We were lucky to catch up with Theresasucks recently and have shared our conversation below.
Theresasucks, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I developed my confidence and sense of self-esteem by embracing and accepting myself entirely. For the longest time, I thought once I had obtained certain skills, qualities, or accomplishments then I could allow myself to feel good about who I was. The reality for me is that confidence is 100% attitude and deciding to accept yourself as you are and embracing that fully. Despite always being relentlessly myself, I didn’t always feel good about it. So, I made a conscious effort to make confidence a habit, which eventually evolved into a natural state of being.
As an artist, I tend to be extremely critical and perfectionistic about my work. Even if a million people told me that what I created is good, I would never think it’s good enough. The biggest piece of advice I tell people if they’re struggling to be confident is to NOT be your biggest hater! Be your own biggest fan and watch how everything else falls into place.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My journey in art hit the ground running basically the minute I was born. As soon as I could hold a pencil, I was drawing. My first time actually painting was in first grade, where I had painted a father’s day gift for my dad that was a portrait of a dog mom hanging out with all her little puppies. I remember I came to class one day and everyone had received their paintings back except for me. It was then I was told that my painting been submitted into the Houston dog show! I would of been happy but at the time I was pretty pissed my art teacher took it without asking me, making my father’s day gift effectively late. I did appreciate the sentiment of my accomplishment later after seeing it on display and feeling proud. I named it “Lilly and Her Puppies”. My dad still has Lilly in his office to this day.
Since then, art was always a primary hobby of mine. It wasn’t until the adult world hit me and I started college where it began to be years before I tried painting or drawing again. I totally lost the motivation to create. It was actually in my junior year of school where I met a local artist Madison Auerbach, who noticed me and decided to introduce herself. We went off without a hitch, immediately bonding over our shared love for creating art and her eventually motivating me to start going to local art shows and displaying my work publicly for the first time. Ever since then, we have been going to shows together, so I pretty much owe it all to her! Without her, I have no idea if I would of reconnected with art or had the confidence to do so.
Currently, I am still a student at local university graduating this year (hopefully!) with a degree in accounting. I work part time as a Staff Accountant while in school and do art as a side gig. I enjoy having a stable job that allows me the freedom to pursue art at my leisure without the additional pressure of needing to make a living off of it. I never want my creative process to feel like a job, then I don’t think I would enjoy it as much. The minute I start to feel like I am creating art for anyone except myself is probably when I would become disinterested. Everything I make is curated to my own style or aesthetic at the time, so whenever someone really likes my work and is able to connect with it, I feel proud and that’s part of what makes creating so fulfilling. I make my best work when I am tuned in completely to what it is I want to make. Some people might think that is snotty, but I don’t care! I make what I want to make, when I want to make it – that’s my philosophy.
In the future, I want to move forward with my art business as much as I can. No matter what I do in my life, I always want it to be a primary focus.
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?
The three qualities I think that were most impactful in my journey are confidence, authenticity, and creativity.
It makes me a little sad when people tell me they want to start creating, but have no idea where to start or haven’t done it before so they think they’ll suck at it. I try to tell aspiring creatives to just start somewhere, because absolutely nobody on this earth was born being good at anything. Almost all qualities are habits that we can have if we choose to prioritize them. Confidence comes from within, and also comes from making mistakes. Allow yourself grace and don’t be too hard on yourself when you’re starting out. Every artist has put time into honing their skills and their style so don’t feel like you need to be good at anything right away. Just focus on enjoying the creative process and let whatever you create (even if you don’t like it!) represent the journey of making it.
Authenticity comes from recognizing yourself as an individual that is completely different from everyone else and trying to make that a source of confidence. No matter what you put into this world as a creative, because you are a unique individual person, you’re the only one capable of producing it. Find confidence in that and put something out there that would of never existed otherwise. I think it’s really cool when you can look at someone’s portfolio and you can get a sense of who they are right away.
If you want to be more creative, go get inspired! Find an artist or a hobby that looks appealing and start consuming it until you feel motivated enough to give it a shot. You don’t need a certain skill level to create anything, all you really need is the audacity to do so. Creativity is a skill that you can always improve, so just practice !
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My father has always been a huge supporter of me as an artist. While he would of LOVED for me to pursue being a lawyer or something prestigious, he accepts me for my passions and who I am and he’s always willing to support me in that. I would say that was a huge part of what motivates me to succeed.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @theresasucks @theresasucks.art
