Selling Art
by LAINEY YEHL
Lainey Yehl
I was seven years old when I sold my first creative piece. By that time, I had declared to my parents that I intended to grow up and “sell art”. I imagined myself on a city street corner, wearing a beret and hawking paintings for cash.
Apparently, my seven-year-old self had been deeply moved by the poem “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee Jr. — I created a crayon-on-paper masterpiece of a commercial airliner, slipping the surly bonds of earth and touching the face of God. My dad was a 747 pilot (now retired) who lovingly carried my drawings with him on trips. He showed this one off to a co-pilot named Jeanie who liked it so much, she commissioned one for herself. I remember she wrote me a thank you letter expressing excitement at being my very first client and cutting my first paycheck.
Twenty-seven years later, I do make a living “selling art”, but the world of commercial art as I imagined it, is a lot less whimsical and a lot more practical. I’m endlessly grateful that I get to make a living doing what I truly love, creating visual imagery. And I’m grateful to Jeanie, who took it upon herself to encourage a little kid to follow her dreams.
Illustrations for Liberal Arts presentation
I’m now a self-employed freelance graphic designer and illustrator.
After a left turn into environmental policy work and a foray into creating chalk signs for a major natural foods retailer, I decided to take a shot at a freelance design career. Turns out, self-employment is pretty great if you don’t mind being your own boss as well as your own client relations manager, marketer, strategist, billing department, benefits department, time management expert, and accountant.
Stickers for Michigan Wildlife Council
Greeting Cards
Every day, I get to work on and deliver assets to clients; imagery and design that represents or elevates their brand. Layout work for publications, marketing emails and digital ads. Illustration work for magazines, presentations, newsletters, merchandise, greeting cards or retail campaigns. Logos and brand identity for small businesses. If you’ve got a visual goal, I’ve got a bold, colorful concept.
The sense of satisfaction I get from spending my days immersed in a sea of typography and color is the same joy I felt as a little kid who was primarily interested in drawing on printer paper quietly in a corner.
“Left Handed”
And when juggling multiple deadlines gets overwhelming, or I’m scared I’ll run out of ideas, or I experience a freelancing dry spell, I try to think of the sense of accomplishment I felt as a seven-year-old who was just starting to tap into what felt like an infinite well of creativity. I remember that at some level, I feel I’m meant to be doing this. And 27 years ago, Jeanie believed I was meant to be a professional artist, too.
Maybe there’s a kiddo in your life who exhibits a shred of talent for something they might be good at. Be like Jeanie. A little encouragement can go a really long way.
