Meet Briana Fitzpatrick

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Briana Fitzpatrick. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Briana below.

Briana, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

That’s such a meaningful question to ask! If you would have asked me when I was 11yrs I would have told you that I think my purpose in life would have been to become an animal rescuer when I grew up. Then at 13yrs old I would have told you my purpose would be in becoming a professional dancer. When I was 17yrs old I did become a professional dancer and then I got an injury that required surgery. During a the season of recovery I still thought I wanted to pursue a career in dance because I thought that was my purpose in life, so I attended dance auditions up until the worldwide lockdown in 2020. The dance/ performance industry shut down so I had to get other jobs for income. I worked at a couple food service jobs and then coached gymnastics. About a year into working the clock in and clock out jobs I got so burnt out. There had to be more to my life right? That was the question I kept asking myself. I can’t keep doing this for the rest of my life so what am I suppose to do? Things needed to change because my health just kept declining. What kept me moving forward was my faith. I believed God had a greater plan for my life. I prayed. I cried many times behind closed doors. I asked God to lead me to whatever He had planned next for me. I surrendered my dreams. I gave up trying to control my life and soon after that He started to lead me to art. I saw a picture of a painting and it grasped me in a way I’ve never been grasped or inspired by any other artwork I’ve seen. In that moment I wanted to learn how to paint. I grabbed the craft paint supplies I had and tried to recreate the beautiful painting just to see if there was a chance I could actually create somewhat of a decent painting. I loved the whole process. When I was painting all of my worries, doubts, anxieties went away. I felt so free, expressive, and happy. Not too long after creating that painting I put my two week notice in at my job and quit! I decided to go all in on art. I had absolutely no idea where this journey would take me. I just trusted in the Lord. I built my own website, applied for my first fine art show within two months of painting. I didn’t even have a whole collection made yet but somehow I was accepted into The Other Art Fair in Dallas Texas. I had to learn along the way and develop a collection of works to bring. At the show I sold multiple originals and prints there! That was really encouraging as a beginner with at that time about 4 months of experience painting. From there I would share my art a lot on social media and attend more art shows. My work kept developing and growing. Even though this journey has not been easy I have never regretted leaving my jobs. Choosing to surrender to God and be obedient to following Him wherever He guides me to be has been the best decision of my life. I have so much more peace, love, joy, and purpose in my life and I truly believe this is still just the beginning of this journey.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

The abbreviated description of me is being called a multidisciplinary artist. But what does “multidisciplinary artist” fully mean? It could mean many different things to describe an artist, but specifically for me it summarizes the various art disciplines I’ve trained in and how I simultaneously love to incorporate these disciplines into my creative process of making art. I grew up training in dance, gymnastics, archery, martial arts, and aerial arts.. Sometimes I’m painting with my feet while balancing in a handstand, or painting while dancing on pointe shoes, or using archery to shoot a balloon filled with paint so the paint explosively splatters all over the canvas (which is super cool and fun to do) I just love to find ways to use the skills I trained in as a kid and still put them to good use in a way that challenges me as an artist and breaks boundaries of how I can create my work. I have a desire to capture the dynamic beauty of energy, movement, and life to bring you art that is created in ways to inspire you to express who you are and encourages you to keep shining your light brightly in this world.

I’ve been traveling quite a bit over the past years and it’s been absolutely incredible and more eye opening to see other cultures, get to try new things like fire dancing, surfing, etc just to name a couple. These adventures inspire my art a lot and I just love getting to connect with new people, hear their stories, and gift art along the way. Something recently that I just launched after traveling in California for 4 days and then Hawai’i for 24 days is I decided to start my own art print club. But honestly it means more to me a just an “art print” club. In a world that continues to get darker, more digitized, and sucked into the hustle culture, I wanted to create something with more meaning and connection offline. Something that would spread more love and brighten people’s days when they received it. When I was in Hawai’i I purchased some postcards, sat at the beach, wrote notes on them, and mailed them to my loved ones. When they received them, they told me how that brightened their days. I want to keep spreading that joy to people all across the world and do it with my own art. Now I’m growing this art print club that I’ve named Keao Club, which the name Keao means “light of day” which is exactly what I want each Keao Club package to bring people every month. The Keao Club is like a joyous little hug, a happy dance, and a bundle of sunshine arriving right to your mailbox to brighten your day with it including an art print, sticker, and letter personally from me to you. It’s already so sweet and exciting or me to see this club growing with people. I have no idea where it will go from here but that’s the joy of this journey!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Ooooh another great question!
#1 not staying in a box.
#2 not conforming to what others say you should do if it doesn’t align with you.
#3 stop comparing someone else’s success with your success.

I was told to stay within mainly one art style so that people would recognize my art, build up reputation, and by staying mainly in one style I would get the most success from that. Well I broke that. I just couldn’t keep creating art in the same style over and over. I had/ have too much of a curiosity to try new things. What I do instead is build small collections in each painting/ art style I am developing, exploring, and/ or creating, document the process, share why I was inspired to create in this specific style, and let my collectors and followers know when the collections will be dropped. Some artist are absolutely incredible with creating in one style and it works for them, but creating in multiple styles works for me and I’ve sold hundreds of artworks doing it in this way that I love.

I listened to different mentors and influencers sharing how I should sell my art, like for example pitch to galleries, post about your art it in a specific way through Facebook groups, use these IG trends to boast your reach and apply these sales method. On and on it went and I got burnt out honestly trying to chase the sale. I had to reflect on truly why was I creating art and how would I like to market/ sell my art in a way that I could manage and yet still allow myself free time to create so I wasn’t tied to my phone answering messages and sending a bunch of DM’s hoping to close a sale. You will probably have to try a bunch of things to figure out what works for you and what you enjoy doing most. There’s gonna be trial and error no doubt about that, but please don’t go chasing the money. Keep sharing your art. Keep getting it out there whether that’s through social media, website, Etsy shop, in person art fairs, or a newsletter (highly recommended having your own email newsletter). Just keep showing your work and the right people will eventually find it and want to buy your work and support your journey.

The comparison game can be sooo hard. I fall into the trap more times than I like to admit, but remember no one else is walking in your exact shoes. This is your journey. What does “success” truly mean to you? Also when comparison starts to creep in, take a moment to reflect on how far you’ve come in life already! You are doing amazing! Keep shining and keep moving forward!

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The Bible. It’s loaded with wisdom, knowledge, truth, love, and abundantly so much more I wouldn’t be able to fit it all. It’s been an absolute life changer for me. One of the most impactful verses personally to me is Matthew 6:33 where Jesus says “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” As long as we continue to seek God first, put Him first, make Him the top priority in our lives, all of our needs will be taken care of. We won’t have to worry about money, or food, or trying to force situations or things to happen. God cares so deeply about us and loves us so dearly that He sent His one and only son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins so that we may live and spend eternity with Him in Heaven instead of being bound to sin, death, and hell. He has a wonderful plan for your life. Seeking Him daily in His Living Word which is the Bible has been truly one of the best and most impactful life decisions I’ve made.

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