Today we’d like to introduce you to Maggie Brookshire
Hi Maggie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I decided to pursue my artwork full-time in 2024 when I was laid off from my most recent job. I was doing B2B sales for a pizza oven company. The work was pretty enjoyable for the most part, since I got to do product demos (eat a ton of great food) and travel for tradeshows.
When the layoff came, everyone in the company was given the chance to volunteer and take the severance package in order to save positions for those who truly wanted to stay on. Even though I really liked my team and I wasn’t actively looking for other jobs, I knew instantly that I wanted to leave and try something different. Throughout the few months prior, I had been following along with Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way workbook and was trying to renew my creative practice. I had actually said to some friends just weeks before the layoff that “following The Artist’s Way made me want to just quit my job and paint”. So the decision to leave was a no brainer for me.
I’ve always been crafty and kept sketchbooks ever since I was a kid. My mom is an elementary teacher and encouraged the arts for both my sister and me. We got to do Girl Scouts for several years and would take all sorts of summer craft classes. Growing up in Austin, art was just a normal part of life. Our grandma also encouraged us with all sorts of DIY repurposed material projects. From a very young age, we were ingrained with Reduce Reuse Recycle principles before we even heard the catchphrase. I think that’s a big factor that led me to study environmental science in college.
Despite taking so many art and music classes in high school that I did summer coursework just to have more room in my schedule, I felt an obligation to go a more “practical” route with my degree. My art was a hobby but not seen as a viable career. Even though I believed I was talented, I thought I had to do something that would contribute to society and earn a living. So I went to a school known for the arts, but I studied science.
After graduating, I did a series of non-profit jobs in education and sustainability. They were good for the soul, but without a master’s degree they didn’t help me pay the bills to keep living in Austin. That’s when I made the switch to my last job in the cooking industry.
Now that I work for myself, I get to travel whenever I want. My apartment lease just ended in February, and I decided to sell almost all of my belongings. Over the next few months, I will be traveling to visit family and participate in workstay exchanges across the country. Much of my art is inspired by my natural surroundings, and I’m excited to be immersed in new scenery. I’m most looking forward to this summer when I will be working a few hours a week on a Hawaiian fruit farm in exchange for free room and board thanks to my host from the Worldpackers program. I’m also using Trusted Housesitters to find long-term pet sitting stays in cities I’ve always wanted to visit. Work exchanges are a more affordable and more sustainable method of travel than using short-term rentals, so I hope the art I make along the way can help teach people about alternative means of travel.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In the beginning, some people close to me just didn’t get what I was doing. Why would I leave a job I liked? Why wasn’t I at least getting a part-time job in the meantime? Though the concern came from a place of caring, they were bluntly unconvinced about me being able to forge this path for myself. I knew I didn’t have all the minute details figured out yet, but when you’re doing something like this you just have to have confidence in your choices and work one step at a time towards your greater goal. Otherwise, you are defeated before you even try. A mentor at my last job gave me a parting gift that helped me stay true to myself: a book called “The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion”.
I was lucky with my work history: I’ve already done so much admin work and nothing felt too foreign that I couldn’t figure out myself while I set up my small business. I keep reminding myself that there’s usually someone out there whose job it is to help people like me figure these things out when we get stuck. There are all kinds of online resources and support lines to call for things like setting up a website or getting permits for pop-up markets.
I also have to remember that I am in the same boat as a lot of artists who have years and years of formal education: art school doesn’t teach you how to make a living as an artist. From what I can tell, you learn about art history and try different mediums, and work on big conceptual projects, then you graduate and have to figure out the financial part on your own.
Something unexpected is how little time I actually spend on making new artwork. It’s certainly more than I would have done if I stayed in my last job. However, there’s so much background work that goes into promoting myself that my time spent creating is only a slice of the pie. Still, I can’t complain! It’s truly satisfying to be fully in control of how I operate. In the coming months, I am excited to dedicate more time to painting as I travel and visit some family.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I make watercolor paintings that are inspired by nature. My favorite subjects are tropical landscapes and birds because they remind me of places I’ve traveled. I use a loose, flowy style to make soft and cheerful moods. Painting makes me feel happy and relaxed, and that shows through in the expression of my art. Some of the greatest compliments I’ve gotten are from people who purchase my artwork as decorations for their baby nurseries. My art gives people a feeling of peace and grounding, so it’s important to me that I continue bringing my art into the world at a time like now when life is stressful for so many.
In the future, I would love to teach art classes or maybe even write my own book about creativity. It’s a strong belief of mine that everyone has the potential to create art in their own way- many of us are too busy or too intimidated to try. My medium of watercolor strikes up these conversations all the time: people tell me they could never paint like me or that watercolor is too difficult to approach. It’s my mission as a self-taught artist to encourage people to try and find a creative outlet for themselves in whatever medium and style that suits them. I always respond to self-proclaimed “terrible painters” that they might be great abstract expressionists or weavers or sculptors if they got the chance to experiment.
By turning my layoff experience into a positive opportunity, I hope that my art career can inspire others to follow their gut and take a chance on their own happiness. I want to acknowledge that I was in a uniquely privileged position to make a quick pivot like this. Not every company is as generous to its former employees as mine was. Not everyone has the luxury to make a career change without a guaranteed salary to rely on. But anyone can shake up their routine to add in a bit more of what they love to do. I want my art to get the wheels turning for people who want to return to a dusty guitar or pick up an abandoned hobby. Life is too short to put your talents on hold.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My parents have given me so many networking ideas and motivated me to keep thinking bigger for promoting my art. I have my mom to thank for connecting me to several artists in town who have given their time to answer my endless questions:
Hillary Cumberworth – sculptor
Rebecca Rothfus – visual artist
Ashley Morford – Morford Pottery
Natalie Smith and Carley Volk – The Nest art education space
Pricing:
- “Orchid” 8 x 8 inch watercolor painting $500
- “Legend of the Twin Rocks” 8 x 8 inch watercolor & gouache painting $500
- “Birds of Paradise” 8 x 8 inch watercolor & gouache painting $500
- “Libby’s Favorite Palm” 8 x 8 inch watercolor & gouache painting $500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.maggiebrookshire.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art.by.maggie.brookshire/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566506998644
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@artbymaggiebrookshire
- Other: Email: art.maggiebrookshire@gmail.com
Image Credits
Images are my own, but here are some descriptions to help caption:
1. Overlook at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
2. Headshot
3. 2024 Buda Arts Festival Quick Draw Artist Competition
4. First featured artist at Wheatsville Co-Op on S Lamar
5. Legend of the Twin Rocks
6. Libby’s Favorite Palm
7. Orchid
8. Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden near Hilo
