Meet Chelsea Willett | Artist, Graphic Designer and Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chelsea Willett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chelsea, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Risk has been a huge part of my life and work. I’m an artist first and then a graphic designer. I notice all the small risks and definitely the large ones.
When I first launched to working full time for myself I had already been working as an artist and designer on the side. I was coming up on 13 years as an artist and 5 as a designer. When I made the leap it was as if I was pushed by unseen forces, almost as if I had waited too long to jump off the cliff. It was definitely the biggest risk as I dove into art and kept design on the side. I did pretty well working markets and small festivals but it was brutal. Over time design became the main drive for work and art stepped back into a passion role. The markets were so much output and most of the time not sustainable, whereas design was more sustainable.
Making art feels like a risk every time. If I am commissioned by someone, the risk is: will they like it? Will they make me re-do this?
Making my own art for me is a practice I do regularly but the work I share with the world always feels like a risk. Over time my care for people’s opinions continues to fade which helps a lot with the risk.
As far as design goes, the continued self employment is a roller coaster and I’m sure at this point risk is more comfortable than stability. But I do notice the small risks that affect me less and less like showing a client a draft, the risk lies in me not grasping what they wanted to see. So really, these risks never go away, I just get used to them and the more my work evolves, a new risk precedes each evolution.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have so much to say about this because my road started when I was a little kid, maybe 5, and in middle school I learned film photography which greatly informed today, but I’ll start with my art career when I was 18. Immediately after high school I got a job at Trader Joe’s as their artist and muralist and at that same time I went to a tattoo shop and got an apprenticeship. This was 2002, so the shops were much rougher around the edges then and women weren’t as prominent in the tattoo industry as they are now.
I worked as a tattoo artist and at Trader Joe’s as an artist for almost a decade. During that time I attended Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art in Van Nuys. I was living in Long Beach at the time and the school wasn’t accredited then but I didn’t care because I wanted to deepen my art skills.
I then bounced around working jobs but kept art and tattooing on the side. I eventually left tattooing due to not feeling respected as a woman in the industry. This felt like a big loss to me but I still let it go.

Trader Joe’s informed so much of my career because I not only gained mural experience but I learned typography and spacial awareness. I learned design principles without knowing they were design principles.

Fast forward to 2013, I broke my knee in an accident and had a long recovery so I finally went back to school online for Graphic Design. Then when I finished that degree I continued and did the studio arts program with an emphasis on printmaking. I loved the processes of printmaking and how unpredictable the final work could become. I always found myself at the whim of the process. During this time I was mostly bartending and spending all of my free time creating or taking photos with my film cameras.

Art is and has been my biggest teacher. The image in my head doesn’t always make it out the way it is in my head. The process is my guide not the other way around. Anything can happen from start to finish whether it’s painting a canvas or screen printing a 7 layer print. This has taught me so much about letting go, trusting the journey and not letting it ruin me when the result is different from my expectation. It has taught me to approach creating with excitement rather than expectation.

Now I spend time in a clay studio weekly hand building and throwing on the wheel. I currently have an art studio that I use for painting almost strictly. I love painting large and still paint murals. I also really love participating in Inktober every year painting watercolor prints for each prompt. I have a collection of film cameras that I still use regularly as well as digital photography. As far as design goes, I’m actually in the middle of rebranding which includes a new site design to better match who I am so maybe that will be live by the time this gets published :).

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I currently live in Santa Barbara. I would take them to Dart Coffee and sit in the gardens. I would definitely take them on a hike or multiple hikes to the backside of Figueroa Mountain, Cold Springs and Hot Springs trails. I would take them to my favorite beach (sorry can’t share this one).
For breakfast: Helena Bakery
For lunch: Tamar, Buena Onda or Secret Bao
Dinner: Santo Mezcal or Olio Pizzaria

I would show my guest the frog wall and painted cave. We would go to Cold Springs Tavern for some live music and local people.

I would also rent bikes and bike around the town because you always notice more on a bike.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t even know where to start because so many come to mind. My now friend, who was my boyfriend at the time of me finishing design school was a huge supporter. At that time I was trying to find my footing in the world as someone who was confident in their art and design. He had been working as a designer for a long time and saw the world in a way that was really inspiring for me.
I also have so much gratitude for everyone who has bought my art over the years because they have been many. And to those who came to my art shows and helped me move onto bigger shows.

Lastly my thanks goes to every person and business who has hired me and trusted me to design something for you. This is a big role and I know the effect my design has on their life and business and I deeply appreciate that opportunity.

Website: https://www.chelseawillettdesigns.com

Instagram: @chelseawillett_designs

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-willett-designs/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chelseawillettdesigns6271

Other: www.lunamons.etsy.com
@luna.mons

Image Credits
Me!