Today, my first solo art show opens. That is crazy to me considering that I wasn’t consciously trying to make art a core part of my career until last fall. One year ago, I was transitioning out of full-time employment into an adventure of full-time creative work. That change came from an intentional shift to follow my dreams of writing a book and to continue building the small business that I ran with my best friend. Things didn’t quite work out as anticipated; and although I did finish the manuscript for my novel (plus a bonus book of poetry), the business didn’t expand as expected and we made the painful decision to close it down at the end of 2023.

If you’ve ever been a freelancer, entrepreneur or consultant, you know that your workload (and therefore your paycheck) can really fluctuate. The ride has been a bit tumultuous and there have been so many frustrating moments in which I had to challenge society’s (as well as my own) definition of success. It is hard to stay engaged in creative work when you’re constantly fighting against the story you told yourself of what being an established adult looks like. It’s hard to convince yourself of the value you’re adding when the billable hours are few. However, the amount of artwork and writing I generated in the past year due to having extra time has been overwhelming in the best ways possible.

At the beginning of my foray into total freelance work last January, I read The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. The book is full of wisdom and encouragement for anyone who is interested in creative work, and I thoroughly enjoyed the reading and suggested exercises. I was struck by two things. One: how staunchly the author rejected the idea of the starving artist. Bills must be paid, and the more you fret about finances the more your art suffers. You don’t have to make money from your craft, but you do need to make money in order to invest in your creative work. Two: creative abundance is free for everyone. There is no limit to your potential if you can accept this concept.

I took both to heart. The past few months have been a tightrope walk; tenuously balancing art and commerce; dreams and stability; hopes and fears. I’ve taken on part time work to manage finances, but also protected creative time. I’ve re-written my definition of what a success story looks (and feels) like and allowed myself to explore some “post scripts” which fueled even more creativity (and opened the door to having a solo art show!). I think I said it well in my artist statement (excerpted here).

For a long time, I felt the need to pursue only things that would bring me worldly success. I wrote myself many letters of what I thought life should look like. However, establishing a career I loved proved more difficult than anticipated and I struggled to find the stability I craved. So, in the meantime, I turned to things that brought me joy. I dreamt of meaningful creative work and wrote myself a little postscript—I am an artist.

I felt like a fraud in claiming that title, while also finding freedom in its openness. Giving myself permission to explore my art in its many forms helped my spirit grow and in turn, my view of God and his creative abundance helped refine my artistic endeavors.

As humans, we often feel bound to the stories and expectations we’ve written about ourselves. We don’t always give ourselves permission to color outside of the lines. We stay within the margins; we only write on lined paper. I want to challenge that. Through this show I hope to inspire visitors to explore their own access to the creative abundance of God—acknowledging there are vast differences in how our unique creative designs manifest in our lives.

Post Scripts is on view from January 29-March 2.

SDG