Looking Back on 2022 with Elizabeth Dryden
Today we talk to Elizabeth Dryden about her very busy 2022. We talk about everything from art shows, to The Cowgirl Gathering, to supporting each other, and even getting scammed! Woah 2022 had a lot happening. You'll love this episode with such a lovely and down-to-earth artist.
Follow Elizabeth Dryden on her instagram @elizabethdrydenfineart
Follow us on instagram @cowgirlartistsofamerica
Transcript
[00:00:00] Megan: Hi, welcome to Cowgirl Artists of America's podcast, a podcast dedicated to cowgirl artist. I'm your host, Megan Wimberley, and today I'm talking with one of our founding members, Elizabeth Dryden. Hi Elizabeth.
[:[00:00:14] Megan: you? Doing well. Thanks so much for being
[:[00:00:18] Thanks for having me.
[:[00:00:23] Elizabeth Dryden: Sure. I am from Texas. I've been doing art full-time for, I guess ever since the pandemic. Covid took my day job away, so I've just been doing my art, which was what I've always wanted to do. And I love the Southwest. I went to college in Tucson, Arizona, and I just fell in love with all the colors and.
[:[00:00:53] Megan: Yeah. So what were you doing before the pandemic
[:[00:00:59] I worked for a [00:01:00] company there and I was still able to be creative with makeup, I guess and skincare products and things like that. But my passion was always with art and it was of nice to work that job as well cuz I feel like I was around more people that way and I could talk to them about, Art and I was just in more of a social environment, so it was easier to connect with clients, that way.
[:[00:01:32] Megan: So were you painting or doing any art making while you were working before the.
[:[00:01:50] Megan: you showing your work anywhere during that time?
[:[00:01:59] I found my [00:02:00] niche, that I wanted to focus on. And I had a show in the Dallas Design District at a gallery called Sink. And it was an interesting experience. It was more of. Modern art gallery. And I just kinda decided that I needed to be really careful about where I showed my work and who the audience was and ask myself, do I fit into this gallery?
[:[00:02:38] Megan: Yeah, for sure. I think sometimes artists can just think like they wanna get in any gallery and they don't think about that. But anything from like the genre of art that the gallery has to even like, The quality of art in it, like if you're just starting out, is gonna be really hard for you to get into a high end gallery.
[:[00:03:13] Elizabeth Dryden: Yeah.
[:[00:03:42] And so I started at coffee shops. There was this coffee shop, I was living in Washington State at the time, and there was this little coffee shop by the campus of Washington State University and I. They had asked if they could show some of my work, and I was just like, oh my gosh. So I would go sit in there and have a cup of coffee and hear people's like [00:04:00] reactions to my paintings.
[:[00:04:19] Yeah.
[:[00:04:25] Elizabeth Dryden: Yeah, I had done this series in college where we were supposed to exaggerate a body part and , I always felt like I had a big butt, so I exaggerated like big butts on people. It was like really stylized, like people it wasn't western art, but it was just this.
[:[00:05:17] walks of life. And so you have to understand that and not get offended when someone doesn't have a, something nice to say. . Yeah. Do you
[:[00:05:33] It's just not your style, but it's mine and I love it. Is there, how do you distinguish this is something I'm gonna think about for a little bit and consider versus oh, that's just, that person's for you. When is it that you pick up that comment and think, oh, I'm gonna think about
[:[00:05:49] I guess I consider the source maybe like what is. , is this person just saying they don't like it because they don't like it? Or do they have reasons or do they have like certain, can they talk about [00:06:00] why? Or is it just a feeling or just the, I've had people love a piece and then someone else will say, oh, I don't like the colors of that one.
[:[00:06:25] And there's some jealousy there, some rivalry between artists and just some drama. And there was some negative feedback, but I think it was just out of spite or just out of a place that wasn. Pos positive critique constructive criticism, so if it's a constructive and you can grow from it, I would listen.
[:[00:06:52] Megan: Yeah, for sure. And so this series that you've been working on lately, you've been doing like personified animals, like [00:07:00] different sorts of Western characters of animals.
[:[00:07:04] Elizabeth Dryden: That's I've always painted animals. I always feel connection to animals. I feel like they can symbolize a lot of different things. And I did a show this year in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and I just went, it was weird, like they just kept coming. These ideas just kept coming to me.
[:[00:07:38] And at the end I had seven pieces and they all ended up doing really well. And I had a lot of good feedback on those. And are you still
[:[00:07:48] Elizabeth Dryden: Yeah, so I have a few paces behind me. Let's see, let me grab one.
[:[00:07:55] Megan: is a bison and he is dressed like a cowboy and he is holding a beer [00:08:00] and he is holding a saddle. So just for people on the podcast, so they know what you're holding up there.
[:[00:08:11] And down here you can see the cactus and there's a little cardboard that I put on, so it's got some dimension to it besides just the paint. On the animals that I did for the Wyoming show, I didn't, I just strictly used paint on those. So I've been experiencing experimenting with some.
[:[00:08:35] Megan: Yeah. Your pieces have a tendency to be so textural. The piece you had at that cowgirl gathering, it just jumped off the canvas.
[:[00:09:06] Elizabeth Dryden: Yeah, I think that happens probably to every artist . But definitely for me, I've had a struggle with. . Just keeping the faith, I guess you have to believe in yourself before other peoples will believe, before other people will believe in you. I guess my faith in God like this past year has just been like really strong and it's nice to believe in something that kind of keeps you grounded so that whatever, like knocks you down. Finances has been a scary thing for me cuz I'll have one month that I do great in the next month. I don't know, where my money's gonna come from, what painting's gonna sell. So I just have to really focus on having faith and seeing the big picture other than getting bogged down in the emotional side of it and just keep the course.
[:[00:09:52] Megan: It can be. Very scary in a lot of ways when you take that big leap. And I think a lot of artists early on too, struggle with just [00:10:00] their self-confidence or developing their style. But you have clearly really developed a style. People when they see their work, your work, they're gonna know.
[:[00:10:16] Elizabeth Dryden: Yeah, so I actually had something that really helped me at the beginning of last year. I went to A class, it was like a business development class that another artist friend of mine invited me to.
[:[00:10:46] I don't wanna do any of the business side, but that's half of it, . So if you wanna do, if you want to be a full-time artist, you really have to focus on the business side of it too. And this was just about setting goals for yourself and how to achieve those [00:11:00] goals and how to, treat it like a nine to five job.
[:[00:11:19] And so I've really tried this year to stay focused on what, I needed to get done every day. So I have a calendar that I have to have, like a physical calendar, that I write everything down like every day. that I can see cuz I'm a visual person. I have to see it and write it down and feel it in my hands.
[:[00:12:02] So this year I really focused on doing email blast. Once a month and it's like a blog, just email about keeping up with your clients, like keeping a clientele list and staying connected with them. Because a lot of people will be repeat clients and they'll come back.
[:[00:12:38] So they can come to it. So that was one thing that was really helpful. And another thing was stepping out and doing some more shows, festivals. I remember, gosh, I guess it was this. What it was the summertime, I was really slow and I wasn't really, there wasn't much going on. I was just using that time to create, but I [00:13:00] wasn't really selling anything during that time.
[:[00:13:18] So you just never know, if you try something different, like as often as you can and some things work and some things don't, but then you know, the following year, what to keep doing and maybe not do the ones that don't work the next year, yeah. . And then let's see, what else? And then I also had an opportunity this year to do boots.
[:[00:13:40] Megan: that's cool. May I must have forgotten that I love those.
[:[00:14:10] Megan: are you gonna bring those to Art of the Cow?
[:[00:14:31] Yeah, that's cool.
[:[00:14:42] So it's January and I'm trying to think of different ways. Three, like three more. Ways I can get to different people during the year of 2023.
[:[00:15:08] And that's a huge thing is teaching. Artists how to run their business and we have a planning workshop and there it'll be up for any member can go in and look at it, but we just did a meeting for it last night and it's the planning system that I use that's I developed it more for my creative brain and it's been so helpful for me.
[:[00:15:37] If you don't have a calendar and you don't set your goals at the beginning of the year, you just, it's like saying Hey, let's go on a road trip. But then you don't have any plan, like you don't pack your, yeah. Like you throw some things in the car and you just cross your fingers and hope, and you might end up in a super sketchy spot. Or you might end up in the desert with no gas and you don't know.
[:[00:16:05] Elizabeth Dryden: Yeah. Yeah. I think planning is a big part of it and the business side is pretty much half of it. I It's, you gotta do the marketing and you gotta, stay connected with your clients and then you gotta create the art , you gotta sell the art, you gotta find the places to go and yeah, so it's really nice to have everything.
[:[00:16:36] Megan: Yeah. Do you ever have a hard time sticking to your goals or your schedule?
[:[00:16:42] Elizabeth Dryden: If I don't do something like I'll circle it like, and then I'm like, I can go tomorrow and be like, oh yeah, I didn't do that one. So I try to at least get it. If I don't do it one day, I get it in some someday.
[:[00:16:58] Elizabeth Dryden: goal I think, [00:17:00] again, is going to add, try to add in, three different ways.
[:[00:17:20] I'm coming up with my roadmap for 2023 and gotta think of two more big things that are d gonna be different this year than last year that I'll try to do. So yeah, there's, there's a thing called Zapp application, and I'm sure you're everybody's. Hopefully aware of that, but that's where you can apply to festivals, different art festivals every spring and usually the spring and the fall all over the United States.
[:[00:18:00] Megan: Yeah. And for those that don't know Art of the cowgirl we're partnering with them to do their first quick draw this year. And so CGA will be out there at the booth and the first two days there will.
[:[00:18:32] Technical skill sense, like learning from a professional. And so part of it'll fund that. And then part of it, we'll go back to supporting CGA's things as well. , we have, yeah, we have such a wonderful community around us and so many people really working to support the western arts and now really supporting, female artists too.
[:[00:19:06] Elizabeth Dryden: Yeah, it was a big it was actually at a hockey rink that they made into this big conference area and there was a bunch of booths all kinds. Makers, I guess you could call 'em there was furniture makers just really unique, like things that they had jewelry there was a couple artists there.
[:[00:19:40] It. So what is her
[:[00:19:45] Elizabeth Dryden: I don't. It was a husband and wife. I don't remember their names, but gosh they, there was just some beautiful, lots of beautiful things there.
[:[00:19:54] Elizabeth Dryden: I wanted to say something about supporting each other, so like this. Actually an artist sup. I [00:20:00] don't know if she's a cowgirl artist of America, but she does, she's in Western Gallery. And then I didn't know if Diana Dawn joined, but I was telling her about you guys. Uhhuh , but she does these like embroidery hats. Oh my gosh, those are so cool. And I just told her I wanted like a red tail hawk and like a desert scene and she did this for me.
[:[00:20:27] Megan: . Yeah, for sure. I think that is so true it's easy to feel like we're in competition with each other. , but really we're not. And so like the idea that we are all here, there's enough to go around and we're here to support each other and lift each other up.
[:[00:21:03] All ships rise together sort of thing.
[:[00:21:23] And so it really does benefit you if you support and, other artists,
[:[00:21:38] And then
[:[00:21:49] Megan: Okay, so the Western Design Conference is super huge. Were you intimidated about going to it?
[:[00:22:01] Taking a big risk, and that was one thing that I wanted to mention was risk taking. Like you really have to take risks if you're going to get. If you're gonna advance. And they can be really scary. And that's why I was saying like, it's nice to have a faith, like something to keep you grounded in case it doesn't work out.
[:[00:22:37] I knew that I would be something different and unique among the other people there with, cuz my art is quite different. More kind of a western feel than the mountainous feel. So I thought that might be a good fit. So I just tried it and I had heard that it was a good place. People enjoyed going.
[:[00:23:12] You chose what color paper that you wanted your booth to be. So I chose dark gray. and then you just hung it Basically you just used scr screws and hung all your pieces and they had dollies. They had people there to help you if you needed someone to hold a painting or, it was just very helpful.
[:[00:23:45] It, nobody helped each other. It was Trash talk or snootiness or, jealousy, I guess is what it boils down to is insecurities. But it was just an amazing show. It was really fun and everyone was really encouraging and helpful and I made a lot of great [00:24:00] contacts there. And that's the thing about trying new things is you never know where it will lead.
[:[00:24:22] the Western Art and Design Conference. She's you've gotta do that. So I would've never known about it unless, things just snowball and if you can take note and keep up and just see where it leads you, you just, it'll keep growing .
[:[00:24:38] I actually just did an interview like a little online interview with someone, and that's one of the things was like, what is something. , many artists don't know that is so important. And that was the thing, one of the main things I said was community. You don't realize how important your art community is.
[:[00:25:12] But they were two communities that it just like light bulb moment, it is important to be. with your art community, and I think before you're in the community, it does feel more like competition, but then when you start getting in there and you start making friends, you just realize these are your people and yeah.
[:[00:25:53] Elizabeth Dryden: Exactly. Yeah. Stay humble and just, you never know if, like what we were saying earlier with critiquing, [00:26:00] I love it when someone gives me critique on my work cuz it really helps me see it from a different person's perspective.
[:[00:26:11] Megan: And you just never know, what's gonna spark an idea and it may not even, that may not be the thing that directly sparks the idea, but maybe thinking about it like it triggers some interesting, little thought process and then you're like, oh, I could do this.
[:[00:26:50] Just being like, huh, I wonder why that person thinks that. You can do with anything and it makes it so much easier to grow cuz in like judgment is like pushing you down, whereas [00:27:00] curiosity is like this kind of expansive thing and it's not heavy. You're just like thinking .
[:[00:27:08] . Yeah.
[:[00:27:20] Elizabeth Dryden: Yes. And so that was one thing I wanted to say like about keeping in touch with your people or your clients social media has.
[:[00:27:43] And I think just going up there caused some stir caused like some action I guess. Try to keep active and keep action and doing things that are different, will keep people's attention. And then I had. Clients from the past be like, oh, she's going, she's, I don't want her to sell those pieces.
[:[00:28:17] . I don't know if you would wanna cover this or not, but I got scammed . You got scammed? I got scammed, yes. Oh, no. . And I know that can be frustrating for artists that have their livelihood online. For example, like Instagram, like what we were just talking about, social media can get hacked and then you have to start from scratch and start all over.
[:[00:28:54] Because this company called me and said, I would love to put SEO words into your website. [00:29:00] Cause I can tell it's not being seen. By people. So I was like, that's something I was wanting to do, so yeah let's do that. And then they were like let's combine. Cause I had a website from my print and a website from my originals and they were like let's combine that into one website and then we'll do the search words on that one website.
[:[00:29:37] And I had no access to my website, everything. I wanted on it had to go through them and it was like, sometimes they take two weeks to post something or a new painting or something. And it was just really frustrating. And then I started getting really weird things happen. Like I had, I went to my website and it said virus across it, like on a banner.
[:[00:30:15] So I called a friend of mine that knows how to re. Code, read, like website code and he went on, got in the back end of it somehow in red and it was like somebody had hardcoded that virus thing on the front page of my website and they were asking for $400 to get it removed to get the virus re removed.
[:[00:30:56] Things, but I just wanted to warn artists to be really careful. If people [00:31:00] are approaching you to help redo your website or seo, like I, I was told to, if companies are approaching you, it's probably not legit. And maybe to do your own research and to find a company on your own that, does a good job and not just one of these little small off companies you.
[:[00:31:33] It's always like wife's anniversary and it's like I have this amount to spend and it's usually three to $5,000 and do you have any artwork? And so I fell for that once and. Took the time. I put this whole price sheet together with images and sent it, emailed it back, and we were in correspondence and he actually ended up giving me somebody's credit card.
[:[00:32:17] Oh my gosh. So I found out it was a complete scam. So you just have to really be careful and I feel like they prey on artists. . and artists don't know cuz they're so excited about selling something that they will fall for it. So just be careful that was one of my 2022 horror stories.
[:[00:32:50] Oh, okay. But we, on the blog, you can go like the public blog on the cowgirl artists of america.org. There's one on scams and it talks about, the ones targeting [00:33:00] artists and they do, because artists, especially artists earlier in their career, they get so desperate because they're trying so hard to sell their work and then you ignore red flags.
[:[00:33:44] You can only, and if you're gonna do a commission, take 50% up front and have a really solid you don't refund that. Recently. Somebody had contacted me. That was obviously a scam. And I was just curious what would happen if I said so I just very strictly said the price is 5 75 is square [00:34:00] inch and I can send you a contract.
[:[00:34:20] Elizabeth Dryden: Yeah, especially like with the computer stuff like the website stuff. I mean that, that got me cuz I really don't know how to recode and I don't know, I was just wanting to get the seo, get it seen by more people, get my website seen by more people. But I had to get a new email address.
[:[00:34:42] Megan: oh my gosh. So they could have, they could still be like taking money from people on your website
[:[00:34:48]
[:[00:34:55] And I've gotten an email multiple times
[:[00:35:17] And the article I read said that it was part of the tactic because once you know that it's a scam, they don't wanna waste. Time with you. And so if they continue to use the same thing over and over, then anybody who gets drawn in is somebody who doesn't understand that's what it is. So it weeds out the people who do understand that's what it
[:[00:35:37] I see. And they usually have two first names too. Like John Tracy or .
[:[00:35:52] Elizabeth Dryden: anywhere.
[:[00:35:55] Elizabeth Dryden: Not really. I guess just go out and create and be confident and [00:36:00] enjoy 2023 and make it a good year. It's up to you and I hope to see you guys at different shows throughout the year. Yeah. And where
[:[00:36:08] Elizabeth Dryden: They can find me on Instagram at Elizabeth Dryden Fine Art.
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