Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Monica Womack. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Monica, we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hopes that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
Ever since I was a small child, I’ve always known that I wanted to be an artist.
In 1994 I moved to Kansas City to attend KCAI, Kansas City Art Institute, where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in Illustration. (1998) I enjoyed Missouri so much that I decided to make this my permanent home.
In 1998, I was commissioned by comedian/talk show host Rosie O’Donnell, to paint portraits of her children. I painted in a realistic style, a style I always felt pressured to paint in. It wasn’t fun for me. I felt that I had to paint the way people thought was good, instead of being fun and creative. it was boring and realistic. A few years after that, I started my family (4 children). At that point in my life I didn’t have time to do art, other than creative activities with the kids.
All my life, I’ve never felt like I fit in with anyone. I was just “different” and “weird”. At Age 30, I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia. The ADHD diagnosis was really a relief to finally find out what was “wrong” with me. In 2021, age 45, I ended up in a mental hospital for the third time in 11 years (the other two times being in 2010, diagnosed with depression) and then I was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder. While in the hospital, we did art therapy…. and I knew that is what was missing from my life. I realized that I had put my art on hold to raise my family, but at the same time I had a creative block.
What I learned in the hospital is that art can play a significant role in helping people overcome mental health issues by providing a creative and expressive outlet and to do art for myself, not to please others. I didn’t really know where to start with my artwork, since it had been over 20 years of not painting. I tried to get out of my creative block just by making small doodles on paper. Nothing specific because I had ZERO ideas, which was frustrating. I felt like I lost my talent.
I started by drawing simple shapes and very abstract things. I was listening to music at the same time and started to sketch and paint the musicians I was listening to. The Monkees (my favorite band), Aretha Franklin, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Bob Marley, & Coolio to name a few. I was painting them in a new style, more colorful and textured. Which I loved, but I was getting bored painting people like I always had in the past. So I started painting animals in a quirky fun style, usually with one big eye and one little eye, very textured and colorful. People reached out to me and asked for me to paint their pets in my quirky weird style, which boosted my self-esteem.
In the past two years, I have been commissioned worldwide (all over the USA, Hong Kong, and Norway) to create paintings in my fun, colorful style. I’m hoping my journey will continue to thrive and that anyone else going through mental health issues will find inspiration from this.
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?
My husband and I own “The Sign & Design Shop”. We make signs and other large format printing, as well as logo design, screen printing shirts & more. We also display my paintings in our shop. People come in and love seeing all of the colorful artwork. We aren’t like other sign shops, we’re “the grooviest”. www.signdesignshop.com
Not knowing I had Bipolar Disorder at the time, I started up this shop while I was manic. Best decision ever! I had no business experience, but I had worked at sign shops and print shops before, and I knew I could do this on my own. I hated working for other people. Once I got it up and running, my husband quit his screen printing job to come run the shop with me. We did not have prior experience with the business side and that has been the hardest part to learn.
Having ADHD, Dyslexia, and Bipolar 1 Disorder (and I also have severe anxiety) and running a business has been a challenge for sure. I work harder than most people, but I always feel like it’s not enough. But, However, I never miss a deadline and I always make my customers happy!
In the future, I would love to be in a gallery, or even open up my own gallery. We have been talking about it a lot lately. I would LOVE to be able to paint full time for a living. I would also LOVE to illustrate a children’s book with my weird animals. Those are my goals.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would have to say persistence, hard work, and natural ability. Despite all my mental challenges I have a love for what I do and I’m good at what I do. So I keep at it. My artwork is evolving. I’m not afraid of challenges. I’m always thinking of my “next great idea”.
I never thought that creating weird looking animals would have been such a hit with people. I LOVE how kids love my animals, too. They come into my shop and see all of the colorful animals, some kids even know the names of the paintings. Most of my animals have “people names”… except one I call “Disco Goat”. Disco Goat is my favorite.
Advice I would have for others would be to keep challenging yourself, try new techniques or mediums.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Growing as an artist is a continuous journey that involves dedication, exploration, learning, and practice. The past 12 months I have been working on evolving my style. I’ve been playing with new techniques and more complex designs. Also, I’ve gone a lot bigger with my pieces. I used to paint small, 18″x24″ or 24″x36″ and now I paint 36″x36″ or 36″x48″ canvases. I want people to see my artwork and know that it’s mine just by the style. I think I’m getting there.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MonicaWomackArt.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/monicawomackart
