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Becoming a professional Artist – A Modern Autodidact I AM

Modern Autodidact I AM

Canadian Artist Brandy Saturley in studio 2022.

There have been a few stories made about how I became the professional Artist I am today. A modern autodidact I am, self-taught in most areas of Art and the business of representing myself as an independent Canadian artist. My learning has always been hands on, through doing a bit of the thing I wanted to learn about, something that would help me evolve as an Artist and realize a professional level career in the Arts. Along the way I have signed on for short programs in educational Art institutions, but I have no BFA or MFA or PhD, and it has not stopped me from succeeding as an Artist on all levels. From public and commercial galleries to selling my work online through my website. Creating public art, licensing my artwork and custom art commissions. From presenting artist talks, art fairs, and writing articles and interviewing other artists, to developing my own website and network of associates and suppliers. Producing art publications and process videos, to making art on location in self-directed and awarded residencies. I am a professional Canadian artist creating in ALL realms of the Art business in Canada and beyond.

Modern Autodidact I AM

Brandy Saturley and mother in Sooke News Mirror 1972

When did you become an Artist?

The question I get most often from young artists and future collectors is, when did I become an Artist? To really answer this question I have to go back to childhood and growing up with an artist mother, who was influenced by her artist mother. Who we are early on has much to do with who and what we grow up around, and my mom was always making things with me, mostly drawing painting, and crafting. I knew what I liked most at an early age and that was creating my own world from a solitary space. I enjoyed magazines, music, films, the outdoors and making art in the midst of all these influences. I learned from glossy advertising in Vogue magazine, and listened to the Beatles, Billie Holiday, Herb Alpert and the hard rock of AC/DC. I read the European Newspaper and wrote to pen pals in London, England. I grew up in a very small town on a large island, on the western-most tip of Canada. I had a hunger for information about the places, people and cities of the world.

In my senior years of high school I connected intensely with two influential educators, one was my History teacher and one my Art teacher. They both encouraged and influenced my path of the coming years. I knew I wanted to pursue an art career somehow, but found it hard committing to a formal education, largely because I did not have the means. Instead I took shorter courses in Visual Arts and filmmaking giving me a few years of educational appetizers in these areas. Art History, 2D, 3D, pottery, graphic design and filmmaking (from camera to scriptwriting) Three years of education offering a sampling and just enough experience in these areas. During film school I attended a talk by the Oscar winning Director of Photography for Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Vilmos Szigmond. I was captivated by his talk and found myself finishing the program and working in the Victoria and Vancouver film industry for a short couple years.

I left film as a career behind, though to this day I consume cinema just as voraciously as I did when I was younger. I made the decision that painting and photography were the things for me. I continued making Art part-time, as I worked full-time jobs in businesses that would teach me skills that could be useful down the line. During this time I moved from job to job as I learned new skills, each time working my way up until I had nowhere to go (in my mind) but move on to a new job. I worked in real estate sales, interior design retail (tile and natural stone) publishing (advertising coordinator + proofreader) and then I found myself wanting to learn more about computers, during the dot-com boom.

A Modern Autodidact I AM

As I was working these full-time *jobs* I was making Art in the evenings and on weekends. Art was keeping me interested in life. I met someone who was working for an Internet Service Provider

Modern Autodidact I AM

Paintings by Brandy Saturley at Victoria Premium Automobiles

and he would talk about all the exciting things going on with the Internet and websites. It was 1999 and I did not own a computer. Most people I know had one and worked on one, and I decided it was time for me to find out more about this Internet thing. I opened the phone book to the yellow pages, where all the businesses advertise. I flipped to the Internet service provider section and we had four at the time in Victoria, BC. I found the one with the biggest advertisement, which was a double page spread, and I called the number and asked for the manager. Of course the manager was not available, but I left a message and waited a couple days. I then called again, and left another message. I waited a few more days and called again, this time I got through to the manager directly and we had a quick chat and he told me to stop by with my resume. Keep in mind I had NO computer experience and wanted to sell dial-up Internet to people. A couple interviews later I found myself with a job in the Internet business and I had to learn very quickly. I was hired to work sales and customer service in person and over the phone.

My manager at the ISP was creating his own website and learning to write html to create his website. I asked if he could teach me, and he obliged. I began learning how to write html to create my own webpage, instead of eating lunch. In 2020, I created my first website and I posted some of my artwork on that page. This was before Facebook and even MySpace (which I became an early adopter of as an artist)  I think if we were to look at our lives in ‘Internet’ years, it would be more than dog years. I finally got a home computer a year after starting my Internet job. I worked with the ISP for two years, the longest non-Art job I held. I learned so much here; from dial-up to fibre connections and html to domains.

Modern Autodidact I AM

Strathcona County Gallery @501

Fast-forward to Full-Time Artist

The modern autodidact in me found a way to write a business plan for being a fulltime artist, the artist in me found a way to sell my art to a patron who became an investor in my passion and dream. In 2007, I left my day job to pursue my Art with full intensity, energy and from this autodidact approach. Really the self-taught life is the Artist life, it is the true way of the Artist. The thing that makes the title Artist a profession and not a hobby is, I run it like a business and my artwork supports my life. Artist is my full-time career. What also makes me a ‘professional Artist’ is the way in which I pay attention to all the details of the artmaking process; from making the work, to finishing the canvasses that will hang in galleries, museums, and private collections. What I learned in all my jobs over the years provided me with a degree in being a professional self-representing Artist. From managing my website, to writing this blog, I taught myself to do it all. I have also relied on the expertise of others, to help get me where I am. Through sharing skills and supporting one another, I have been very fortunate to make money while I was learning the skills I needed for this career. Now when I look back on the business plan, in many ways it was laughable, as with this career it is ever changing like the ocean tides. Being a professional artist is like being a professional surfer. Sometimes you get the good one (wave) and other times the water is flat. In this profession you have to be ready enough to know how to spot those waves and ride them to the shore. You have to be open, honest and focused on your ride. Over the years I have moved to task lists, goal lists and idea lists to keep me moving between waves.

But you can’t rely on Internet alone
art exhibitions Okotoks

Okotoks Art Gallery

The other part of my autodidact adventures was getting out there in front of people and the Art itself. I have used the Internet to reach out to those people and places I wanted to go to expand my career and learning in the Arts. I wanted to learn more about what the commercial galleries, museums and artist-run centers of Canada were doing and I travel across Canada every chance I get. In the early days of my career it was to see art and meet people working in the Arts. I flew out to Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto to connect with mentor artists (Andrew Valko, Charles Pachter, Gordon Milne, Robert Genn, Chris Cran) who had built great careers in the Arts. I did studio visits, interviewed artists for blog and magazine articles I would write. My first solo show was presented by Visual Arts Alberta (now CARFAC Alberta) at the end of 2013, this is when #ICONICCANUCK was born.  As my paintings about Canadian culture, icons and landscapes developed I began to travel the country more often. Then in 2016 when I was preparing for my 2017 solo shows, I traveled across the country and up into the Northern Territories to make art and capture these places through photography and video, returning home to write about my experiences and make paintings. In 2017 I was invited to present solo shows of my ‘Pop Canadianisms’ at Strathcona County Gallery @501 in Edmonton and The Okotoks Art Gallery in Calgary.

In 2019, I found myself on a new type of adventure as I continued my contemporary art education at the Royal College of Art in London, England – at the time the #1 post-graduate arts institution in the world. A place that David Hockney spent some of his education in Art.

I pushed myself to collaborate with the public through my ‘People of Canada Portrait Project’ and through a painting collaboration with an artist in Calgary, Alberta. I created the first artist in residence at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, painting on site at the museum.

Interview Banff Centre

Brandy Saturley at Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity

In 2021 I joined the artist roster at Adele Campbell Fine Art, a fine art gallery in Whistler, Canada. My first foray into having a gallery represent my work. In 2022, I was invited to do a residency in the Leighton Studios at The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity through the Paul D. Fleck Fellowships in the Arts Endowment. I joined my second commercial gallery, this time in Banff, Canada with Willock & Sax.

This year I have been invited to the Pouch Cove Foundation residency in Newfoundland and will be spending a month this fall creating on the very eastern tip of Canada.

I have sold and exhibited my work across Canada, in the USA and London, England.

These are just of few of the highlights from a now 17 year career as a full-time professional artist.

In conclusion, being a modern autodidact has offered me the adventure of a lifetime and a life lived in Art, that is Art itself. Being a professional artist in this day and age, means being prepared for those waves when they come in. I wouldn’t change a thing, here’s to the continuing journey. See all my artwork on my website.

Sincerely Yours,

Brandy Saturley a.k.a #ICONICCANUCK

#ICONICCANUCK at #HAPPYWALL in Edmonton, Alberta

The Work Behind The Artist – Celebrating 2017 in Canadian Art

Every year I look back at the work behind the artist, meaning I celebrate the work behind the final product that is art. It is a behind the scenes view for my readers and a reminder that much goes into an art career, beyond the art itself. 2017 was Canada150 here in Canada, but also a celebratory year for my art career, and an opportunity to present my work of the past half-decade to art lovers across the country. Here is my month-by-month highlight reel from the year of ‘Canadianisms’, which continues to bring opportunities and feed my work in 2018.

JANUARY Edmonton/Victoria

2017 began with the grand opening of ‘Canadianisms: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada’ at Strathcona County Gallery @501 in Sherwood Park, just outside Alberta’s capital, Edmonton. Thank you to Brenda Barry Byrne and her team at Gallery @501 for a successful event which included me delivering an artist talk about the work created over the past five years, inspired by my travels across Canada.

Canadianisms kicks off 2017 at Gallery @501

FEBRUARY Edmonton/Vancouver

‘Canadianisms’ continues at Gallery @501 an interview with Sherwood Park News and a special event final week of the show as the gallery hosted Salvi Group (Homes). The end of the month offered an art trip to Vancouver to see the truly remarkable and inspiring, ‘Spindle Whorl’ exhibit featuring a retrospective of the career of Susan Point.

Interview with Sherwood Park News about Canadianisms exhibit

MARCH – Edmonton/Vancouver

On the heels of the closing of the first ‘Canadianisms’ exhibition in 2017, I head to Edmonton in March to present a Professional Development Talk at Visual Arts Alberta/CARFAC about building my career as a Canadian artist. My ‘Poppies For Lousie’ painting inspired by Lake Louise, and my ‘Canoe View’ painting, graces the cover and interior of the 2017-2018 brochure for Music In The Morning Concert Series in Vancouver, BC.

2017 in Canadian Art

Presentation at Visual Arts Alberta/CARFAC in Edmonton

Music in the Morning is a distinctive morning concert series that inspires its audiences with masterpieces of the past, while challenging them with music of our time performed by the finest local, national and international talent – all at affordable ticket prices. In its 30th season, Music in the Morning is known for uncompromised quality, intimate setting and friendly rapport between artist and audience. With sell-out crowds, Music in the Morning fills a unique niche in the city of Vancouver appealing to people who prefer their cultural events with coffee in the morning.

2017 in Canadian Art

Art Licensing – Music In The Morning Vancouver, BC

APRIL – across Canada
My exhibitions in 2017 offered a chance to talk about the People of Canada portrait project. A crowdsourcing, collaborative portrait project between myself and Canadians. Many more photos received, and more portraits painted. This project began in 2014 and I will be painting more portraits in 2018 with a planned 2018/19 exhibition. Accepting photos until year-end! www.peopleofcanada.ca 

Portrait painting from People of Canada Portrait Project 2017

MAY – Victoria/Calgary

Preparing for the second solo exhibition of ‘Canadianisms’ in 2017 – creating and printing a second exhibition catalogue, selecting artwork to ship, preparing the crates for shipping.

2017 in Canadian Art

Canadianisms exhibition catalogues 2017

 

JUNE – Victoria/Edmonton

As I was preparing for my second solo exhibit in 2017, a few opportunities came my way to talk about art, the current climate of the Arts in Canada, collaboration, and the future of Art in Canada. SHAW TV came to the studio and interviewed me about The People of Canada Portrait Project – The Canadian Art Junkie featured my work as part of their 150 artists for Canada150 – I joined the CARFAC AGM hosted by Visual Arts Alberta/CARFAC at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

2017 in Canadian Art

Brandy Saturley – talking People of Canada with SHAW TV

JUNE/JULY – Calgary/Okotoks

Art on tour, second showing in 2017 for ‘Canadianisms: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada’ @ the OAG in Okotoks, Alberta, just outside the metropolis of Calgary. Thank you to Okotoks Culture & Heritage, and to all who came out to the opening, and to see the show over it’s three month run at the gallery which offered visitors worldwide the opportunity to experience a Canadian artists’ perspective on her own country.

2017 in Canadian Art

JULY – Calgary/Okotoks/Yellowknife

Interview with the Okotoks Western Wheel about the show and my journey of the past half decade.

2017 in Canadian Art

Brandy Saturley talks with the Okotoks Western Wheel

A painting featured in the exhibition, ‘The Getaway’ also appears on the cover of Reader’s Digest More Our Canada magazine for the July 2017/Canada150 issue – with an article I penned about my time exploring the landscapes and art of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
This experience inspired many a painting when I returned home to my studio on Vancouver Island. These people have heart and grit and talent beyond whatever expectations I had going in. I love you, Yellowknife—see you for the freeze!

2017 in Canadian Art

On the cover of More Our Canada – The Getaway, Brandy Saturley

AUGUSTSeattle Art Fair/ Seattle, Washington USA

August found me on another art trip, destinations; Seattle Art Fair, Mt. Baker, Seattle Art Museum & Paul G. Allen Institute for Brain Sciences, which presented Allen’s private art collection at Pivot Art & Culture. It was a remarkable and eye-opening art trip. I love Seattle. The Art, Tech, Food, Kitsch…it all feels like home to me.

Seattle Art Museum – Andy Warhol Inkblot painting – Brandy Saturley

SEPTEMBER – Victoria/Calgary/Montreal

In September, I finished two commissioned paintings and penned an article for ArtInCanada.com, the first of a four-part series with Alberta Artists for Canada150, beginning with Chris Cran. I take on very few commissions, however I was delighted to take on these two commissions after hearing the clients ideas – one being 4 ft high by 7.5 feet and the other, a very special piece using a reference photo from an iceberg loving photographer, Doreen Dalley, who has been shooting these lovely moving landscapes for over 30 years. It was a delight and a privilege to interview celebrated

OCTOBER – Victoria/Winnipeg

October was all about in studio as I began working a new body of work, began upgrading my studio to include two new wall easels and got ready to launch a new website. After hosting with another provider for years I moved my website to a Canadian company in Winnipeg, Art Moi and am thrilled with the new and improved website, my online portfolio for a worldwide art collecting audience.

In the artists’ studio – Brandy Saturley 2017

NOVEMBER – Victoria/Vancouver/California

In November, I was back in Vancouver checking out the members opening at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Portraits of Artists, a show from the collection of the Royal Gallery in London, Queen Elizabeth II private portrait collection. From the 1700’s onward an immense show of some of the most detailed and highly skilled classical mezzotints, etchings and paintings, an ode to the old fashioned ‘selfie’. I also had the opportunity to see the beautiful, custom, Fazioli Piano at The Fairmont Pacific Rim at the #fightforbeauty exhibit.

Fight For Beauty – custom Fazioli piano Fairmont Pacific Rim

Art Licensing: From time to time I license my work to great organizations, who make exceptional products. I was approached by a US company called ThinOptics – a company who makes a great product that fits in a case on the back of your mobile phone, offering portable reading glasses. You can now find three of my most popular paintings from ‘Canadianisms’, including the hockey themed painting sold to the Colart Collection in Montreal, on the cases of these great specs-to-go. Now I can see myself taking a selfie and see the details of my paintings much clearer!

Art Licensing – ThinOptics Canada collection – On Guard by Brandy Saturley

DECEMBER – Hawaii/Alberta/Victoria

In December, I took off to Maui, Hawaii for a couple weeks. I was eager to read a book about American painter Georgia O’ Keeffe and her time in Maui and subsequent 20+ paintings that came from her trip, which were later exhibited at American Place Gallery, owned by Alfred Stieglitz.

Current Inspiration – Georgia O’ Keeffe’s Hawaii

The trip offered the chance to explore by foot, helicopter and car. I had some time to write, sketch, take photos and capture digital video. Returning home, I was in the thick of Christmas mail-outs and on the receiving end of many new things for my studio. Gratitude!
Art Licensing: From time to time I license my work to great organizations, who make exceptional products. I was approached by an Alberta art publisher, Island Art Publishers, with interest in re-producing my ‘Rocky Mountains’ series of paintings created back in 2011. You will find these beautiful reproductions through Island Art in early 2018.

Island Art Publishers – I See Mountains series by Brandy Saturley

 

That’s it! Some of the highlights from my year. It was incendiary! Thank you to everyone for the incredible support during 2017. Wishing you all a remarkable 2018, filled with great adventures, and beautiful moments. Cheers to 2018, and all the new work to come!

2017 in Canadian Art

Canadian Painter, Brandy Saturley on her hand painted art crates, 2017.

 

Canada150 Art Exhibitions: ‘CANADIANISMS’ opens at Okotoks Art Gallery

Originally published June 15, 2017

Calgary Artist Gordon Milne with Victoria Artist Brandy Saturley at the opening of Saturley's 'Canadianisms' at Okotoks Art Gallery, June 2017. | photo: Penny Rogers

Calgary Artist Gordon Milne with Victoria Artist Brandy Saturley at the opening of Saturley’s ‘Canadianisms’ at Okotoks Art Gallery, June 2017. | photo: Penny Rogers

A celebratory and intimate art opening at Okotoks Art Gallery on June 9. Housed inside an old CP Railway station, CANADIANISMS brought a patriotic and vibrant vibe to the main gallery just in time for Canada150 celebrations. A big thank you to the town of Okotoks and Okotoks Culture and Heritage, as well as the gallery staff for producing a spirited event. This past weekend also included an unveiling of the Canada150 Community Mosaic and the OAG members show inspired by the railway, From Cow-Catcher to Caboose.

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 - Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 – Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 - Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 – Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 - Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 – Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 - Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 – Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 - Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 – Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 - Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

CANADIANISMS: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada at  Okotoks Art Gallery at The Station | June 10 – Sept 2, 2017 | Brandy Saturley

 

With Okotoks Culture & Heritage Manager, Allan Boss and Okotoks artist Annette Resler

With Okotoks Culture & Heritage Manager, Allan Boss and Okotoks artist Annette Resler

 

Canada Inspires West Coast Artist – Brandy Saturley talks with the Okotoks Western Wheel

In 2017, Canada inspires West Coast artist Brandy Saturley with tour of an art exhibition inspired by her travels across Canada. The artist talks with the Okotoks Western Wheel about her exhibition; ‘Canadianisms: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada’ – at the Okotoks Art Gallery near Calgary, Alberta. The show which began 2017 in Sherwood Park, just outside of Edmonton, made it’s way across the province to a town just outside of Calgary, known as Okotoks. This travelling art show includes hand painted art shipping crates, central to the show, which carries 30 paintings, illustrating stories of Canada.

Read the full interview.

Canada Inspires

 

 

Canada inspires
These paintings tell visual stories; encompassing themes related to Canadian popular culture, symbolism, people, nature and the landscapes of Canada. Saturley’s paintings not only have a sense of humour, but also reference famous works of art. Her vibrant Canadian art collection boasts archetypal landscapes, Tim Hortons cups and Canadian icons like Gord Downie and a hockey stick-holding Shania Twain. One painting depicts a Mi’kmaq performer and RCMP officer at the Vimy Ridge 100th anniversary; another portrays a Canadian veteran poised above a field of red poppies. One piece portrays a couple standing outside the Montreal Forum, posed in the style of Grant Wood’s 1930 painting American Gothic.