Today’s shared story comes from business partners and mural designers Sofia Lacin and Hennessy Christophel.
Doing what we truly love adds an element of energy and momentum that propels us to be the work not just do the work. It’s the difference between being inspired by the work itself, the process, the materials and the final product, rather than working hard to solely glean the rewards of hard work.
We founded Lacin/Christophel Mural & Design because we believe in the importance of creating beautiful design and public art. When we create a piece of art, we brainstorm until we’ve come up with a concept that really excites us. We paint or design until we see beauty in front of us. When we put art like that into the world, art that we love, we feel that we are making a meaningful contribution and truly connecting with people.
Doing work that we love and believe in allows us to collaborate with other people who are doing what they love. These connections give us a dynamic strength and motivation, and expands the work that we do through this energetic give and take with others that are moving through life with a passionate approach.
While painting our second mural for a frozen yogurt shop, we had an audience for the first time. People were excited by seeing the hand create right in front of their eyes. We knew that painting murals was something we enjoyed and felt satisfied by, but at that yogurt shop we realized this was something that had a tangible impact on others as well. After an invitation to do another commercial mural from some of those on-lookers, we realized that what we make is valuable, that there is a demand for the handmade, and that art is particularly important in our American culture where speed, convenience, and the temporary are often over emphasized.
As a team, we commit to the idea of making Lacin/Christophel Mural & Design work with our whole hearts, bodies, and minds. We don’t spend time questioning it, we just go for it. In order to have success, you have to believe in your work and your message wholeheartedly. Start by believing in the success, then follow your own lead.
One of the biggest benefits of working for ourselves is that we can choose jobs that challenge us as artists. Our work evolves with us. Because we work for ourselves, we have the freedom to choose projects that inspire us. We keep our curiosity alive by learning something new with each project.
(You can see how huge this is by looking at the size of the girls on top of the tank!)
There is an emotional sacrifice that has to be made when you put so much of yourself into your work. Our particular line of work is often very public and it’s not always easy being so exposed. When we started working on Same Sun, a public art installation for the City of Davis in Northern California, some of our civic audience questioned what we were doing. Our design was abstract, unusual, and produced vocal critics at the start of our project. We then realized that meaningful art pushes boundaries, creates controversy, and gets people talking and thinking about art in a good way.
In the end, it is only by making ourselves so vulnerable that we are able to create something with a meaningful presence in the community.
We take on this career project by project, learning what we need to each step of the way. The longer we work, the bigger our ideas, the more pieces we need to figure out.
Some very valuable approaches have emerged along the way. One main lesson we’ve learned is to separate work from home. We didn’t do this as well in the beginning, and ended up feeling like we were always working. Just having a separate desk only for business makes a difference. It helps us to move faster, and with more focus.
Working for yourself requires you to learn to be your own boss, critic, and cheerleader. We never allow ourselves to settle for anything but the best in our work, and sometimes that means an all-nighter. There is never a question of sacrificing the quality of work for time. It’s a lifestyle that we have cultivated into a regimented business with strict rules which we enforce on ourselves.
Running our own business we have to take ourselves seriously and insist that others do too. Yes we are artists, yes we are young women, but we work hard and we are professional every step of the way. Success in this field means knowing how to design and how to paint, but we’ve also had to learn things like networking, negotiating contracts, organizing our finances, operating two-ton scissor lifts, and using industrial paint sprayers. We’ve learned to never be intimidated by something just because it exceeds what is expected of us.
Working in this field we are always discovering new ways that art can transform. When we begin a project we consider everything about the location and the people who will experience the work. Our job is to create design that reveals something beautiful about a place. In this way we show people another layer that expands the way we experience the world. Artists are pioneers; we have the power to bring beauty and interest to places that no one wants to be, and be the beginning of something good.
We dream of reaching more and more people through art each year. We are delighted to find through the past years of painting in the public that almost everyone responds to art – whether positively or negatively. It’s a bridge between culture, language and class, and a way to unify people and strengthen the ties we all have to our deeper, more body-centered states. Successful art puts you in the moment, which is a very powerful feeling and gift. This is an experience we want to share with as many people as possible.
Some of our favorite projects have been murals donated to our community, such as Volunteers of America and Happy Tails. As a business we would love to have enough success to sink some resources into a non-profit sister organisation of Lacin/Christophel Mural & Design. We’ve learned some amazing things in choosing this career, such as how to be strong business women, and how to make positive change through art. We can’t imagine keeping these lessons to ourselves.
[All images courtesy of Sofia Lacin and Hennessy Christophel.]
Find out more about Sofia Lacin and Hennessy Christophel on their website Lacin/Christophel Mural & Design
