Meet Lucie Shearer | Muralist & Illustrator

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

Hi Lucie, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Understanding that there *could* be a balance between “work” and “life” wasn’t something I considered until recently. I always thought my life could be my work, and my work could be my life. I’m a millennial so I was inundated from birth with the idea that “if you follow your passion, you won’t work a day in your life”. So I easily confused work with life. For a long time, my focus has been on my creative career goals, because I thought that would be a key to my happiness.

I loved drawing as a kid. Noting this, my grandma told me all about Claude Monet: an artist who lived in a french cottage surrounded by peaceful gardens and ponds filled with water lilies. He painted constantly, (even with his poor vision). He created classic works that people love to this day, over a century later. This inspired me. As early as 8 years old, working to ‘become an artist’ was the norm for me. It was my passion, so why not pursue it, and therefore, find happiness? That makes sense, right?

I’ve always been a busy person. I enjoy working. As a high school student, I participated in lots of clubs and worked a job, doing something everyday. In college, I became very comfortable sacrificing my personal time, my social life, and self care to put the extra effort into my school work, and of course, had multiple jobs. It was pretty typical among students my age to do this—I wasn’t unique. I was in college after the 2008 housing crisis, and everyone was imbued with hustle culture to make ends meet. Through my twenties I continued my hustle, creating and pushing my art on the side while working demanding full-time day jobs. All I wanted was the sweet sweet success of being a “full-time” artist.

Cut to today, and I have been a full-time artist and muralist for 2 years. You might think – “wow! all that hard work got you to where you are now!” and while you’re not wrong, you’re also not right. It took about 7 or 8 years after college of testing and failing so many avenues of art-making and art-selling. Eventually I found my niche, somewhere between painting original works, illustrations, a dabble of graphic design, and lots of murals. I spent a lot of years just stressed out, when I could have simply enjoyed the journey.

I’m now thirty-three and I’d be lying if I said that I’ve figured out what it means to have balance. The truth is, I think my willingness to fail helped me get to where I am today. All that hustle for nearly 2 decades has shown some positive return. However, I didn’t have hobbies that weren’t monetized, my health suffered, and I struggled to keep friendships that had nothing to do with my career. So, lately, my personal focus has been to simply balance my life better. Slow down.

The biggest lesson about balancing has been to slow down and listen to my intuition. It will tell me what I need. This stronger connection with my inner self has led to other lessons, like understanding that setting healthy boundaries is absolutely vital for finding balance (and subsequently, happiness.) For example, a healthy boundary for me, recently, has been “no work on the weekends” and it has been SO HARD to stick to. Because I was so work-focused my entire life, not working is incredibly uncomfortable. It comes with layers of feelings like guilt, shame, with words bouncing around my anxious mind like “lazy” or “worthless. I’m working through those feelings and getting better at loving myself with practice.

When I think back on my fascination with Mr. Monet, I realize it had more to do with his lifestyle than his vocation. I would love a modest, dreamy cottage surrounded by beautiful gardens. I want peace of mind, a slow life, and a human life, not a working life. Which, interestingly, at the end of the day, is one of the things I paint about the most often. Connecting with oneself, and being human.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Sometimes folks tell me they think my work is weird, which usually tells me more about them than it does about me. 😉 The visuals I use live in more of a metaphorical, surreal space than a literal one. I try to explain abstract ideas like emotions, human connection, and intuition through colorful, figurative, and symbolic imagery.

I’m really fascinated by the feminine figure, so you’ll see a lot of thoughtful, subtly empowered femme portraits in my work. I will incorporate unusual “cut-outs” in the figure, which immediately messes with your sense of reality. If you see a person who has the top of their head cut off, rainbows pouring out, with a calm, happy expression, what would that mean to you? It’s great food for thought, and also a great point of conversation between two friends or strangers.

Similarly, I also love playing with light and colors. Making things glow and using attractive, bright contrasting colors scratches a certain itch in my brain. I find it really satisfying to see how colors can push or support one another in composition. I’ve found that folks who like my work are often drawn in by the color, and once they learn the story behind a piece, feel more deeply connected to it.

The path I’ve taken to find my footing as a full-time artist today has been a long, slow, winding one. I like to believe that my curiosity, my compulsion to create, and my (rather stubborn) persistence helps. Life is great at giving you distractions, worries, and problems – excuses to drop your craft. I have had a few periods in my life, since I was a child, when I’ve stopped making art. They are my least happy periods. I’ve come back to it again and again because it’s where I find my truest self.

What makes me happiest about creating work is the connection that inherently comes with it. Its an easy centerpiece for conversation, which allows people to get to know one another. As humans we are our happiest when we exist within communities, families, partnerships. I have been my happiest in the periods of my life when working with other artists, creating murals for neighborhoods, teaching, and just chatting about art with friends.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This midwest gal has never been to Los Angeles! However, it’s on my bucket list, and I already have plans.

My itinerary for a few days absolutely involve visiting the art. I’d check out the pop-surrealist galleries; La Luz de Jesus, Gallery 1988, and the Hive. I’d explore as many of the local murals as possible, by artists I love like Lauren Ys, Tristan Eaton or Hueman. I’d have an appointment booked with Natalie Hall to get a tattoo to commemorate the trip. If I had the chance to paint a wall, too, oh boy. I’d be thrilled!

I love trying new foods at small, hidden gem restaurants, so I’d definitely ask locals for their recommendations for great places to have lunch and dinner. I’d absolutely have to visit the Last Bookstore to pick up a little something to read on my flight home. For kicks, (even though it’s south of the city) I’d also swing by the Laguna School of Art and Design, just to experience it once. (At 18 I wanted to apply there for art school.) To wrap things up, I’d likely end up just chilling on Laguna Beach for the day, continue north for short visit to Long Beach, and then end at the Santa Monica Mountains.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I absolutely would not be where I am today without the vast network of supportive people and organizations that I am so lucky to have in my life. My parents have supported me since my childhood, the colleagues I met in art school, the various art spaces and artists in Columbus that have been kind and generous over the years… have all made a small but meaningful impact on my career. There are so many individuals, that it’s hard to make a list without feeling bad for leaving someone out. (If I don’t mention you here, please know you are still so important to me!)

My high school art teacher who had more faith in my potential than I did. The instructors and friends who helped me make it through CCAD. The friends at 400 West Rich art studios, who introduced me to everyone they could. Urban Scrawl, circa 2013, for giving me a space to try my hand at murals again. My friend Jake, who worked alongside me for years, and helped me stay focused when I got discouraged. Wild Goose Creative for being a consistent and beautiful space to showcase my work. Adam at Blockfort for the support in my creative career, creating opportunities where there weren’t any previously, and for a studio space that gave me the chance to meet all the other great artists in that space too. 934 Gallery, and the volunteers there (I see you Liz, Lisa, and Abby…) for graciously giving me an amazing opportunity for an exhibition in 2019 and my first super large mural. You also have allowed me the freedom to stretch my skills as a Board Member volunteer, leading young artists into the world of murals. And of course, my best friends. Jen, for always bringing the enthusiasm, love and support from afar. And Andrew, who’s stuck by me through thick and thin over the years, who’s always ready for art chats, and always lifts me up when I’m feeling uncertain.

There are so many more, but these are the biggest ones. It really goes to show that an artist can’t exist in a silo. We need people around us, and it really makes everything so much more worthwhile.

Website: www.lucieshearer.com

Instagram: @lucieshearer.com

Other: patreon.com/lucieshearer

Image Credits
Portrait + Brand Photos by Jennifer Zmuda Photography Other Photos – no credit needed (taken by me)