We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jamie Pomeranz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jamie, 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.
I think it is completely normal for artists to struggle with Imposter Syndrome, and if I am being completely honest, I don’t know that I will ever be 100% over it. There is so much talent in the world, and with everyone’s best highlights posted on social media, it’s easy to forget that our peers are putting their best foot forward publicly and likely have similar insecurities. That being said, I’ve come a long way in terms of overcoming imposter syndrome and I think there have been a couple key changes in my thought process that have helped me successfully suppress feelings of insecurity.
The biggest mental adjustment was simply not comparing myself to other artists in terms of style. As a mixed media artist who mostly creates abstracts and functional art, occasionally I would feel intimidated by artists who are successful in hyperrealism. I used to believed that “real artists” could paint/draw things as they looked in photographs, and since I couldn’t do that, I would never be considered a great artist. But my style is unique to me. It’s what draws my audience to me and sets me apart from other artists. As my artistic voice developed and became stronger, it became easier to believe I was on my own path and the only artistic style that was truly important was my own.
Another mental shift I needed to make was believing that I could make a living entirely off selling original artwork. Some of my absolute favorite artists are not creating art full time because it’s VERY DIFFICULT to support yourself 100% on just your art. Does having a day job make them less of an artist? Absolutely not. If you create, you are an artist regardless of how you pay your bills. That being said, it’s easy to think that if you’re not making your income off art you’re not a “real artist. So another way I was able to overcome, imposter syndrome was accepting that I needed to diversify my revenue streams in order to become a full time artist. Teaching workshops, licensing my work, working with art supply companies testing new products and developing affiliate relationships made me feel like a professional in ways I could never have predicted.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I always refer to myself as a medium hopper. I’m best known for an alcohol ink technique I created to paint realistic roses with a hairdryer and I’ve found success in my epoxy resin work as well however I think one of the aspects that makes me unique as an artist is my need to keep learning new skills and play with different mediums. A LOT of artists, especially those who have found their success on social media, get pigeonholed into a particular niche or medium. They believe their audience won’t appreciate a new style and they are hesitant to mix it up for fear of losing their audience. I’ve come to realize it’s impossible for me to do the same type of work day after day. I love learning as many skills as possible and having a range of tools to execute new ideas with. Recently, I was hit with a new concept for a series but I literally had no idea how I was going to execute the idea so I hit YouTUbe for some lessons in sculpting clay. Honestly, I’m not even sure clay will be the best way to execute my new idea but just using a new medium is giving me inspiration and expanding my artistic vision.
While expanding my artistic vision is definitely an innate calling, Im also very conscious of building my artistic career. In addition to new projects, I’m excited about a big step ive taken towards offering my audience limited edition prints directly from me. Until recently, I was bound to a contract which gave one company exclusive rights to print some of my best work. I recently made the tough decision to reduce my royalties with that company and regain the right to print my own work. One of my goals for 2024 is to offer hand-embellished limited edition prints of my more popular works which wasn’t an option for me legally the last few years.
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?
Prior to this leg of my artistic journey, I was the owner of a tee shirt brand called Devils May Care which has been my artistic nom de plume for over a decade. I was a one woman army for my brand and handled everything from design and production to marketing and sales. This experience was invaluable. One of the biggest skills I developed was time management. I had a very strict schedule for production, number crunching, sales etc. If I didn’t stick to this schedule things fell apart quickly. It’s important that I keep the same type of time management approach today. If it were up to me I would spend all my time making art, but I need to set time aside to edit videos/ write post copy, answer emails, do social media lives etc etc- basically all the aspects of owning a business other than making stuff. Unfortunately it takes a lot more to be a successful artist than just making art and having that experience operating a business helped me approach my art in a similar manner.
Another invaluable skill that I developed over many years is being able to talk to all kinds of people. Having a voice that people can relate to has been imperative to building a social media community. You’d think that I learned this skill selling my shirts on the street but actually I think this came from bartending. We would get people from all walks of life coming into the bar and although drinks were what technically brought in the money, I wasn’t just selling liquor. In order to create regulars I had to sell myself. Creating an environment that people feel comfortable in built community. I no longer have a physical space people visit me in, but the skills of building a community in the bar directly translated to being able to build a safe space on my social media feed.
Finally, one of the most important skills I think we all need, I really only learned in recent years and was seriously lacking in my tee shirt years… patience. I developed this skill after having a special needs child. My son has taught me so much about slowing down and appreciating the journey as much as the destination. I can be proud of my art career baby steps and appreciate the present in a way that I couldn’t before. I used to want everything immediately but now I realize that if you take baby steps everyday before you know it you’ve traveled great distances and really appreciate where you land.
The best pieces of advice I can give artists starting out in their journey is not to try to please everyone. Learn to say no to opportunities that don’t make sense and know your worth when pricing out your work and time. I know it can be scary walking away from opportunities especially if the client feels important, but exploiting yourself will not help you pay your bills and only reduces the value of the work of all artists. No one expects a Dr. to do surgery for “exposure” and we need to work together to establish the same standard for creatives.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
My ideal client is the one who trusts me. I’m admittedly very particular with the commissions I accept. I want someone who appreciates my artistic style and believes in my ability to create beautiful work under loose parameters. While I think of my commissions to a degree as collabs with my clients, there is no client I will turn down faster than the one who says to me “I have this idea in my head”. If a client has something very specific in their head I’m not interested. I’m not in their head, so the chances of me being able to live up to that expectation and read their mind is highly unlikely. I want the client that says, I love XYZ piece that you made, can you do something like that for me. I’m happy to work with my clients on color combos and model after my own work, but I will not be creating something completely out of my wheelhouse, or copying another artists style. Trust me to make the work that drew you to me to begin with.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://devilsmaycare.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/devilsmaycare
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DevilsMayCare
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jamiepomernaz
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@devilsmaycare
- Other: https://www.threads.net/@devilsmaycare https://www.pinterest.com/devilsmaycare/ https://www.tiktok.com/@devilsmaycare
Image Credits
photo credit: Jamie Pomeranz
