We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexis Bearinger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexis below.
Alexis, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
For me, imposter syndrome stems from feeling like I’m not a “real artist” compared to others. To overcome it, I often reflect on something my high school art teacher told me during my senior year. I had joined her IB art class late in the semester and felt overwhelmed by the quality of work my classmates had been producing all year. She reassured me with this advice: starting your journey as an artist is far more about quantity than quality.
“Just make art,” she said. Even if you think it’s terrible, even if you have no ideas, just start. Put something down on paper and play with it. Then, keep pushing through until it feels finished—not necessarily “good” or “beautiful,” but done. Do that over and over again. Allow yourself the freedom to mess up, start over, cover things up, and tear them apart. She explained that quality comes later. Once you’ve given yourself permission to explore and play without expectations, you’ll naturally begin to curate your own style and develop the quality of your work.
That lesson has been invaluable to me over the years. Every time I feel stuck, lose my sense of direction, or let my insecurities creep into my work, I return to her advice. Even as a full-time artist, I sometimes get caught up in producing work for clients or creating things to sell and share, forgetting to make art purely for the joy of it. That’s why I make it a healthy part of my practice to step away from my “official” work and just play. Creating without pressure helps me reconnect with my creativity and reminds me why I started making art in the first place.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My business, Cudabeara Fine Art & Photo, was built (almost rebelliously) against the idea that you should niche yourself down in a career field to make yourself more marketable. I wanted my platform to be a place where I could explore all avenues of creativity, refine new skills, and never stop focusing on growth as an artist, no matter where that may take me. My interests and skills grow and change constantly, and I wanted my business to be something that could expand with me over the years.
I attended school at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit as a photography major right after high school, but 2.5 years in, I began to feel stuck and “cornered” artistically. I wanted to stretch outside the parameters of the curriculum and go off on my own. I set up meetings with two of my teachers and went in with the mindset that if both teachers told me to stay, I would, but if one of them told me they believed in me, then I would make the jump and go out on my own.
The first teacher told me exactly what I’d feared—that I would crash and burn if I left school early and that it was an unwise decision, as my photographic eye needed more refining. I went to the next meeting with the second teacher a bit disheartened, but hopeful. The second teacher, Bill, asked me what I envisioned for myself if I were to leave. I said, “I know it seems strange, but I just see myself in a little studio apartment in paint-covered overalls, surrounded by canvases. I want to buy a school bus, make it a traveling studio, and paint on the road.” I was in tears at this point, as leaving school was NEVER something I thought I would consider doing, but here I was, discussing it with my most respected teacher. Never mind the fact that the only training I had in painting was back in high school; I would essentially be starting from scratch.
When I was calm again, Bill looked at me and told me he was envious of the opportunities ahead of me. He said he’d wanted something similar for himself when he was young, but life happened, and it took him in a different direction. Those dreams didn’t unfold the way he had hoped. He said, “I think you know that you need to do this for yourself.” So I did. In 2017, I dropped out of college, moved back home, and decided to teach myself to paint.
For about two years, I like to say I “meditated” on the idea of being an artist—what I wanted my life to look like, how I planned to do it. All I really knew was I wanted to paint, and I still wanted to be a photographer. I was working a retail job just to get by, convinced that if I could get a block of time away from work dedicated to exploring my creativity, I could get this thing off the ground.
In 2020, I got the block of time I had been asking for. I was furloughed from my day job, and to cope with the pandemic, I spent all of quarantine painting, and I accidentally created my first collection—a series of acrylic pop art paintings I’ve since titled “Drippy Dreams.” I shared my work and my process on social media, namely TikTok, and I quickly grew a platform of about 100,000 people. It gave me the confidence I needed to keep going and commit to doing this full-time. In June of 2020, I told my retail job I wouldn’t be returning from furlough, and I launched Cudabeara Fine Art & Photo!
Today, more than four years later, my business has grown to reflect the variety and creativity that has always defined me as an artist. I got that bus I always wanted, and it’s in the works to become my functional traveling studio someday! I specialize in a range of fine art, photography, and custom services, including watercolor house portraits, pet portraits, and photo restoration. My photography work spans everything from events to candid portraits to creative concept shoots. I offer digital illustrations services, and I now have several murals located across the Tri-City area. Recently, I’ve expanded into screen-printing, designing small-batch products, and creating themed sticker collections. I’m now the full-time photographer for a local nonprofit called The Breaking Bread Village, I volunteer regularly for Public Arts Midland, and I work in partnership with several businesses such as Parker Lane Studios and Uplift Creative Center.
What excites me most about my work is how personal and versatile it is. Every project is a chance to tell a story and a reflection of the belief that art is for everyone, and creativity has no limits. At its core, Cudabeara Fine Art & Photo is about embracing the freedom to create, evolve, and connect with others through art. I want my journey to remind others that it’s okay to take risks, trust your instincts, and give yourself permission to grow in unexpected ways.
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?
The qualities that have served me the most in my journey are curiosity, playfulness, openness to change, trust in myself and my intuition, and a deep expression of gratitude every step of the way.
It might sound unbelievable to some, but I truly feel like I followed a trail of cosmic breadcrumbs to get to where I am today. Little by little, opportunities appeared in my path—things I could have ignored or dismissed, but instead, I chose to pursue them with a curious and playful spirit. Each breadcrumb led to the next, guiding me toward a path that felt uniquely mine. Once I allowed myself to believe that things were happening for me, not to me, it changed everything. That mindset became true in so many aspects of my life.
For anyone just starting out on their journey, whatever it may be, my advice is to begin with gratitude for what you already have. No matter how small it seems, there’s something in your life right now that you once dreamed about or wished for. Start by recognizing and appreciating that, and then give yourself permission to dream for more. Approach those dreams with the “delusional” belief that they are possible—and trust that they will unfold in time.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
I love reading, and I’ve found some of the most profound advice within the pages of books. I tend to lean towards nonfiction myself, and I enjoy reading about topics like psychology, spirituality and the arts. There are two books that come to mind that have had deeply rooted importance for me in my journey.
The first of which I would recommend to anyone, not just artists, although it’s especially fitting for those on a creative path, is titled “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. This book highlights perfectly the internal struggle that happens within us when we attempt to create, and talks a lot about the concept of “resistance” that plagues many of us in that process. It’s a very easy and quick read despite it’s profound wisdom, and it helped me a lot to reframe my mindset when I was struggling to get started on my journey.
The second book I’d recommend is a little more heavy-handed and more catered for those with a spiritual mindset, or for those who find connectedness in everything. The book is titled “You Are The Universe” by Deepak Chopra. This book took me a while to get through simply because I needed time to digest and process between each chapter. I would consider myself a bit of an existentialist and this book explores all of those topics that I could spend all day talking about. Chopra spells out the connectedness of all within the quantum field and how we can harness that power with our thoughts and how much our mindset plays a role in the outcome of our lives.
I could go on and on about books that have helped me find my way, but these two together encapsulate a lot of the lessons I’ve learned along the way and cater to a wide variety of audiences!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cudabeara.com
- Instagram: @cudabearaaaa
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cudabearaaaa
- Linkedin: https://linktr.ee/cudabearaaaa
Image Credits
All photos included were shot by me!
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
