Abigale Moon shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Abigale, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
One of the things I enjoy the most is painting. Something about mixing the colors and putting it on paper is really cathartic. I’m a stay-at-home mom and your identity shifts so much when you become a mom. Everything is put into a different perspective. Painting really feels like a tether back to pre-parent me.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Abigale Moon and I am an illustrator and watercolorist of homes and historic buildings. I love all things architecture related. For many years, I have been drawing places I’ve traveled and historical buildings as a hobby. Most recently, I did a series of famously haunted houses and a series of author’s homes. I am continuing to work on those as a side project. Within the last year, I decided to try it as a business by opening up commissions for houses. It has been a true pleasure to capture these special places for my customers! When someone commissions me, they often tell me some of the beautiful memories they had there. It’s just a really special way to connect with people.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My Dad has always been a huge supporter of my art and creativity. For many years, he saw my potential before I saw it myself. When I was focused on photography, he was so encouraging and enthusiastic. He often told me that I really had an eye for getting the right shots. He encouraged me to try it as a business, which I did for a few years. Then when I started drawing, he reminded me that he was the first person I ever drew a house for. When I was about 10 we went on vacation to Amish country in Ohio. We stayed in this delightful little log cabin for the weekend. While we were there, I drew that log cabin. 23 years later, that drawing still hangs in his living room.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Imposter syndrome has held me back the most. I think every creative person feels this at one time or another. When I was trying to blog and do photography, I felt it tremendously. With photography, I put myself up to such high standards that I felt I almost never met. Even if my clients were thrilled with their photos, I felt like they were never good enough. It caused me to lower my pricing because I just felt like I wasn’t worthy of the money, even though that absolutely wasn’t true. These days I, thankfully, don’t feel it as much. I just remind myself that I am working very hard on these projects and I should be proud of the effort.
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. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
I think one of the biggest lies is that if you are good at something you need to do it for money. My best example of this is photography. I absolutely love pulling out my camera and taking photos. I had a successful photography business for awhile. Doing photography for the money robbed me of my joy. I got to a point where I dreaded going on shoots and editing. After awhile of feeling this way, I decided to stop it altogether. There was a year or so that I rarely even picked up my camera. The only thing that sparked joy in me was getting into film photography. You have to be intentional with film, unlike digital photography where you just snap away. Film for myself brought back my joy. Don’t believe that everything you are good at needs to be monetized.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days.
One of my favorite things about being creative is when others look at something you made, and it leaves an impression. Several years ago when I had my blog, Wanderings and Beautiful Things, I wrote a post about my recent visit to Reims, France. I had the opportunity to stay in the same house my Grandfather stayed in 70+ years prior during WWII. It was a heartfelt memorial to a man that had a large impact on my life. About 2 years after I made that original post, I was contacted by a Reims journalist who read my post and thought it was worth sharing. Two months later, my post was translated into French and put in their local magazine. It was one of the most exhilarating things that has ever happened to me. It made me even more excited to blog and create something that could mean something to others.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Abi.moon.creative
- Facebook: Abigale Moon Creative
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