We’ve interviewed many artists that had successfully gone full-time with their art having left their 9-5s behind. All had to rely on memory to recall how it felt when they were just starting out and taking that big step away from the security of their jobs paying regular incomes.
Recently we spoke with artist Amalie Bodie (daughter of our Marketing Manager Steve) who gave us a great insight into how it feels right at the start of the journey as it is happening. Here’s what she had to say …
“A little over two months ago, I decided to do something about my artistic abilities. Family, friends, and colleagues at work all liked my work, but they had my best interest at heart, and I needed to get feedback from people that didn’t know me. That was a scary moment and the first real hurdle in this journey.
I chose to post my work on Instagram and TikTok to gauge the level of interest in my style of art.”
Amalie Bodie, The Bird, and The Weed
Amalie’s art is a mix of several influences including Mandala, Doodle art and Indian with her own twist. It doesn’t fit neatly into any of them. She likens her art to the real world.
“Nothing in life is regular, and that influences my art. I don’t plan my work before I start. I choose a general outline, then the rest is like dreaming, it takes its own shape. One day I’m feeling joy and that comes out on paper, like for example ‘The Hippo’, another day I’m in pain and everything seems like a mountain to climb and that’s what was behind ‘The Mountain’.”
The Frog, The Smile, The Wave, The Hippo (purple) The Claw, The Planet, The Mountain, and The Palm Tree
Amalie was diagnosed with acute joint hypermobility syndrome from an early age and is no stranger to pain, she also suffers from periods of anxiety as a result of this and a serious illness in the family. It all goes into her art.
So how did Amalie get on with her public feedback assessment of her art?
“After only 50 posts – which were a mix of videos and images – in a little over 2 months, I have already attracted 4.5k Followers on Instagram and 2.6K on TIKTOK. Some of my posts have had over 500 likes”.
What stage is Amalie at now with her art?
“I’m in that exciting period when dreams of having art in my future are becoming real. I’ve had some amazing feedback on my work and some incredibly useful advice from artists that have made a success of themselves selling art and making a living out of it…
I imagine how it would feel to actually cut ties with my PAYE package and rely on the sales of my artwork… then ooh it all becomes a little scary.
I have a full-time job with the NHS at our local doctor’s surgery and I won’t be giving that up any time soon as I love the people I work with and deal with and I’m rewarded every day by being able to help people in need.It gives me a huge helping of ‘feel-good’ factor. But we’ll see …”
Something exciting in the pipeline
Amalie has also got some exciting news that she couldn’t share with us at the time of writing this, there’s something in development, and she will let us in on it “very soon” for a follow up post.
