letting creativity take flight

poured my whole heart out in a ~30 minute interview about my story & how i started creating the time for my hobbies – especially art.

 

  

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Welcome to The Art of Hobbyness. Today, we are joined by a friend of ours, Robin. We are so excited to have her today.

She is an incredible person. She is an artist, local in St. Louis, and founder of a brand named Neon Robin, where she sells her own artwork and has a social media presence. She also is the manager of an art studio called Bowood in St. Louis.

She has a ton of hobbies, including sketching, painting, journaling, blogging. She also loves to organize, read audiobooks, hiking, and yoga. She keeps going.

Yeah. I mean, she's got a lot, and we are so excited for all the energy she brings, and we look forward to talking with her today.

Hi, Robin. So Robin, we're so excited to have you on our show today. It's such an honor.

I actually was fortunate enough to take a class within your studio, and that's kind of one of the ways that I've met you, otherwise through Mutual Friend. But you're such a fascinating person that I just had to get you on this show.

I'm so excited to chat with you as well. Tam has already told me a lot about you and your story, and I think we have a lot to talk about today.

Yes. But first, tell us about how you became Neon Robin.

Okay. So my story is a long one, but I think a lot of people can relate to it. So I was fully on the corporate track, global branding at some of the biggest firms in town, and being recruited and really climbing the ladder, and then COVID changed everything.

So four years ago, I was creative director at Martiz in Fenton. The global events obviously was impacted by COVID.

And my mom lived in Wisconsin, still does, but her drawing class was canceled.

And I was like, well, what time was it supposed to be? Let's do it virtually. And so we started drawing during my lunch break.

The writing was kind of on the wall at Martiz. They ended up letting go of over 2,000 people and closing all the offices other than Fenton. So by the end of the summer 2020, our 25-person team was let go.

And I had another job lined up, literally the next day, could have signed the deal. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to keep drawing with my mom.

Wow. Good for you.

Big pivot. We were going through some major family stuff at the time, helping them move and downsize in the most astronomical way. And I was leading the charge from St. Louis.

And I credit drawing to allowing us to get them to a better place. And I credit that for leading me to managing the art studio. And now bringing art back in my life in a way that I always “planned on making time for.”

So, yeah, that is what led me here.

I run the studio at Bowood Farms in the Central West End. So we do art, plant, and we call them lifestyle classes.

My specific classes that I offer are drawing and sketching illustration classes that actually are a little bit different than your typical art class because I am not going to show you exactly what to do. I'm helping you get out of your own head about creating and this idea of perfection.

We can all use that.

That's so true.

It took me four years to get to this place.

So you guys are timing it right.

Congratulations. That's amazing.

Yeah, we talk about that a lot and how we are both perfectionist type A type of people and it's very difficult for us to tap into our creative side. So we need more people like you.

We need to try things and fail at them.

Definitely.

Enjoy the process.

Yeah.

Were you, so before your corporate career, were you always an artist kind of on the side or just something you were interested in?

Oh, yeah. So I drew, colored all the things when I was little. Went to University of Wisconsin Madison, got my fine arts degree and then graphic design is the way that you can be an artist and still make money.

So just got on that bandwagon. I literally took my first full-time job in Chicago thinking I will do this because it's at a smaller family business. Not actually, it was a global business too, but because it will allow me to paint on the side.

And I can tell you guys, I probably made one to two paintings in five years of working for them. So yeah, I've always like, I'll do that at some point. And it wasn't until the world changed that it forced me to be like, no, you really want to do this.

So just start doing it and keep doing it and see what happens.

So that's so incredible because we talk all the time about how like just we thought it was a very personal struggle of just not being able to find time to do creative or a hobby time, self-care time. But yet here we have somebody who like has kind of naturally always been in the artist creative world that even when you were trying to get careers in that line, still couldn't find time to do that.

Well, then recognizing that you only have so much energy to give, right?

So like if I'm working 60 hour weeks in a creative career, like then going home and being creative is probably not going to happen. So that was a big wake up call.

And I mean, I fully burnt out on the design corporate life and needed to pause and then feel very privileged and had the opportunity to do so because I am married and my husband could let me pursue art or I forced him to pursue art. Let me say it the right way.

I mean, definitely for no matter what you're doing, support we've found is what you need to pursue.

And those were really hard conversations too. And then sticking with my guns, so I launched my brand was Neon Robin in order to have a container for all of the art that I do. And that's mostly illustration based.

I make calendars and coloring books. And then I did weekly coloring calls with my network because most of them were not local. I am from Wisconsin, lived in Chicago, lived in Madison.

My friends are all over the country.

What is a coloring call?

Oh, so I might revisit this idea. But basically, once a month, the first Monday of the month, I would send out a link and just have everybody log in and we would color together.

Oh, wow. I like that.

What a great way to build community.

Most of my friends have kids. So it was providing a container for them to create alongside their children. And then I've realized anytime you do that, it immediately eliminates your inhibitions.

So like drawing with my niece is the most freedom you can imagine because she doesn't care. She's just drawing and it's like what we used to feel when we were drawing or sketching versus I got to a place of like, okay, this drawing has to be the best thing it's ever been and we'll be on a billboard, you know, whatever. And that's no, this can just be one little drawing that I'm doing on a Monday evening with my friends.

It feels really good to hear you, who I would consider like a professional in the realm. Even saying that even you sometimes can kind of get in your own way of like a creative process. Because I was beating myself up thinking that it was just something that like because I'm a mom and I don't have any creative ability, but maybe it's not that I, maybe I'm just normal.

Yeah, you’re absolutely normal.

Well, I'm very well aware I can draw.

I've honed that skill. I can paint pretty much anything. You like side by side if you put a picture in front of me.

And yet really, really struggled to call myself an artist when I first made this pivot. I literally remember like switching that toggle on Instagram from entrepreneur to artist.

Then I talked to one of my mentors who worked for Martha Stewart. She was just here teaching a class last week. Martha Stewart, Mary Englebright, amazing artist, same deal.

She's like, “oh, I just called myself an illustrator.” And I'm like, “no, you're an artist.”

Yeah.

We're all artists.

If you make art, you're an artist.

Why is it so hard for us? Me too.

Is it like an imposter syndrome? Do you think that she's running amok for everybody?

Absolutely. And then there's so much, like, I think, ideas or concepts about like the starving artist and so I can't be, I'm not that person. I can't sit down and just doodle freely.

Like, that's not something I'm capable of learning. It's then I was like, well, then I'm not a real artist. If I'm not somebody, you can just like, crank things out on a regular basis.

It's almost like you're gatekeeping yourself.

Oh, completely.

I don't know.

And we all do. Yeah, we do. Fascinating.

In every class I teach, I would say half the class is really stuck on not having fun, not enjoying themselves. Some version of perfectionism, but also just like getting in your own way.

Yeah.

And so my class is specifically set up exercises to try and break those.

I love that. We definitely have to come do one of your classes.

Yes, give me an exercise.

We are, you know, that's, I feel like us doing this and hobbies and just trying new things is just trying to get over that, that barrier, exactly what you're talking about. And I think it's each time it gets a tiny bit easier, you know, to put yourself out there. But gosh, it is such a roadblock.

Yeah, I definitely need to know what some of your exercises like, can you give me an example of one of the exercises that you do?

So the main class I do, I bring my pile of blank sketchbooks to just reiterate how intimidating a blank page can be. We all deal with that.

And, you know, friends would keep gifting me sketchbooks, like thinking they were helping, but actually now you're just like giving me another thing that I need to do and so whatever. Not intentionally, but that's how it manifests itself.

Yeah.

And I set those up in the front of the room, and then we do three exercises. I have a quote from Arthur Ash, who's the first black African-American male tennis player. It's called, “start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.”

And so basically, I just say, start where you are, find something in this room to draw.

Wow.

And I don't give any guidance, and it really throws me. I'm sweating over here. I saw you sitting in your class being like, no.

And then we do one, use what you can, is draw something on your person. So all of us have phones. You have ample inspiration in your pocket at any given time.

But you can also just draw your shoe or draw your ring or necklace. But the idea is just to start and move the pencil on the paper.

And then the last one, yeah, so what you can use what you have is just reminding yourself where you are in your journey of learning.

So if you're, I've had students, this is the first time I've ever picked up a pencil and had a sketchbook.

Okay. Well, then you really need to be kind to yourself. And realize this is a skill that I don't show you what I'm doing, because I've been doing this for decades.

Yeah.

And I've been doing it frequently for the last four years, like every week, you know?

So you can't compare yourself to me. And then recognizing that there are harder and easier things to draw. So flowers, which is why Bowood is such a magical place to have these classes.

Flowers are the easiest thing to draw, in my opinion, because flowers are actually inherently imperfect. If you ever look at them, they are not symmetrical. They can bend and go crazy.

So that's where I tell people start there. Don't pull out a picture of your first grandchild and expect to nail it on the first effort. Because that's probably one of the hardest things to draw, is somebody you know, a pet that you're familiar with.

But if you draw something that you're unfamiliar with, you will relax a little bit.

That's such great advice.

I never thought flowers would be the easiest theoretically to draw. And it's actually almost like I'm sitting here listening to it, and our podcast cover actually has a daisy on it. And I'm almost thinking, I want to go back and I want to make the petals a little messier.

I don't think I want it perfect anymore. I feel like that would be like a call to what Robin's suggesting here is just kind of like – Yeah, make it less perfect.

Well, so we offer our main classes, I think, is this what you took, Tamara, is the watercolor?

Yeah, I did.

The watercolor is probably one of the most challenging mediums.

Oh, and it comes with this expectation of like, it looks easy. It seems like it's inherently imperfect because of the style. If you can manage to do it, you need the confidence to do it.

But if you're, so like yesterday's class was a bird, birds have very specific shape. We're so familiar with seeing birds that you would have to get that shape pretty accurate for you to feel confident that like, oh, that's exactly what I was going for.

But a flower, there's so many of them. They can bend and be in different directions that, yeah, the flower classes are actually way easier.

That's interesting. I never really considered that. But when I think about like when I was a little girl doodling, I feel like I was always doodling little flowers for sure.

I mean, I think flowers in my life now.

Speaking of birds, let's talk a little bit about Neon Robin, because I dived into, we both dived into some of, well, your website and your blog and then your Instagram account.

And yeah, I'm trying to think of all the words I want to describe.

Like, well, your brand and all of your work is beautiful. And I would love to hear a little more about where that came from, the idea of that, but then also like I saw a little parts where you put like bird stories and bird therapy, and I thought that was so cute.

Oh, thank you.

Yeah. So I mean, my background is branding. So I obviously know how to do that very well.

It actually kind of somewhat gets in the way sometimes because I hate selling. I would rather just tell stories. But yeah, I started my blog during COVID Lockdown.

I was like, I've been thinking about doing this for years. The impetus for that actually on another website that I haven't fully migrated over.

So my story starts with my uncle got in a car accident driving home from my third birthday party that was paralyzed from the waist down and created an oasis for himself that I grew up going to, and it was a garden.

So he passed away in 2018. Wow, gosh, that's wild. And we inherited his property and the house.  [BIRD NOTE: i actually stated this wrong .. it was 2016. sitting here right now i still can’t believe it was that long ago and also, that i remembered it wrong.]

And so I spearheaded renovating the house, we moved my parents there as our way of getting them into the next chapter of their lives. Sure. So my main goal was documenting that whole process.

What ended up happening is that it unearthed a lot within me. And I think was why I struggled so much to just be creative and have that confidence was, at the end of the day, a three-year-old had this huge tragic thing happen on her birthday. And so I asserted this long core belief of, it's my fault that my uncle would not have been an accident had I not been born and the deep depression and issues with that is all that came out in my blogging.

Completely unanticipated. But maybe a little bit, I knew that that was going to happen. So yeah, I actually came up, Neon Robin was like, I know that I give off this ever-vessant bright vibe, and I fully accept that.

That's who I am. But on the other side of things, I was not feeling that way deep down. So I wanted to create a logo that actually was disjointed.

And what I'm doing is trying to move towards that fully expressed bright side of me and be a genuine version of that.

So pursuing art has been the biggest piece that luckily brought my mom on the journey. I did two art shows.

The first one was in Green Bay with her drawings alongside of my own in order to launch my brand. And that was incredible and hard and all the things. And then I did one in St. Louis here.

A friend offered her space down in Benton Park. And after that, then I started doing prints and things. Through my website, I've done a couple of digital auctions where I will throw up again, all like recent works in order to sell them mostly because I just do not like sitting in a booth.

And like it's really hard for me to watch people come and critique. And like I have this idea that everybody's gonna love what you do and that's just not true. So I'm still like working up the confidence to do that and do a show and bring my art to the studio artist sale we do on every November.

So that'll be coming up. But otherwise, I'm not big on selling. I'm way more interested in experiences at this point.

So that's why I'm at The Studio and helping others create so I can continue to reinforce all the things that I've learned through this process.

So that's where we’re at.

I mean, one, that's incredibly inspiring.

Incredible.

And like you are so brave. Like I hope you feel like it’s so intense.

Oh, that's the vulnerability hangover. They're real. You have to feel that constantly doing this.

Oh, definitely. So true. Definitely.

But it feels good, right? It's like therapy or something.

Well, as soon as you have somebody like you just said that resonates and it opens up a deeper conversation. That's what I'm here for.

So but it's so interesting that like like then, oh my God, you're just so clever. Like I because I was trying on my own before with this interview, trying to figure out if I could understand the neon Robin, right? Like I was trying to get in the mind and did not get where you came from with it.

And like the the create your creativity and the vulnerability and the honesty that that that that phrase neon Robin has, like I actually I feel like I'm about to cry. I'm emotional because it's like it's it's incredible to have connected with somebody like you who can just be open about that and then not be open, but then create a brand that you're going to put out there – already you're putting out there and you're just doing it so authentically. And we talk often about how the thing that really resonates with us is authenticity.

And I just I'm I'm inspired by you Robin. Like, I really am just so inspired by you right now to keep going. Like, yeah, right.

Yeah, I you got to step in because I'm still.

So if you want to get like super real. So yeah, I, you know, class president, like all the things way back in high school. Susie High School, and yet like totally dealing with depression.

I didn't even realize like that I was having anxiety attacks and panic attacks until we signed the contract to renovate my uncle's house, which was like $75,000 commitment. And I literally had a back spasm that knocked me on my ass, like the next two days or something. And I blamed yoga.

It was the yoga.

The yoga sent me over the edge. It wasn't that I'm making this huge financial commitment. to solve the greatest problem of my family. It was because I was trying to do a handstand. Actually probably yoga is the only thing that kept me sane until that point. And then so that was the beginning of like, oh shit, like something is not right here.

You have all this on your shoulders.

And then everybody you talk to, like especially Instagram and artists, I guess there's so much beauty and everything can be beautiful. But like, where we actually learn is in the mistakes and in the experiments and in the trying and in the vulnerability. If we don't talk about those things, you're not doing the positives justice because you need that.

We were just talking about this earlier today. Yes, and showing more failures online and just being more real. I think that's so important.

It's not all great.

Do you find through all that you've been through that you feel like you're a little more at peace now and feeling more authentic in your life?

Yeah, so actually, so go ahead and just give it all. We moved my parents right when this job opened up. So getting them out of my childhood home was a really, really, really massive effort and a big deal.

And that happened last June. We got an offer on their house. We knew that we would, but it took, I mean, five years of concerted effort to pack them up and get them to move.

So that was a huge relief for everybody in my family. They're on a single level. They're next door to my sister.

It's just been a game changer. And then stepping into this role and kind of owning this space has also grounded me in my work. So now I have a place to go. I have an outlet. I'm obviously an extrovert in a lot of ways. So feeding off of other people's energy and surrounding myself with artists has been a really empowering, beautiful thing.

So that was a huge learning for me too because I kind of continually beat myself up. Like what is wrong with me? Why can't I do this? I love doing this. Why can't I do it on my own? But like, it's not as fun.

I want to be around other people and accepting that about myself. I would rather go to a yoga class with other people than practice yoga in the basement.

So like, why would I think art needs to be any different?

Interesting. Great job doing a self-evaluation.

In general, yeah, I would rather go for a hike with friends than by myself. I mean, there's like value, obviously, in that alone time and self-care and solo dates and doing all the things, but recognizing who you are and what you need and just not being afraid to ask for it.

Absolutely. And I think that like self-care can be so many things to anybody. Like if you are an extrovert and that is that can be your self-care, right?

It doesn't have to be. Yeah.

And realizing like, oh, that's why COVID really sucks. So, I'm trying to mask over my smile. It was a really good deal because now I've lost part of my sparkle, you know, or whatever.

Absolutely.

So, being in person. So, that's why like doing the coloring calls was amazing. But I was missing that in-person interaction, giving hugs, and being there, and seeing people's reaction to what you're saying is also very powerful.

So, there's a place for all of it.

Sounds like you're in a really great place in your life, and I mean, just listening to your intuition, that's jealous of that. Like that's so amazing.

Really. Really.

It is a hobby in and of itself, guys.

Oh, true.

Still learning that skill.

We're going full circle here.

It's so true.

Oh my goodness.

I don't know, we didn't even dive into some of your other hobbies.

I know, right?

I feel like you have so many good things to say.

Yeah, we listened to so many of them in our beginning of our intro, because you also noted that you do journaling and blogging, you do decluttering and organizing, reading, hiking. You've got a lot going on. Is there anyone that's like the stepsister that you don't pay attention to enough and you want to come find more attention to?

So I'm going to be emphatic about the decluttering and organizing.

I want to hear a little bit about that.

Something that I had to learn as a skill. I would say that anybody who came to our house wouldn't have thought that, but I started feeling anxious about what we were accumulating. We had the room for it in our basement, but we weren't using so much of it.

So I joined a year-long program with a dedicated effort to declutter our home. And it was with the KonMari method and a bunch of support from other women. And it was transformational because, and going back to the pile of sketchbooks, you don't realize the mental burden that stuff can have on you.

And a big part of that too is my husband lost his mom like 13 years ago. And we had a lot of her things that moved with us back then and up to Madison and back to St. Louis that we hadn't actually even like looked at or touched. So we got him involved and we went through those things.

And just realizing that you don't need to hold on to things that aren't going to take you into the future was a really big deal.

And making a dedicated effort to just streamline what we had in our home was a very, very big part of my story as well.

That sounds really freeing.

And thinking of it as a hobby. Create the time again and make the effort because it's hard but worth it. And if you have kids, getting them involved and making it part of your routine, that it's just things and they can come and go into your life and focusing on what matters.

And frees up a lot of your mental space and mental load. And then probably your actual physical time of like just cleaning and picking up after things, right?

Yeah, one of the biggest things. So I read a lot, but I was in a book club and I kind of had this realization that I was prioritizing like all of these books that my friends wanted to read over like the stack of books and the bookshelf that I had that I never got to. So I actually quit the book club and started reading my own books and stopped buying books until I got through the books that I was wanting to read and planned to read years ago.

But just like recognizing those choices as something really important to just the awareness around all of that.

I think that's key. Yeah, that self-awareness, that self-check, self-reflection. I feel like we can get so busy in the corporate America, just keep going, going, going and never really stopping to look and to see what's helping us or what's building us as people.

So you're right. It's just stopping and reflecting.

Well, and it comes back to what you said at the beginning of like, I feel this probably weekly is like by the end of my work week, I almost feel like I have nothing left to give the rest of my life and like my kids or my, you know, home life and just clearing out all that clutter. That just, I can imagine that that just gives you a little more kind of time and freedom. Yeah.

And space. You just don't even realize. What it's doing to you until it's gone.

Yeah.

Oh, and then so like the studio here to bring back. First thing I did was like start cleaning out the basement. We did a supply sale for all the classes that we were no longer going to be offering.

So we got rid of maybe like half of the stuff in the basement and then organizing all of the art supplies on the main floor to make it just feel better. If you know where things are, you know where you can find them. That's one last thing to think about.

It is.

I would like. So this is something that I actually am very interested in. And how do you I always get overwhelmed by just the actual effort, the work. Like it just seems like it would be exhausting to just start that process. You know, it's like, how do you get over that hump of just that?

Just do it.

Just like the thing else. The main thing I would recommend is picking a day of the week that you would so dedicate. So like if you were going to sign up for a class, you knew that that was going to happen.

So like put it on your calendar, make a like Sunday evenings, five minutes. I'm going to give this five minutes and set a timer.

Okay.

And if you do that, I guarantee you're going to do more.

Yeah. Yeah, that's good advice.

But even if you just do five minutes, that's enough. 

Yeah.

You did a little bit.

Yeah.

And you chipped away. Play awesome music.

Yeah.

While you do it, dance a little. Make it fun. Otherwise, you're not going to want to do it again.

So those are like some of the main things. Also, what's wild is we would do monthly calls, where you're just literally like.

Accountability.

Yeah. And so I'm not even really talking to you. I'm in my closet, like choosing which shoes to get rid of.

But the fact that I know that you're doing this at the same time and this is probably hard for you. It's hard for me. And do it together.

But yeah, the accountability of like, we got that done.

That's good, too. I have like all our kids stuff. My kids are three and five, but like all the baby stuff still.

And I'm just like overwhelmed.

Yes. So I need to take this tip to just start like, you know, what kind of song could you put on that would like inspire you to like? I don't know.

Get rid of baby stuff. Something heavy metal, I feel, is probably in report.

Oh, there's so much sentimentality. So big piece of that too is, you know, creating a bin of like just having a place. So here's I'm ready to get rid of this.

I'm not ready to get rid of this, but I'm putting it in this bin with the intention of revisiting it in six months.

Yeah, that's a good tip.

Maybe by then I'll be ready or, you know, it's OK. Like keep some of the items, but just being intentional about the process and then using actual containers. So that's why like we have dressers, you have a closet, you literally have a limited space and honoring that.

And when it gets to be bursting, just recognizing, oh, there's too much in this space.

Don't put bins in the storage container with dirt in the storage room.

I never even thought about looking at my dresser that way.

Yeah, that is a really good tip, too. Because I have like storage bins of extra clothes in my closet that I never really go in. You know, I'm just like, yeah.

So I love it. You've inspired me.

Well, get it out of your immediate life. So like out of your main closet, if you're not wearing it, it shouldn't be in your main closet.

Yeah.

If you're not using it in your on your desk, it shouldn't be on your desk. You know, like, you're right.

 

Robin, you've been so inspiring today.

Let's do all these things. Let's make it all happen.

It's wonderful. I love it.

It's been such an honor, like having you on our show. I really appreciate you taking the time. And again, just being I feel like we got a really authentic role.

I agree.

Yeah. And I just love you. Is there anything that you want to promote before we let you go for the day?

Yeah, I did a little facelift of my website, Neon Robin, not too much. I will have new stuff coming out, and I do a calendar every year for me like that planning, and they are designed so you color them, ideally with your kids if you have them. So, I will most likely restart the coloring calls at the beginning of the year to start filling in those calendars.

Love that. And, yeah, otherwise, find me at bowoodfarms.com and come to the studio and take a class and try something new and don't beat yourself up about it.

Love that. Well, we'll make sure to put those links up on our podcast episode and on our socials as well.

At some point, we're going to get in there and take a class with you for sure.

Yes, we'll have fun. That's the main goal. That's literally it.