Meet Cassis Brown

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cassis Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cassis, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

When I get creative blocks, I don’t try to fight my way through them. I take it as a sign to step away and give myself a break, maybe change my perspective or get inspiration from somewhere new. I’ve found that forcing myself to be creative when I’m not in the right spirit or mindset does nothing to benefit me or my art, it usually just makes me frustrated. So I honor the creative block, and take a moment to recenter myself before coming back to my work.

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?

Hi, my name is Cassis! I am an artist and creative currently working in Boston. I do a little bit of everything; I’m a photographer, artist and crafter, model, and content creator. I have a brand called Slight Chaos where I sell my jewelry and other things I make! Right now I’m just working on trying to create as often as I can; my hope is to become a full time artist and creator when the time is right!

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?

I think my resilience, dedication, and my curious spirit have been the most impactful in my journey. I wouldn’t be at the skill level I am at as a photographer if I didn’t practice for years in my university’s photography club. I was dedicated to learning and improving, and that continued dedication has paid off. While I’ve been dedicated to diving deep into certain mediums, I also think that my curiosity has impacted my journey as well. I am constantly looking at new mediums and wanting to try my hand at them. Currently I’m doing a lot of embroidery and rug making, and these are skills I’ve picked up in the last year or so. Trying new things has allowed me to continue to be inspired in new ways.

My advice to folks who are early in their journey is to try new things and be patient. As an impatient person I know that is not what a lot of people want to hear, haha, but a lot of skills take time and practice to refine. And spend time trying different mediums, you might really surprise yourself by venturing into a medium that is totally new to you. If you’re doing it and it makes you happy then that’s really all that matters anyway.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

My biggest area of growth has been in my personal life. This last year I have worked really hard to deconstruct old ways of thinking that weren’t serving me. I have really horrible imposter syndrome, and there is always a voice in my head that is questioning whether my art is good enough. But I’ve worked hard this year to try to quiet that inner critic and remind myself that I am an artist because I make art and it makes me happy. And that really is all there is to it.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

The first photo of me (camera and glasses) is by Lorraine Padget
Everything else is my photo 🙂

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