Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Lyn Wallnau.
Jamie Lyn, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I still have very vivid memories of me in elementary school running to my art teacher, Mr. Brown to ask him how to draw things realistically. That faded as I went on to high school and was forced to take Art 1 because I had to with the way my schedule worked. It was awesome because I ended up taking FOUR years of art all the way through high school. I just fell in love with the artists, the teachers and the craft. I went on to college and my mother really encouraged me to do art, but I argued and said: “you can’t do anything with art full time.” So, I went to undergrad for communication and found myself graduating with a Masters Degree from ACU in Communication. Throughout college and graduate school I did paintings of my friends for fun and did a few commissioned art pieces for Christmas gifts. Art full time was not on my radar though….
I wanted to work my way up the corporate ladder after graduation, but found myself miserable behind a computer at a desk all day. I really enjoyed painting and was making a great deal of money on the side selling my artwork. I had a dream that I was painting full time and as crazy as it may sound, I really feel the Lord speaks to me in my dreams. So, I put my two weeks notice in and started to paint full time.
I really took a leap of faith here and found myself loving it. Seven years later and a ministry job in between, I find myself traveling the world, painting live at events and conferences and sharing life-giving art with the world. I’ve put artwork on shirts, had a fashion show, over the top pop-ups, made jewelry and I sell prints of all of my artwork. I get to share love and life-giving messages through creativity, I get to minister to people’s hearts and change the atmosphere of peoples homes, offices, and buildings!
It has taken a lot of hard work but I am super grateful to be creating what I create and doing what I love. Having the ability to travel and paint brings my heart so much freedom because both are so important to me. I meet the greatest people and love curating peoples homes with my artwork. Creating one of a kind pieces where I pray and paint for people is my favorite as well as other commissioned pieces. I have never starved as an artist. I have always had more than what I need and I hope I can encourage other artists to do the same!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not always been a smooth road and still isn’t always a smooth road. Owning your own business can be quite difficult. You get up alone and work alone. You’re completely responsible for your work ethic and time. For me, as much work as I put in is a reflection of how much money I bring in. It has the ability to put a lot of pressure on me to bring in the right income every month because it can fluctuate. I could make $2500 one month and $12,000 another. It’s very unpredictable but I am seeing a consistent and steady increase in what I bring in and I love doing what I do so much… you can’t really put a price on it.
Also, I am very outgoing and love meeting people, so that part is easy but I used to be a big pushover when it came to pricing my artwork. One of my love languages is giving so I would find myself making really great deals (for the customer) on pricing and giving things away for free. My sister, Holly came in and really helped me set standard and base prices for everything to avoid any confusion on what I could do. She taught me the value of what I do and how to communicate the value of what I do. My pieces are one of a kind and unique. They will be in someone’s family forever! They’re making a beautiful investment. This really helped me as well as surrounding myself with people who love me and believe in me.
In all of the struggles, the greatest thing I have done is verbally make good declarations over my company. I know we have power in our words and what we say creates a positive or negative atmosphere. So, I declare good things out loud as well as big sales. I have no problem knowing that one day I will make millions as an artist. I must be faithful with what I am doing now by believing it even here, on the “smaller” scale.
Please tell us about Breakthrough Artistry.
I believe there are several things that set me apart from other artists and them from me. No one else can paint the way I paint and I cannot paint the way they paint. The world needs me to be me and I need each person on this earth to be them. It’s the most beautiful thing when we all work together in our gifts like that. It unites us and strengthens us as a city, state, nation, and globe!
I always create art that has meaning and that has love oozing from it. I want people to look at my canvas creations and feel hope, faith, love or certainty that things really are good and getting better. I notice that most famous living artists create really dark art and the world edifies it. I can feel it when I look at it, my goal is to be an uncompromising life-giving artist in everything I create. People need hope when they are feeling down and they need to see light when they feel like they’re in darkness. I am grateful to have a gift where I can do that.
I specialize in painting live. Sometimes, I have no idea what I am going to paint and other times I show up with an image in mind. It’s crazy because I have anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to paint something live. Then, I get to share with the community what it means and it speaks to each person in the room. I also do a TON of commissioned art pieces where people ask me to pray for them and create a one of a kind piece just for them. Sometimes, they even make special requests but this is where much of my income streams in from. I love it. It’s an honor to create a piece that dozens of people… maybe even hundreds of people, will have a conversation around.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Lessons Learned:
1- When you don’t feel like it, you’re being hard on yourself, or you want to quit… push past the negativity and keep going. Put your hands to the plow and you will be rewarded for your hard work. If you quit, you might leave yourself wondering “what if” instead of being proud of yourself for working hard. This is where you’ll find success because it does get hard. It’s what you do when it gets tough that really reveals how badly you want to succeed.
2- I don’t work very well by myself. Yes, my entire job is alone unless I have an event and hire someone to come help me. However, I learned to surround myself with people who can encourage me and who believe in me. I surround myself with people who tell me to get off the couch and keep going! It was a big game changer for me as I learned more about my God-given personality.
3- Value yourself and don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth. I used to have a really difficult time charging what I knew my time was worth until I had two-three people come in and help me set standard pricing for my base of clients, my time and the value of my work! It was difficult for me, but now it’s perfect. I have standard pricing and it helps me feel encouraged knowing I am making what I want to make and I feel like my time is being valued.
Pricing:
- Original Canvas work starts at $500
- Canvas Prints of original artwork starts at $250
- Matted Prints of artwork start at $15
Contact Info:
- Address: Website will be changing soon… follow Instagram for more updates…. rebranding ahead
- Website: www.breakthroughartistry.com
- Phone: 817.313.7518
- Email: jamielyn@breakthroughartistry.com
- Instagram: @jamielynart
- Facebook: Breakthrough Artistry
- Twitter: @btartistry
Image Credit:
Crysty Fiorello for headshot
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