Meet Aiyla Paulin

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aiyla Paulin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Aiyla, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

My undeniable work ethic most certainly came from my dad. I grew up watching my father run his business with the highest form of integrity and commitment. I saw him work long days and work straight through weekends. Is he a work-a-holic? Sure, but he definitely gets the job done.

I was brought up with the sentiment that “how you do anything is how you do everything”. That notion has driven me to push myself harder and harder every day. Is it not easy to be a business owner, let alone an art business owner; one must have the ability to self-motivate and stay consistent if there is to be any form of success.

While I feel I may be genetically predisposed to work incredibly hard thanks to my dad, the idea that I can one day find true success and purpose in what I’m doing makes slacking off not even an option. I genuinely believe that if you want something out of life, anything, it is on you to make it happen.

I understand circumstances can steer us in different directions, however, it is up to us as individuals to continue to adapt and persevere. One thing I have learned this year and found to be consistently true is that the harder I work and more effort I put in, the more opportunities present themselves. While they may not necessarily be the right opportunity for me, more doors open when you give life your all.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am a renaissance woman. If I can create something beautiful with my hands, I will. Throughout my artistic journey I have explored so many different mediums and styles. I believe as an artist, you are ever evolving. My path began with digital pet portraits; this was my first foray into becoming a business owner. The beginning was messy and took a ton of “figure it out”. Eventually I found my groove and some success locally. While growing my portrait business, I found myself missing traditional art. I began painting small pet portrait ornaments and slowly that product grew successfully. While I adore creating pet portraits, I felt that I was missing out on showing people a real sense of who I am.

Currently, my focus is charcoal and gold leaf art. I’m finally getting to tell a story directly from my soul. A story of peculiar animals and beautiful women, art that is somewhat uncomfortable while maintaining its sense of “pretty”. I get to showcase my love of the vintage aesthetic with a touch of surrealism. This expression of my creativity is taking me farther than I expected it to. My strange sense of whimsy and humor paired with a slight tone of macabre is resonating with people. I’m starting to receive opportunities to do pop up shows and display my art in local businesses. I am delighted to have local business owners take notice of the value my art brings and it shows me that I am heading in the right direction.

Was this easy? Absolutely not. This took years of developing a skillset to get close to a level where I felt comfortable creating a business around it. It took so much trial and error through multiple attempts at running an art business, understanding what works and what doesn’t. While I would never call them failures, I had plenty of learning opportunities and hard lessons.

The most important thing I’ve learned throughout this experience is that through perseverance you will prevail. Each perceived failure is a moment where you can pivot and become better. Rather than viewing setbacks as the end, I see them as steps toward eventual success. I genuinely believe things happen for a reason.

I’ve found the ability to trust in that thought has pushed me to keep going, when all I wanted to do was give up. I didn’t give up because I trusted that every challenge had a purpose, even if I couldn’t see it at the time. Believing that things happen for a reason gave me the strength to push through, knowing there was something to gain from each experience.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

This is such a great question. We all know in order to find success in your journey, you must embody so many different facets of what a successful person is. From my own perspective, I have found the ability to be consistent with practice, the maintenance of discipline as well as not allowing self-doubt to take over have been essential to the continuation of my journey as an artist.

Practice as an artist is essential. When I was younger I had a natural talent for most things, anything creative came very easily to me. Natural talent only brings a person so far. It began with a simple pet portrait using a technique I had learned in a college class. If you took a look at my first portrait compared to the one I finished last night, you wouldn’t believe the same artist made them. Each time I booked a new commission I got better and better. Each stroke of paint or pencil becomes more confident and doubt in my abilities begins to fade.

Even years later, each time I paint something new, I am astounded with how far I’ve come from the one before. The real key to growth though is consistency. It is one thing to practice your craft and to be able to hone your skillset, it’s another thing if you lose what you have gained by failing to be consistent. There was a point in time I took a lengthy break from art; when I came back to it, while of course I didn’t lose everything I’ve learned up to that point, my technique was rusty and the momentum I gained from regular practice took time to reinstate.

The most important skill I’ve had to develop and maintain is discipline. As an artist, no one is making you create art, you have to self-motivate. Having discipline is essential not only as a creative but as a business owner. Once I found a rhythm with pushing myself to stay productive and focused, the easier it became to operate effectively.

Throughout my career as an arist I’ve come to understand the biggest obstacle in art (and life for that matter) is self-doubt. Not to be too dramatic, but self-doubt is the killer of dreams. It halts you before you even begin. If you don’t believe you have a chance of success then why would you try in the first place? Many times throughout my artistic career I have battled with this concept, even now I constantly question, is this right? However, I’m lucky enough to be one of those people who may be riddled with uncertainty but continues to try regardless of the outcome.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

When I start to feel the anxiety creeping in and I know I’m beginning to feel that overwhelm, I always, no matter what, take a step back. As someone who is the creator, the operations manager, customer service department, marketing expert, accountant and a billion other things for their own company, it can start to feel like too much.

Take a moment and just stop. Breathe, eat a scone, pet a dog. Allow yourself the space to take a step back and look at everything going on with a fresh mindset. I think people severely undervalue the effectiveness of 30 minutes to just stop and reset.

When I am able to slow back down, the numerous unchecked boxes don’t seem so daunting and I know I will get through each one when I need to. In the creative space, there is generally no such thing as an emergency.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artbyaiyla.com
• Instagram: @art.by.aiyla
• Other: TikTok: @art.by.aiyla