Tammy Keller shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Tammy, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
In the world we are living in right now, I think our own mindsets are an important part of our own mental health that we have to contend for every day. The world is so filled with chaos and hate, and it’s easy to get caught up in all of it and forget what we’re here on this earth to do. I feel I’ve been put on this Earth to be a creator in the image of my Creator. And so what is going on in the world needs to stay out in the world and not in my head. There are two things I do to regularly loose track of time and find myself again.
The first thing I do is get out in nature. This is something everyone can do, and I think it’s so important for our mental health as a culture. Daily walks in my neighborhood when it’s not too hot help me remain present in my life. I love days spent on our boat floating in the beautiful Gulf waters. On Friday nights, my husband and I take our dog to the dog beach and sit and watch the sunset. It’s a perfect way to end the work week and reconnect to the things that are most important to me. I love seeing the incredible beauty of the sunset that is so much more majestic than anything I’ve created throughout the week. I love feeling the love of all of our fluffy friends and the simplicity of playing on the beach. Mostly, I love being present in that moment, holding my love’s hand and reminding myself that there is love and beauty in this world.
The second thing I do is create. It is the best way to get out of the world and reconnect with myself. I get so wrapped up in the process that time flies by. I get into that flow state where nothing else matters. Where I’m so connected to the movements of my body and the incredible colors, it truly makes my body so content. All the cares melt away, and for that time, I feel more like myself than doing any other thing.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. Of course, we don’t really call ourselves that until we think we deserve it, but now I understand that I have always been an artist. Every step of the way has been about BECOMING. I had to learn to listen to what “I” really wanted, and not to please the people around me and what “they” wanted me to do.
I also had to learn that I was wired differently than most. You see, I have synesthesia. I know it sounds like a horrible disorder, but it is really an art superpower. Synesthesia is not abnormal, but it’s not common. It is when your body uses two of its senses to a sensory input instead of one sense. One of the most common types and something that you may have heard of before is when the synesthete sees color while listening to the orchestra. They are using their sense of sight and hearing to experience the same sensory input. For me, I see color, while at the same time feeling an intense energy in my body. I call it a “zing”. It happens in good or bad ways depending on how I perceive the color or environment in which I find myself. There were so many signs of this throughout my life, but I just thought it was normal. It wasn’t until I was in my late 40’s that I learned that it was a thing, and it explained everything about myself and about why I liked to paint abstractly. My painting process is very intuitive and comes out of a place that I can’t really explain. I just follow my bodies leadings to produce the work that makes my body feel that “zing’. I have to really fight through the dreaded ugly phases that each painting moves through to get to the place where I actually feel content and energized. And when I get there, I know it. Even though I can paint almost anything, this type of painting provides me with so much satisfaction and drives me to get into the studio everyday with new ideas to pursue and a way of creating that I feel I was truly created to do.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child, I believed that the people around me were so very important – my family, my friends, my teachers – their beliefs and opinions mattered most. And because of the strong personalities in my life, I learned to listen to their thoughts about how I should live my life. I didn’t learn to listen to my own voice. I’m not sure that I ever really found it as a child. I just seemed to live in a world where I was always pleasing other people. And as you can imagine, it didn’t work out so well. I went to college to become a pharmacist because I was a gifted girl and that was going to give me a “stable career”. I married a doctor, because that was going to give me a “nice lifestyle”. And from the outside, I’m sure it looked like the perfect life… until it wasn’t. It wasn’t until all of that was stripped away that I learned to find my own voice. I learned to live a life that was more aligned with myself. I learned to live with my own values and wants for my life. And I have never felt more alive.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Wow, as an artist, I think there are always times that we almost give up. And somedays, it can happen multiple times within the same day. That’s when knowing the “why” behind what you do is so important. While I might want to give up in the world, being an artist is so much more than a worldly pursuit. It is as much a part of who I am as a person as my hair color. I can never quit. I can never stop painting, because it is how I process my life and my world. It is a magical process in which my exterior life flows through my body and comes out onto the canvas. It’s that process that helps to make me who I am, and I have not found anything else that connects me to my internal self like it.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
This is something with which I struggle, and feel I’ve struggled to understand it my whole life. I am authentically me. I don’t know any other way to be. And the way of the world is so confusing to me, because I have realized so many times that other people don’t live that way. Life is like a game to them, and they strategically play the game in order to win something. As long as you play the game their way, then you are in good standing with them. But if you have opinions or needs outside of the game they are playing, then you are out of the game. This is a game I just don’t play.
I want so badly to find the people that just want to be authentically themselves and want to enjoy the love, laughter, and sorrows of life together only wanting what’s best for each other. I want to cheer them on as much as they cheer me on everyday. I want to assume the best in them and that they assume the best in me. And that’s how I live all of my life. There is no public or private version of me. It’s just me. And I’m hoping that is enough for this public part of being an artist.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: How do you know when you’re out of your depth?
As an artist, I feel like I permanently live “out of my depth”. Everyday, I make choices to chase my dreams without knowing if they will ever become what I envision. Of course I have huge dreams for myself and my business, and so each day I set out to become by walking into the deep end. One step at a time, I push forward. This is definitely not a sprint, but a marathon. I walk into rooms I’m not sure that I’m ready for on the inside, but I trust that they were meant for me. I try hard not to pine for what’s to come, but try to celebrate the little wins of the here and now. It’s a life lived wearing arm floaties and praying for the next opportunity to float my way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tammykellerart.com
- Instagram: @tammykellerart
- Facebook: Tammy Keller Artist
Image Credits
I hold the rights to all the images.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
