A Creative Chat with Artist Tammy Smith
On viral towels, impromptu job interviews, and unschooled art
I sat down with one of my studio mates, Tammy Smith, a multi-talented artist who is kind, easygoing, has a great laugh, and is always so curious—you know those people who not only ask great questions, they’re genuinely interested in your answer? Tammy is one of those.
She’s so g.d. creative, I knew she’d be a great one to talk to. And guess what! I was right.
1. What’s your creative medium, and how did you get started?
I have two mediums, ceramics, and computer illustration. With ceramics, I got started 20 years ago, just taking some classes out of curiosity. That’s my fun income. I post my ceramics on Instagram @smallideasstudio.
Computer illustration is my bread and butter, something I stumbled onto in 2015, when I drew Kansas City in a mid-century modern look, with limited colors, and posted it on Facebook. Someone commented, “If that was a tea towel, I’d buy it.” And it snowballed from there! I now have a variety of cities, states, and countries that I print on fabric goods and sell at various retailers and online.
As far as getting started, I always drew from the time I was a kid. Then I took a few random classes at various colleges around the area, and that’s it. I’m mostly self-taught, aside from those five or so classes.
In one of those courses, I met a woman who worked at Hallmark. She saw my paintings and told me she thought I could work there. She asked if I had a portfolio, and I said no, but I quickly threw one together.
I then interviewed there, which consisted of meeting someone in the lobby of Hallmark, who looked at my portfolio and hired me on the spot. I worked on contract for two years as a creative assistant, which was basically paid training. I was paired with master artists who taught me how to paint in their style, which was like my art school.
After that, I got hired full-time first as a technical artist, where I continued to work in other artists’ styles, and then as an original artist. I left Hallmark in 2009 and now work for myself.
2. What feeds your creativity?
My dreams! I wake up and make sure to jot them down right away.
I’m also really inspired by British illustrators, I just love their sense of style and their quirkiness. I also love British ceramic artists, for some reason. I think it’s because of the storytelling aspect of their work. A lot of them do pieces that tell a story, rather than just doing something functional like a plate or a cup. I like art that has a story behind it.
3. Walk me through your typical creative process.
I do a super loose sketch with lots of notes—I am not good with tight sketches. I have about six sketchbooks, and I’ll just randomly pick one up and start writing in it. I usually get an idea for more than one piece at a time—more of a group of 6-10 pieces that fit together. I think that’s ingrained in me from working with product lines at Hallmark for so long!
4. What’s the biggest misconception people have about what you do?
Ever since I started working on my own, people keep telling me when jobs are available because they think I need a “real” job—like my business isn’t a job. I’ve been able to support myself with what I’m doing for more than 10 years now, so that can be frustrating.
I also run into a lot of people who don’t know how to talk about what I do. If I mention that I do ceramics, they’re like, “oh, pieces of things?” A lot of people think I make pieces of things, for some reason. If they’re not in a creative job, they just don’t know what to say. (Editor’s note: there’s a name for those people!)
5. Are you ever afraid you’ll run out of ideas, and if so, how do you manage that fear?
I like to go on Pinterest and Instagram and look up weird hashtags. I look at things like #outsiderart or #folkart or something called #artbrut, which is a European thing—it’s what’s known as “unschooled art.” I also look at #expressionistart when I need a quick hit of inspiration. Plus, looking something specific up helps me skip past the dachshund videos! They’re really cute but they will distract me all day long.
6. What advice do you have for someone who would like to try what you do?
Do your research. Before you say, for example, “I’m going to illustrate cities for a product line,” do your research and see what’s out there first. Make sure you’re not reinventing the wheel.
I still research every idea that I do to make sure it hasn’t been done in the same way that I’m thinking. There are only so many ideas under the sun, but you still want to make sure that your point of view will be unique.
Thank you, Tammy!