Today, we’d like to introduce you to Lori Royce.
Hi Lori, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory. It was a calling. A visual, physical, and mental place I have been in from the very beginning. I have always made room for my artwork in my life no matter what I was doing, where I was working, where I lived, or whom I spent time with.
I was lucky. My career path has always been clearly seen in my mind. I just needed to figure out how to execute the life that I desired, which took dedication, schooling, planning, sacrifices, focus, awareness, research, changes, and adjustments. Putting everything into action has been my life’s work and life’s pleasure.
There has never been anything else that uplifts my spirit more than creating my art.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect? None of it has been smooth. Being a Fine Artist is cluttered with challenge after challenge, ups and downs, fears, hesitation, wins and losses, money coming in and money not coming in.
New clients are appearing out of nowhere, prompting me to think fast to close a sale. Potential clients are cultivated from a slow-moving professional relationship and I get the person finally right near the sale, but then ‘Boom!’ the person disappears for no reason.
The frustration of the internet, maintaining my website, keeping up with posting my art on Linkedin & Instagram, and updating and understanding/training for necessary apps to run my business have all been obstacles. Plus, writing my monthly Newsletter, applying for grants, uploading e-commerce products, photographing, and selling are all a big part of my company.
Agreeing to magazine interviews, appearing on TV shows, and painting LIVE in public venues. Keeping it all together and running it seamlessly, staying organized, and exhibiting in group or solo exhibitions has been a wild ride. Oh yeah… Fitting in time to paint.
It’s a bit much. Yet I’ve now taught myself how to stay on a calendar schedule; which helps tremendously to fit all my duties into effectively monitoring my business ‘Living An Artist Life’. Being self-employed is hard work. There is no one to help assist or guide me when executing my art. No one can replace me when I create.
Nor can anyone else calculate & submit a quote on a commissioned piece, answer email inquiries or phone calls or take meetings via Zoom or in person. If you are a creative business owner like myself, we all must search within ourselves to find what will inspire us to jump onto our next piece, project or goal.
But when we do find that inspiration… It’s pure power!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work? My seascape and coastal paintings have come around full circle for me.
Since drawing and painting kept me quite busy throughout my entire life, and I was always trying to figure out what clients wanted, my art had ventured a bit outside the subject matter I concentrate entirely on now. Figures, animals, landscapes, buildings, street scenes, and even signage for commercial businesses all have been executed by me onto paper, canvas or glass doors. In the past I have painted for others. Now I only paint for myself.
Currently I specialize in coastal images, the sun rising and setting over the water. Reflections of a boat sailing on the marina. Birds soaring over the ocean. Waves softly move onto the shoreline of a peaceful beach. Skies the color of candy and the brilliant glow emitting from the ball of the sun.
What sets me apart sometimes from other Artists is that I paint from life. My own life. I don’t paint from other people’s photos. Nor do I generate phony images in my head. Seeing one of my original paintings or pastel drawings can instantly change your mood from dull to very excited! Or from unhappy and stressed to very calm. I’ve seen people’s reactions to my art. It’s transforming and shows the obvious elation on their faces.
My coastal pieces of artwork reflect the local places that I have been to, the faraway places I have visited, the oceans I have dipped my toes into, the waterways I have sailed in, the sand on that beach that I have played with, those waves I have swam in and most importantly I have felt the joy from being outside on the water in the fresh air and witnessing all the natural activity that occurs around me. That’s what’s in my paintings now. My life, my love, my heart, and my breath.
Painting in my studio relaxes me, and I get a lot of work accomplished.
Painting on location (plein-air) invigorates me and makes me feel so alive when I’m actually on the sand and getting misted by the ocean’s spray while I’m mixing my acrylic or oil paints and using my favorite brushes to capture that natural glowing beauty I see, onto canvas.
I’m extremely pleased to share that my artwork has recently gone International!! It is my fantasy for my paintings to be in the hands of art collectors worldwide. My original pieces can now be seen, purchased and shipped internationally through the largest online art gallery that is SaatchiArt.com. This is a huge achievement in my business, and I look forward to my artwork traveling abroad to my new customers and clients.
What does success mean to you? Success to me is happiness and what lights up my soul!
I LOVE being an Artist in South Florida! I thrive on others loving my artwork and purchasing my paintings. I feel successful when a client gushes at their new purchase from my collection. I feel such energy when I hear the wonderful compliments on my art and stories describing the way my artwork enhances their own interior space.
I pursued my dream and never let it go. My love for being an Artist has always been with me every moment of each day, and my drive and endurance in this industry have proven that my choice, direction, and results have been successful.
Pricing:
- $3,600 Soft Shore at Ocean Inlet
- $3,600 Soul of Miami Beach
- $2,400 December Sunrise at Lake Worth Beach
- $1,600 Meditative Motion
- $1,600 Early Rise at Naples Pier
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.livinganartistlife.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lori.royce.artist/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/livinganartistlife/
- Other: https://www.saatchiart.com/loriroyce
Image Credits
John Fisher
