We were lucky to catch up with Courtney Chapman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Courtney, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?
Some folks in the creative industry say burnout is inevitable, but I’ve found recently that that is completely untrue. I’ve certainly experienced burnout frequently in my journey as an artist, particularly when I reach my career highs, which is not ideal! And, it’s because of those unfortunate bouts of burnout when I should be excited or ready to keep moving that I’ve been prioritizing myself even when I’m not in an intense work period.
What works for me, personally, is variety. There are some hobbies I keep to myself and don’t monetize at all: plant care, writing, and creating recipes. I make sure to incorporate all three of these at least once per week. Even if that means just replacing the water on a propagation or writing a description of a person I just met, I make sure to dedicate time to things that bring me joy without any monetary or career related attachment to it. This helps my brain and body genuinely take a break from my work and refill my creative energy.
I recently heard someone say that you have to take breaks that prioritize satiation rather than time management. That is to say, even if you take an hour break because that should be enough time to recharge, it may do nothing for you! It might even make you more stressed, because you may be worrying about getting back to work, or just doomscrolling on the internet.
You need to use your breaks to do something that will refill your cup. For some, that’s playing a video game for a bit, or working with your hands rather than your brain, or laying in bed while you listen to music or a podcast! For me, it’s either redirecting my energy to use a different part of my brain, or doing something calming that will give the stressed part of my brain a fulfilling rest. So, plant care, writing, or cooking helps the first option. And for the second, I love to chat with a friend or if I’m feeling antisocial, laying in bed and listening to a comedy podcast is my personal indulgence.
It’s essential to develop your comfort and energy management just as much as you may work to develop your art.
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 Courtney Chapman, I am a sculptor, product designer, and stop motion animator currently attending UCLA’s Animation MFA program! I create artwork and products based off of film, media, and moments in pop culture. This ranges from jewelry to full figurine-sized sculptures that I sell on my website.
I truly love creating art that reminds people of the media they watch. The feeling that I can give a physical representation of an inside joke, favorite character, or pop culture reference they can carry with them is truly wonderful and makes me feel connected to my audience and customer base.
Currently, I am working on a stop motion animated short film for my MFA program. It’s a silly homage to noir films, but with birds as all of the characters! I’m in the process of fabricating my puppets and sets, and if you would like to follow along on that journey, it is all documented on my Instagram account, CosmicFuss!
Other than that, I am carrying on with business as usual on my social media profiles and shop to continue creating artwork that makes both me and my audience happy!
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 first quality that made a huge impact in my journey was patience. It took me around 4 or 5 years of constantly posting online and trying to sell my art and failing until I finally found my audience. I realized that I truly just had to wait until the timing was right, because I was posting the exact same type of content I had when I was 16 that I am now. I just needed a few more years until people started watching.
My advice to those who are in that “patience” phase is actually my second quality: perseverance. You just have to keep trying. I think all people who create art in any form have to develop at least a little sliver of obnoxious overconfidence in order to share our work over and over, even when no one is looking. And that’s important and will help you persevere! If you truly believe your art is something you want to continue to create and display for a long time, you have to stick with it on the passion and joy of creating alone.
Finally, my last piece that helped me on my journey was an active willingness to adapt and experiment. I see so many creators communicate that they are stuck in a rut either due to repetitiveness of content or feeling trapped to their niche. I’ve had to learn to adapt in order not to experience this as much as possible. For example, I felt uninspired and lethargic with my work around a year or two ago, constantly sculpting the exact same things in the same size and style for years. I was terrified to change it up, because it was working! But, I felt that fear and did it anyways, and I sculpted larger, more detailed work that ended up doing extremely well, even though it wasn’t in my usual style!
I think if you are feeling stuck, or something isn’t working and you aren’t getting the engagement you’d like, these three things are key. Have patience not only with your work, but with yourself, persevere and trust your skill, and finally go outside of your comfort zone and try something new every once and a while– because that new, scary thing might be your favorite work ever!
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
My parents were my first audience for anything I created growing up, and I cannot imagine a more supportive pair of people who would encourage my creative development like they have. While I know my decision to pursue a career in something as unpredictable and self-reliant as the arts and entertainment was something they hadn’t necessarily loved, I always knew they loved the art I created.
Whether it was a terrible little sculpted trinket, a somehow both overbaked and underbaked batch of cookies, or an incomprehensible short film, they always expressed their excitement for everything I chose to share with them and I cannot put into words how important that was for me to grow as a person and artist. It put my priorities and sense of validation within the process of creating something, not the end result– because if my dad told me he absolutely loved that misshapen monkey I sculpted for him at age 10, then I know it was the fact that I put in effort to make something creative that he loved, not the actual artistic quality of that lump of clay.
I cannot thank them enough, enough, enough for allowing me a space to build my confidence as an artist while also grounding me in the knowledge that I had to work hard to match that confidence with education in other fields like business, writing, and interpersonal communication in order to succeed in a professional context.
Contact Info:
- Website: cosmicfuss.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmicfuss/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneyrosechapman/
Image Credits
Samantha Umbay
