From Serious Life Challenge to Thriving Online Art Business
Mixed-media artist Wyanne Thompson is living proof that cancer is a word, not a sentence. Here’s how she’s created a successful art career online.
By Patty Craft
Survivors of any trauma or serious life challenge tend to live life afterwards from a deep place of truth where the days’ new normal doesn’t always reflect social niceties. Survivors embrace the pure potentiality realized in the simple act of waking up — still alive! — each new morning. Most throw caution to the wind, stop waiting or worrying, and live with intention. Wyanne Thompson (pronounced why-anne) is no exception.
The Big C
She sagely admits that cancer was perhaps the best gift she’s been given because it’s reignited her fire to paint and live well. In her own words, here’s how she tells the story.
“In late 2013, I was diagnosed with Stage IV oral cancer,” she says. “It was a shock since I never smoked, and was otherwise relatively healthy. I underwent a major 13-hour surgery, losing my entire tongue and 66 lymph nodes. The surgery was followed by chemo, radiation and a yearlong, grueling recovery. I lost my ability to speak clearly, and now I take all of my nutrition from a stomach feeding tube. Thankfully, I’m still cancer-free and winning the battle with the beast. I am extremely lucky that I don’t have to talk in order to paint. Now, I’m painting more than ever! The process has taught me to live in the moment and not take anything for granted. I now consider the Big C a gift.”
Living in the Now
Wyanne’s definitely not wasting time She’s dreaming big, painting big, taking risks, and being her self-described badass self, because, hey, none of us is promised tomorrow. In mid-2016 she moved into a studio space at Mutiny Artwrx in Atlanta. There she keeps creative company with graffiti artists, metalworkers, woodworkers, filmmakers, and other painters. She’d come to believe she’d never be able to have studio space away from home given the health challenges she has to manage, but she’s happily admitted that belief was simply wrong.
She has thrived in the space and her art is constantly evolving. Handwritten words have begun to appear in her art in ways they hadn’t before cancer affected her ability to speak clearly. She says, “Words in my paintings are becoming increasingly more important to me. With my speech impediment, so much is lost in translation or never said.” And she goes on to say, “I may have a speech impediment, but I speak art fluently.” Indeed she does.
What follows are parts of our conversation that focus on the business of art.
We know your survivor story, and are encouraged by your passion and strength to rise above and keep painting. Tell us the condensed version of how you got started.
In college I studied fine art with a concentration on photography. I took a few painting classes, not many. After graduation I attended a commercial art school, Portfolio Center in Atlanta, to get a better understanding of the commercial side of art. That training helped me tremendously with my photography. I worked as a commercial photographer for many years until my son was born. Then I stayed at home with him and started dabbling in painting.
When my son was about four years old I opened an art gallery. I felt that I was much better at guiding other artists. I never exhibited my own work there. The gallery business was very tough. About that same time eBay was starting up so I began listing the gallery art on eBay. Since eBay wasn’t saturated back then it was very easy to sell work for top dollar.
I gradually got up the nerve to list my own paintings for sale. Eventually the eBay sales were far greater than the walk-in, foot-traffic sales at the physical gallery. So, I closed the physical location and moved everything online. I sold other artists’ work for a little while, then only my work.
It took several years, but I developed a large following. I had to discipline myself to paint every day. I can remember taking my son to karate class with a watercolor pad and watercolor crayons. While he had his lesson, I would work on a painting. My work was much smaller back then and I would complete one painting just about every day. These days I usually spend eight hours or more in the studio, five days a week. I devote one day to computer work, video editing, and web work, and one day off for family.
There’s a big leap, and learning curve, between wanting to sell our art and actually selling it. You’ve been a full-time working artist for 20 years, but you’ve got a lot of business space online and in real life to manage. The 1,100-square-foot studio, professional website with links to your bustling Etsy shop, blog, and YouTube channel didn’t materialize overnight. Do you have a team that helps you?
I am very much self-taught with the online business side. If I needed to know how to do something, well, I Googled it, found the answer and taught myself. That goes for my website, blog, YouTube channel, etc. I still manage it all myself. It has actu- ally gotten much simpler over the years.
When I first started out, I had to teach myself html coding to launch my own website. Now there are great user-friendly options to make your own website. There are fantastic apps that allow you to post one update to multiple sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, your blog, etc. Currently my son assists me with shipping and my daughter helps with filming and video editing. Other than that, it’s just me.
Speaking of social media, did you employ a growth plan to achieve such a solid community? How long did it take?
I honestly don’t know how long it took or how I got that many followers. I don’t focus on the number of followers or likes. Usually, I just try to share my life and art frequently without becoming annoying to others. I also try to interact some with those followers when time allows, and always try to answer questions.
There’s a subtlety in marketing via platforms that are inherently meant to be hangouts rather than stores. Will you share your thoughts on the value and purpose of being present as an artist on these platforms?
I really don’t use the social media platforms to sell my work; instead I use Etsy and Saatchi Art. There are some artists who sell directly from Instagram or Facebook, but I just haven’t found it to work well for me. I use social media to show everyone what I’m doing.
Maybe I’ll add a link to Etsy or Saatchi in the post, but I don’t do it on every post. I think potential collectors can get turned off if they feel that every post you make is aimed at selling them something. They want to feel like they’re getting to know me as an artist. Yes, there is still a romance to being an artist that many people admire. I want to avoid constantly posting art for sale. —no one wants to look desperate or like the proverbial starving artist. I’m a big believer in the “if you build it, they will come” philosophy.
Learn more about Wyanne Thompson at wyanne.com.
A version of this story appeared in Acrylic Artist magazine.
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