Meet Catherine Salisbury

We were lucky to catch up with Catherine Salisbury recently and have shared our conversation below.

Catherine, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

One of the hardest things I think most creatives have to manage is keeping a sense of creativity, curiosity, and excitement for what they love to do. Over the last few years, I’ve reconnected with my sense of creativity through effective boundaries, a new sense of self, and a lot of forgiveness.

As a kid, I drew all the time since it was an endless outlet for self expression; I was beginning to understand who I was and who I wanted to be so drawing was the way for me to explore all those possibilities. Art was also an escape; when I didn’t want to pay attention in class, when I felt lonely, or simply when I was daydreaming I could turn to my sketchbook and find comfort in my ideas.

After graduating college, my outlet for self expression became chained to the meaning I’d assigned to the world around me and I hit my first really big burnout. I think this is all too common for creatives trying to make a career for themselves, when we need our work to appeal to others we run the risk of tossing ourselves out of the picture.
A few years ago, after my burnout came to a rough peak, I finally had enough and started to make some healthier adjustments. I noticed where to be kinder to myself, I made an effort to be patient when I wasn’t inspired and an even bigger effort to forgive myself when I wasn’t interested in drawing.

I got better at listening to my body, understanding when I needed to rest and when I needed a push, and now I feel like I’ve found a happy medium. Drawing comes to me when I’m inspired, I rest when I need it, and when I need to push I have a much healthier relationship with how I speak to myself.
I think the secret recipe for keeping our creativity alive is by being forgiving, kind, and understanding to ourselves.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a comic artist with ADHD, a storyboard artist recovering from burnout, and a professional doodler making art to make myself laugh.
I remember it like it was yesterday, it all started at a scholastic book fair in North Carolina when I was a wee grade schooler and I found a book on how to draw manga. In high school, I devoted my skills to creating original characters and shooting backyard movies with friends. My budding art career continued strong when I enrolled at UNC School of the Arts to study animation, and now I’m thriving in Los Angeles amongst a community of fellow creatives.

Most of my art has revolved around narrative work one way or another, whether it’s jotting down thumbnails for a book I have brewing in my head, storyboarding a silly scene, or sketching a comic to share my thoughts through a page. There’s nothing more satisfying than having just the right amount of panels to express something deep, vulnerable, joyous, and dreamy about the human existence.

These days, my comics are shared online and, I’m happy to say, self published into my first anthology series! I’ve always struggled with the meaning of ‘finished’ and comparing my work to others, so these books are a gift to myself as a way to say my art is enough.
My joy comes from sketching while I’m out and about, my inspiration comes from my friends and the world around me, and I’m so thankful to have a community to share my work with. LA has given me a space to exist, events to read my work aloud, and so many places to recharge and have fun!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The first one that comes to mind is to draw with your feelings, not your eyes, especially when figure drawing. You’ll be more engaged, it’ll be more of a challenge because you’re developing a personal flavor for what you prioritize and exaggerate, and the pose will be much more dynamic. Accuracy isn’t everything when you can really connect with what you see in the model and can express that on the page.
That other thing that helped me build a lot of confidence was drawing in pen. Try using just a marker or a pen, something that feels really smooth or bleeds a lot of ink and let your strokes be permanent and messy. If it sounds daunting, lean into ‘let’s get this over with’ and pick up some speed. When I started sketching a bunch of little life studies with a pen, 100 bad drawings went by really fast and before I knew it my hand got much faster and I drew with so much more confidence.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to rest! It’s tough relaxing guilt free when we have so much we want to do or everyone around us is doing a ton. Practicing kindness when we’re just not feeling it is the best advice I could give anyone.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

Currently I’m developing my first graphic novel! It’s been very exciting to write and thumbnail a story that’s been close to my heart for the last few years.
At the moment though, the biggest challenge is just getting it done. Anyone with executive dysfunction, or who struggles to get their to-do lists done, can understand it’s tough tackling such a large project! But if I’ve learned anything from recovering from my burnout, it’s that you get it done a little at a time. So I’m working on it a little at a time. I pick up my pen and chip away at it, bit by bit, and practice forgiveness in between.
When you’re climbing up a mountain you try not to look down, unless it’s to inspire and remind yourself how far you’ve come.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://catherinesalisbury.wixsite.com/portfolio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathywhut/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-salisbury-202bb3121/