We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Janelle Simpson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Janelle, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Keeping My Creativity Is Probably The Easy Part . I Absolutely LOVE Art , Doesn’t Really Matter What Kind It Is. I Love Colors , I Love Black And White , I Love Sculptures .. You Name It! I Watch A lot Of Videos Of Other Artist For Inspiration , Tutorials & Just Simply For Entertainment. Once You Find Your Passion , I Feel It’s Important To Feed Your Mind With Things Related To That.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am 27 years young , CEO Of “NellsArt” and CEO Of “PaintedByNell”. A self-taught artist/entrepreneur from Kingston , New York. Art has always been apart of my life since a child. I first started my small business in 2016 , drawing out tattoo designs for people in exchange for money. It was fun while it lasted , but I wanted to do more. In 2018 I attempted to paint for the first time on a small canvas and I just KNEW , this is something I can get into! That quickly became apart of my umbrella of creations .. People from my hometown started reaching out asking for artwork and I couldn’t turn the opportunity down!
2018 was also the beginning of my face-painting business called “PaintedByNell” .. Face-painting is an overlooked business that took me by surprise. I have a daughter myself, so being in a business with kids was a piece of cake for me! I absolutely love kids and I love being able to share my art with them through face-painting. Each birthday party, community event etc. is such an amazing experience. I meet so many creative kids that feel safe to express their stories with me , and there is A-LOT of young artist out there! It’s also such a good feeling to be able to inspire the youth while they’re young because it’s important for them to see/talk with entrepreneurs.
In 2021 , My Epoxy business began ; which is under “NellsArt”. One day I came across a video of an artist creating products with epoxy resin on Tiktok. Instantly fell INLOVE! Another feeling that I had of me just Knowinggg that’s what I wanted to get into. I watched videos for knowledge ; I practiced , and then applied what I learned. Still to this day I’m learning new things and getting inspiration from other artist.
My Resin business definitely shaped the way I run my businesses. A lot more organization skills, managing funds , customer service skills , marketing skills , learning what an algorithm is , getting orders done and out to the post office. So much more hands on work compared to what I’ve done in the past , but it felt good , made me feel in control 1,000% and appreciate every piece i created ! Every long night and early morning is worth it.
Nells Art as-well as PaintedByNell , is an Umbrella Of My Creativity bunched into one. Something like a one stop shop. You can book Facepainting for an event , Purchase paintings , request tattoo designs , and even purchase resin products which includes ashtrays , lash trays , car ashtrays , keychains , trays , home decor .. you name it! One thing I never try to do is limit myself , so I’m sure my umbrella will only get bigger.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back at my journey , there’s a few traits that I’ve had to learn and still learning , to maintain and stay consistent.. stay relevant! It’s also important to make sure I am not overwhelmed with the amount of projects I take on. Self-discipline has taught me to get up when I wanted to lay day. To rest in the end and not the middle. It’s easier said than done of course , but as long as you want it as bad as you wanna lay down , you’ll get it done! That means late nights and early morning some days , because I still have work at 6am & be a mommy ontop of that. It gets draining but my daughter is also my little secret weapon that reminds me I can’t slack .. reminds me I have someone watching me.
Being open minded to new ideas has been another amazing quality that has opened doors for me . Doors I had no knowledge of existing ! I feel that shows in my umbrella of art. I don’t limit my art. I will try anything that consumes my attention, my interest. Once I like an idea , it’s all gas and NO brakes. I will study techniques and strategies that will help me be better by watching someone that’s better than me at it already. There’s Alwaysss someone that’s better somewhere , I’d rather admire the art than be envious. Thats the community of artist , we’d rather grow together , learn from each other , support each other rather then it be the opposite.
Consistency is another important quality because without consistency, you will effortlessly lose your shine. I’ve learned the internet is like the news. People will forget and be on to the next thing within a blink of an eye. Self promotion is another important thing because if nobody is going to share your work , spread the word of what you’re doing , you must do it yourself and NEVER stop no matter what. There’s multiple businesses that didn’t get “Big” until 10years later and now multi-billionaire corporations. You must never give up.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Absolutely! Over the years I’ve collaborated with a few artist whether it was artist , bakers , creators that sells baskets etc. Collaborating is so much fun because you get the chance to explore other projects , learn new promotion strategies because everyone is different. I feel you can always learn something from someone’s. I’ve reached out and had artist reach out to me aswell for tips , and again that’s the amazing part about the art community. I would absolutely love to collab with mural artist in the future. Thats one flaw I feel I have and I know I would learn so much from other mural artist. If there is any readers that would like to collab or even be interested in teaching me some things about what they do themselves , I am always open arms! You can find me on Instagram @Nells_art_ ! It would be amazing to connect with any artist around the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: NellsArts.com
- Instagram: @Nells_Art_
- Facebook: Nells Art
- Other: Tiktok: @NellsArt_
Image Credits
Janelle Simpson
