We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Whitney Paige a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Whitney, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
My purpose in this world is to bring Magic into people’s lives. I have found that the best way to do that is through art and cultivating experiences around art. When I was a young artist I had the most incredible mentor who actively worked to inspire and build up his staff. His name was Eric Patrick and he believed in me before I ever believed in myself. He ran a paint and sip studio and he took a rag tag team of young artists and turned us all into a family and showed us we could do meaningful work as artists and make a living with our skills. It was through this experience I learned to connect with people through artwork. Whether I’m selling an original painting, live painting in front of them, doing a portrait of them, or teaching them how to make art themselves, the experience around painting is always a magical one.
I took a couple of years away from art and entertainment and worked corporate HR for hotels and resorts and while I learned a lot, it didn’t have that spark that I felt when I was working as an artist. During the pandemic, Eric died suddenly. The loss of my mentor completely shattered my worldview and I realized that I wasn’t living my authentic purpose. A few months after his death, I ended up losing my job in HR. The pandemic really shifted things for a lot of industries, but I saw it as an opportunity to rebuild my life in a way that was true to my purpose. I set out to be a full time artist. I began selling originals, and taking commissions. Eventually I started live painting at weddings and now, 3 years later, I get to bring other artists in to work with me!
My purpose through Cherished Rain Art is two fold. I love connecting with my clients and bringing them unique experiences on the most important days of their lives, and I love being able to hire young artists and show them that it is possible to create a meaningful career as an artist, when all the world tells you it’s impossible. I do my best to be a beacon of hope and possibility and fun and joy in every realm of my life, but especially through my live wedding and event painting!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am Whitney Paige. I am a Live Wedding and Event Painter. When I first started my art career, I was working and living in a little house in the mountains just me and my dog and all of my clients were virtual. I was selling original work through Whitney Paige Art and I was doing well but after the pandemic, I needed PEOPLE! Live and in person! A friend suggested that I paint at weddings and a week later I had booked my first wedding in Gulf Shores Alabama. I packed up all my art supplies, got a dog sitter and did the 8 hour drive to work my first wedding and I FELL IN LOVE!
Painting a portrait of the Bride and Groom at a wedding, surrounded by all of their loved ones is an incredibly unique experience. You can just feel an incredible outpouring of love from everyone in the room and that really fuels me as an artist to create a painting that really captures the moment.
After I got the live painting mastered, I decided to start offering Guest Watercolor Sketches as favors and these have become more popular than my full canvas paintings! Guests have raved about being able to get their portraits done live as they are dressed in their best! And watercolors are the most magical medium to bring portraits to life. A single portrait takes about 8 minutes and a couple takes less than 15 minutes so these sketches are fast! And a single artist can get about 10 people done an hour. I have since hired on other artists to be apart of this service so we can take on larger weddings and events and all the guests get to take home a portrait.
We also take special requests. I love all the ideas my brides come up with! We have done generational bridal paintings, we have done watercolor family portraits, we’ve done in studio paintings from photographs of engagement photos, and we’ve even done watercolor paintings of the venue for the bride to put on invitations. We are always looking to add to our list of services so if you have an idea, let us know!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the biggest thing for me is mindset. As an artist, you are told from the moment you start schooling that art can’t be a real career. There is this idea of the starving artist and that if this is the life you pursue you will be impoverished forever! and that’s just not true! So the biggest thing is getting past that mindset and believing you can succeed. Believing you are worth what you charge. And believing that you deserve to have a career in art.
Another thing is curiosity. Don’t ever stop learning. My friends are always joking that I can do anything. And the reason I can do anything is because I’m not afraid to get curious about stuff. To self study and learn and spend hours watching tutorials and saying yes to things that will give me access to skills in the future.
I also think rest is really important. Take pauses. Don’t expect to have to do everything all at once because that is a surefire way to burn yourself out. Building a career in the Arts is a marathon, not a sprint. You don’t have to have it all set up and figured out from the moment you press ‘go.’ You can take a step back here and there and breathe and review what you’ve done so far. See what’s working and what’s not and make adjustments. If you are grinding all the time, it’s hard to see what’s not working. Rest is important for so many things. As an artist, you have to refill your well. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and it is definitely something I wish I knew when I was younger because I have definitely had my fair share of burning out.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We are always looking to collaborate or partner with event planners and venues! We want to add value to our client’s special events through our services. Any venues or planners out there that are looking for unique ways to add value to preferred vendors list, please don’t hesitate to reach out! We’d love to get lunch and discuss how best we can partner.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cherishedrainart.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/cherishedrainart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CherishedRainArt
