An Inspired Chat with Danae O. of New Haven County, Connecticut

We recently had the chance to connect with Danae O. and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Danae, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
A little bit of both! I think the key is to decide on a path to walk, but be open to wandering along the way. Who knows, the wandering might open up a whole new path to walk that you didn’t notice before!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Danae of Danae Illustrations. I’m a self taught artist and illustrator. I’ve been drawing and creating since I could hold a pencil at the age of 3, and have now been professionally selling my art for the past 5 years. I love finding new mediums and ways to create art and expressing myself creatively however I can. The beauty of being a creative person is that there’s never a dull moment or a lack of different experiences to explore.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
As a kid, most of us are confident and expressive by nature. We haven’t learned boundaries or self doubt yet, and there’s no reason to question the why or how we do things. As we grow older, we start to learn from our surroundings and take in the directions that other people give us. I think its really common for creative people to have a memory of a time when someone said something discouraging, and it changing our whole viewpoint of our creations. For a long time, I let my caution guide me when starting my art business. I would keep myself humble and try to hit small achievable goals.
I’ve now learned that you can’t grow if you don’t give yourself room to do so. Confidence is a very useful skill, and it’s important to recognize when you’ve outgrown one box you put yourself into and open yourself up to all the possibilities. The part of me that used doubt as a motivator to build my foundation did it’s job, and now its time for me to use that foundation as a stepping stone to reach higher goals.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes! There’s been a lot of times where I really considered giving up, and I’m sure there will be more in the future. The thing that no one ever tells you about following your dreams is that it’s a lot of hard work and unenjoyable moments. Once you achieve your dreams, that’s the great part; but the act of getting there will have you questioning yourself a lot and wondering if you’re making the right choices. The good thing is though, that while you’re in the trenches of all the hard work and effort and sacrifice that you’re putting into making your dreams a reality, you get to know yourself a lot better. In my experience, every time I consider giving up, I always come out of it with more resolve and ambition because if I haven’t given up yet, my goal must be really worth it to me in the end.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
I think its a close as possible. There’s always some difference between public persona and true genuine character, but I think of it more on the lines of dressing yourself to go to work vs wearing pajamas at home. One isn’t more true than the other, its just different settings. The public me is still me, just slightly less informal and casual. But I try my best to be open and honest to my true values and emotions whenever I’m interacting with my audience, be it in person or online.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop waiting. If I had 10 years left, I would put all of my time and energy into nourishing my spirit and what makes me happy to my core, rather than worrying about the day to day forever. Even if it was as simple as spending all my time with my loved ones, or painting the days away; I would prioritize happiness over all else.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danaeillustrations.square.site
• Instagram: @danae.illustrations