Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Lara Taylor

Hello Beautiful, I am back from my trip =)

and while I would love to say I'm raring to go, I am currently struggling with a brick wall of overwhelm in my creative projects. I simply have *far* too many on the go, which unfortunately  is not something I can just change because too many projects will just ALWAYS be how I work; mainly because of the sheer volume of ideas I have that I want to enact...but also because my mind works that way (in lil bitty scattered pieces!). However to actually make any creative project real/physical/finished I do have to just sit and stick to one and ignore the overwhelm buggling (no that's not a real word, just a Jennibellie-one) bunny that is making me hop all over the place. So right now I am grateful I can chill out a little, still feel like I am contributing something in the way of this artist interview and hopefully get some good advice for myself along the way. Here we go...

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
I am a single mom, a writer, an artist, a graphic designer, an efficiency expert and a creative problem-solver. I find it hard to categorize myself. ;)

Right now, at this time in my life, I am primarily doing graphic design, but really, my whole life, my creativity just sort of oozes out in all sorts of interesting ways. I love decorating my home, I designed my own blogs, I do artwork for family gifts, for work, for my kids. And while I do a lot of graphic designing using my laptop, I still love to draw, to use my die-cut machine and to write. I can’t just sit in front of a computer all day, you know? I still seek that hands-on component. I loved sculpting in high school and I have always been interested in collage and mixed media, which I plan on getting back to very soon.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?
Hands down my biggest challenge is that I LOVE comic book art and I suck at it. I mean, I can’t draw humans proportionately to save my life. It is a constant, re-occurring challenge that I want to draw human beings better. I am a very curious person, I’m a learner and a problem-solver so I did what seemed logical: I got some How-To DVD’s. lol I haven’t done them all yet, there are a ton of lessons, but I’m slowly but surely working to incorporate art in a multitude of forms back into my life. Time and energy management is probably my other issue and I can honestly say I haven’t figured out how to jam together full time work, freelancing graphic design, satisfying my craving to draw and do other types of creation and take care of my kids and chores. I’m a work in progress!

What is your heart’s greatest desire for your life as an artist?
To proudly proclaim to all and sunder that I *am* an artist. That I am a writer. That I am all those things that our culture frequently looks down on, because they are less than steady in the world of being a responsible adult. There is a stigma attached to it a lot of the time. I want to create every day and get paid to do what I love, all while being a fabulously well-adjusted mom and role-model for my kids. I could do that, right?

What inhibits you most from being the artist you want to be?
Fear. Lol Fear of being poor and of not being able to provide for my children, would be it, in a nutshell. To that end, I am writing down every viable idea I have about what I can do with my art. One of my goals, as a mother and as someone who has worked a lot with children (my degree is actually in education), is to write and illustrate my own children’s books, thereby combining my loves: education, art and writing. But that kind of thing takes time, which is in scarce supply while my children are young. That and I have more ideas than any other human being I know and not nearly enough waking hours to get it all done! lol

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?
I do graphic design because I’m pretty good at it and it seemed most logical for earning a living, the highest potential to earn a regular paycheck, so that’s where I am is my business, Siostra Artistry & Marketing at www.siostraartistryandmarketing.com and www.facebook.com/siostra.marketing. I do have, in my photos section, some of my drawings and paintings.

Thank you Lara for your insights, I can certainly see why you chose graphic design as a career, you certainly are good at it =) but I do hope you get to do all that you want in the future, because yes I believe you can do that! 

From my own perspective I want to thank you for saying 'I have more ideas than any other human being I know and not nearly enough waking hours to get it all done! lol' too, because I think that helped me gain some perspective. The 'I don't have enough time' is certainly an excuse I use a lot, I'm not saying it's not always true, but even when it is, it's still an excuse; because I think I probably have more free time than some with kiddios to look after etc to get my ideas done. Still that doesn't make it easy, but tomorrow I am going to try my best to put the overwhelm bunny back in it's cage with the help of the thought 'I will ALWAYS have too many ideas, the trick is just to focus on one...and be grateful the rest are waiting in the wings!'

Do you want to be a featured TAT artist??

To be featured email me or find all the details here =)