originally started because I needed a “side hustle” to pay the bills. I’ve enjoyed it so much. One of my first students is about to move to Spain and we might not be able to do lessons anymore, but I have loved every single second together. They have taught me how to be a teacher and how to be patient more than anything– did I mention this student is eight years old? Some days we follow the lesson plan and some days we pivot because that is what is needed. The same thing goes with art– Sometimes you go into the studio intending to do one thing and you end up in a whole new direction that will inform every other visit to the studio after that.
I was approached by three separate and local organizations to teach either plein air painting or comic making this summer. I took the first one that came along and had to turn down the other two in the event of scheduling conflicts. It feels weird to be that in demand. I never imagined that happening to me.
That being said, I’m teaching comic making this summer at the Contemporary at Blue Star. This course is totally free for high school teenagers if you apply by June 8th. If you’re local to San Antonio and surrounding areas and have a teen who is dying to learn comics, then this is the perfect opportunity.
I’m excited about what will come of this, and I intend to do the course alongside them so that all of us will end up with comics made with a common theme together. I hope this opportunity will not only spur others but inspire a future generation of comic makers and storytellers in my city.
Anyway, it’s late and I should stop yapping.
Thanks for reading
–Shelby
You are such an inspiration to me! My plan had always been to be an artist as a kid too, and I really hope to live a life like you and survive off of my creativity!!
i love the cabinet and i’m happy you’re teaching MOSAIC! the kids are great 💕