When local artist Selah Rodgers' career blew up quite literally overnight last fall, she realized that through community support she could accomplish her dream of being an artist who provides a product that brings joy.
Whether it's murals that decorate people's businesses, tattoo designs that decorate people's bodies or memorial paintings that decorate people's homes, as a freelance artist, Rodgers offers a variety of products to customers.
"This is what I always tell people, and it's on my business card: My job is to bring your vision to life," she said. "A lot of people have ideas and goals and visions, and sometimes it takes another person to help bring it to life. I've surprisingly met a lot of people who don't have an artistic bone in their body, so whenever they come to me they are truly looking for someone, basically saying 'I need your help to make this.'
"I've done a lot of memorial pieces lately," she continued, "of deceased family members ... and it's sad, but at the same time I feel so honored to do it because I'm like man, these people trust me to paint this picture of their family member who has sadly passed away, and it's because it brings emotion for them, and they want to hang it on their wall, or hang it in their room or whatever, and it's really, really cool -- it's awesome; I love it."
A client's mere reaction is what motivates her artwork.
"I have no issue giving people discounts or working with their budgets or whatever; I'm not going to be like a mean person and say 'No! You have to give me this much money!'" Rodgers said, laughing. "The people, the connections and the relationships with people to me are what motivate my artwork to be what it is. I love seeing the reaction on people's faces, whether it's tears of joy, or it's excitement, or they're in awe, or whatever -- I love it, because I'm like 'Yes! I did it! This is what they want, this is what they love.'"
Even when she's lacking self-motivation, a client's reaction continues to fuel her art.
"Like everybody in life, I am my worst critic," she said. "There are still days where I'm like 'I hate this.' Not that I hate art, but like the other day I did a painting for a client and I stood there and I looked at it and I was like 'This looks disgusting' and then they got the painting and they were like crying; they thought it was the most beautiful thing ever, and I was like 'What?' ... As an artist you have to learn to let things go sometimes; it is what it is and canvases are canvases -- you can always buy more and keep going."
Granted, although compensation does not drive her artistry, Rodgers did note that before deciding to make the "leap" into being a freelance artist, the saying "the starving artist" scared the "doo-doo" out of her -- a very Selah-esque thing to say.
"It scared me so much," she said. "Growing up I told people I wanted to have my own art business, or in some way, shape or form; whether it's an art teacher for a school, or I don't know, I just wanted to do something with art; but I wanted to still have my own freedom to do it, because there's a lot of artists out there who are stuck with jobs where they're kind of forced to do artwork that they didn't like, and I didn't want to get into that position, but I also didn't want to be the starving artist."
To avoid becoming this, Rodgers didn't delve into the field blindly.
"I actually have two art mentors, which I highly recommend for anybody out there who's wanting to grow as an artist -- get yourself some mentors," she said. "It could be one, two, however many you can find who have been in the industry for 30 plus years and know what they're doing."
Rodgers' two mentors come from working as animators with Nickelodeon, Walt Disney and Pixar.
"My dream come true would be to work for Disney and Pixar, and they have given me so much insight and wisdom on how to make it as an artist," she said. "They always say the same thing: Build a portfolio, continue to build your portfolio, don't ever stop doing art, keep a sketchbook wherever you go and don't ever quit, because the people who quit were the people who listened to the negative comments."
While Disney and Pixar may be in Rodgers' future, for now, she is happy with calling herself a freelance artist and having the freedom to do whatever local customers ask of her.
Just starting out, she has found it easy to "grow herself" as an artist in a small town such as Hot Springs, a lesson she learned when her art career "blew up" overnight after a Halloween window mural she painted for local chiropractor Dr. Kyler Pomeroy at Roots Chiropractic last fall.
"Everyone who came into the clinic was just like freaking out over it and I was flattered, but I was like 'It's just window art,'" Rodgers said. "I'm not thinking I'm something special, but a lot of business owners come into the clinic to get adjusted ... (and) basically within a week I had tons of jobs lined up, and I was so thankful, but also part of me was like 'OK, brace yourself for whenever this is going to die down, because you don't know how long this is going to last because this may just be a little pocket of fun and then it may die off,' but it didn't. I was booked for literally the rest of the year."
"The people of Hot Springs is what motivated me to really take that leap," she continued, "because they believed in me and they told me 'You have amazing talent and we want to support you,' and really I have to give a big thanks to everybody who helped me build this business into what it is, because without them I wouldn't have been able to take that jump, so I'm really, really thankful for the people I know and who have helped support my dream."
While the start of building her clientele was by "word of mouth," Rodgers said she now utilizes Facebook and Instagram as her "big network marketing facility" for her artwork, which has also received a large response. She noted that staying consistent on posting her product on social media is also very beneficial.
"If I'm not doing something for a client, then I'm doing something for myself, and I still post about it," she said. "And a lot of the times, the artwork that I did for myself, like just diddly-doos here and there, I would post it and then people would be like 'Oh my gosh, can I have one?' ... It's like every single post is a different project. ... Some artists have a consistent theme; my theme is literally all over the place. It's whatever the customer wants, and that diversity, I think that's what's brought a lot of people to me."
With just starting out, Rodgers said every time she does something it's a learning experience, but that doesn't take the fun out of it one bit.
"I love learning and I want to allow myself to grow as an artist," she said. "I don't think I'll ever be at a point to be able to say 'Yeah, I'm a professional artist,' because I'm just a girl who loves art, and I love to make people smile, so that's why I do what I do, and learning, in a way, just makes you a better person."
She added, "If someone had told me I'd be here today doing all this, I'd be like 'Yeah, right,' but I love it. I'm constantly blown away every day."