Mentor Interview
Q: How did you arrive at your current position?
A: Art has always been in my family. My grandfather was the last of a unique breed where he hand painted advertising signs for local businesses, as well as painted portraits. My father had artistic talent also, and I inherited that artistic eye. I walked in one day to this gallery inquiring how one shows their art in that gallery. They were so impressed with what they saw, that made me featured artist twice. Then my husband and I moved to Vero Beach and they invited me to become a partner. All my adult life I wanted to own an art gallery, now I do. A gallery where I show my paintings, along with several other partners.
Q: What are your job responsibilities?
A: I am responsible for assisting in the daily operation of the gallery, as well as hanging our featured artists work. We have a new featured artist each month, so I position their art for optimal visibility.
Q: What challenges have you faced professionally, and how have you handled them?
A: The professional challenges for me have been in perceiving what the public wants to hang in their home. I paint many subjects, and they are will received by the public, but sales have been down. People love to look, but are less prone to opening their checkbooks these days. I do sell, but there is no rhyme or reason as to what people like.......so I will continue to paint what inspires me and wait for the person who is inspired by what I paint.
Q: What do you love about your work? What would you change if you could?
A: I love the bright, happy colors I use. My paintings make people smile and feel good. If I could change the number of hours in the day, as well as make myself not need to sleep, I would paint even longer.
Q: Tell me about your biggest professional accomplishment.
A: I believe the biggest professional accomplishment was learning to keep my opinions to myself and therefore having people value what I do say. I observe and pick my battles. I feel these things are invaluable in business today.
Q: What professional mistakes have you made in your career and what have you learned
from them?
A: My primary mistakes in my career have to do with not going after what I really wanted, but choosing to cope with what came my way. I didn't focus on long term......I didn't have goals. I learned that you will ultimately be happiest when to reach the goal you set for yourself, and it is important to set that goal when you are young. Had I known that I loved to travel and had talent for leading people, I would have chosen acting or politics or something where I could guide others fulfill their own destiny.
Q: If you could relive the last 5-10 years of your life, what might you do differently
professionally?
A: I would not have retired. I would have continued to offer my knowledge and services to those needing it.......as much as I love not working, I do miss the interaction.
Q: Tell me about a time when you knew you were in the right job for you.
A: I felt I had the right job a long time ago. I worked at an art gallery dealing with the trades. We sold to corporations, interior decorators, and architects, as well as other galleries offering art. I was the assistant to the President, traveled to exciting places, and enjoyed the entire artistic element of gallery ownership. It was an exciting and memorable place in my job career.
Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in your professional field?
A: Advice I would give someone interested in the artistic field is to go after your dreams. Go to school to get that professional knowledge you will need and then go after what you love. Research the field you are interested in, find the best school, and focus each day on what you are learning. Don't just do what everyone else does, choose your own path.
Q: What changes have you seen in your field? Are they positive or negative?
A: I know I have based all my comments on my latest endeavors in owning an art gallery, but I have seen the attitudes changing in the job market. Young people of today feel a sense of entitlement without the hard work. I am not saying that is good or bad, only different. To me it means they have enough technical knowledge about the profession they choose, just not enough experience. Experience that can only come from being out there doing that job for a while. They want to make top dollar without putting in the time. I am sure some are worthy of the high salary to start, but most need to know that everyone starts somewhere, and not always at the top. There is a need for both older, experienced workers and young inexperienced workers interacting together, and knowing that both hold a place of importance in our society.
Q: What are your professional goals for the next 5-10 years and how do you hope to
accomplish them?
A: At this point, my professional goals for the next 5-10 years are to stay alive, and have someone discover my art and make me famous. Is that too much to ask?
Q: What is the most challenging thing about your field?
A: The most challenging thing about my field at this point is trying to come up with creative ways to get people to come into the gallery, as well as creative reasons to come in.
Q: What training, education or life experience has been most valuable to you
professionally?
A: The most significant life event was surviving breast cancer. It gave me a whole new lease on life, and an acceptance that life is short so I better decide what is important to me and let nothing else interfere with that happiness. That's what I have done. Then I met a kind, loving man, who believed in me. Then I met a teacher-artist that I had the pleasure to paint with......he was the most inspirational artist I have ever met. His use of color instilled a renewed interest in painting like never before. I was able to free myself to paint in a way I had not done before, and wonderful things happened. I am very happy with how I turned out.
A: Art has always been in my family. My grandfather was the last of a unique breed where he hand painted advertising signs for local businesses, as well as painted portraits. My father had artistic talent also, and I inherited that artistic eye. I walked in one day to this gallery inquiring how one shows their art in that gallery. They were so impressed with what they saw, that made me featured artist twice. Then my husband and I moved to Vero Beach and they invited me to become a partner. All my adult life I wanted to own an art gallery, now I do. A gallery where I show my paintings, along with several other partners.
Q: What are your job responsibilities?
A: I am responsible for assisting in the daily operation of the gallery, as well as hanging our featured artists work. We have a new featured artist each month, so I position their art for optimal visibility.
Q: What challenges have you faced professionally, and how have you handled them?
A: The professional challenges for me have been in perceiving what the public wants to hang in their home. I paint many subjects, and they are will received by the public, but sales have been down. People love to look, but are less prone to opening their checkbooks these days. I do sell, but there is no rhyme or reason as to what people like.......so I will continue to paint what inspires me and wait for the person who is inspired by what I paint.
Q: What do you love about your work? What would you change if you could?
A: I love the bright, happy colors I use. My paintings make people smile and feel good. If I could change the number of hours in the day, as well as make myself not need to sleep, I would paint even longer.
Q: Tell me about your biggest professional accomplishment.
A: I believe the biggest professional accomplishment was learning to keep my opinions to myself and therefore having people value what I do say. I observe and pick my battles. I feel these things are invaluable in business today.
Q: What professional mistakes have you made in your career and what have you learned
from them?
A: My primary mistakes in my career have to do with not going after what I really wanted, but choosing to cope with what came my way. I didn't focus on long term......I didn't have goals. I learned that you will ultimately be happiest when to reach the goal you set for yourself, and it is important to set that goal when you are young. Had I known that I loved to travel and had talent for leading people, I would have chosen acting or politics or something where I could guide others fulfill their own destiny.
Q: If you could relive the last 5-10 years of your life, what might you do differently
professionally?
A: I would not have retired. I would have continued to offer my knowledge and services to those needing it.......as much as I love not working, I do miss the interaction.
Q: Tell me about a time when you knew you were in the right job for you.
A: I felt I had the right job a long time ago. I worked at an art gallery dealing with the trades. We sold to corporations, interior decorators, and architects, as well as other galleries offering art. I was the assistant to the President, traveled to exciting places, and enjoyed the entire artistic element of gallery ownership. It was an exciting and memorable place in my job career.
Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in your professional field?
A: Advice I would give someone interested in the artistic field is to go after your dreams. Go to school to get that professional knowledge you will need and then go after what you love. Research the field you are interested in, find the best school, and focus each day on what you are learning. Don't just do what everyone else does, choose your own path.
Q: What changes have you seen in your field? Are they positive or negative?
A: I know I have based all my comments on my latest endeavors in owning an art gallery, but I have seen the attitudes changing in the job market. Young people of today feel a sense of entitlement without the hard work. I am not saying that is good or bad, only different. To me it means they have enough technical knowledge about the profession they choose, just not enough experience. Experience that can only come from being out there doing that job for a while. They want to make top dollar without putting in the time. I am sure some are worthy of the high salary to start, but most need to know that everyone starts somewhere, and not always at the top. There is a need for both older, experienced workers and young inexperienced workers interacting together, and knowing that both hold a place of importance in our society.
Q: What are your professional goals for the next 5-10 years and how do you hope to
accomplish them?
A: At this point, my professional goals for the next 5-10 years are to stay alive, and have someone discover my art and make me famous. Is that too much to ask?
Q: What is the most challenging thing about your field?
A: The most challenging thing about my field at this point is trying to come up with creative ways to get people to come into the gallery, as well as creative reasons to come in.
Q: What training, education or life experience has been most valuable to you
professionally?
A: The most significant life event was surviving breast cancer. It gave me a whole new lease on life, and an acceptance that life is short so I better decide what is important to me and let nothing else interfere with that happiness. That's what I have done. Then I met a kind, loving man, who believed in me. Then I met a teacher-artist that I had the pleasure to paint with......he was the most inspirational artist I have ever met. His use of color instilled a renewed interest in painting like never before. I was able to free myself to paint in a way I had not done before, and wonderful things happened. I am very happy with how I turned out.