Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Whitney Stansell of Buckhead – MIdtown

Whitney Stansell shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Whitney , so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Have you ever been glad you didn’t act fast?
If you know me well, you know that everything I do I try to do quickly. Maybe that is because my to do list feels like it is a mile long. It also could be that I struggle with patience, and that is something I am working on. In my art work however, I cannot do any of it quickly. It takes, days, weeks, sometimes months to create a piece. It’s slow, it’s everyday. My life as an artist has truly become a ‘practice’, and realizing this – working slow – has been so good for the work, and probably for me as a human being!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My work is rooted in close observation of the natural world and the quiet narratives it holds. I draw inspiration from landscapes, flowers, and fleeting moments in nature that feel both intimate and expansive. My practice is driven by a desire to tell stories, stories shaped by memory, personal histories, and connection to place. I also invite the viewer to reflect on their own experiences, offering spaces where past and present intersect and where nature becomes a vessel for remembrance and connection.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I no longer believe in – or even strive to achieve perfection. Art making has completely become about process. Making is so important to my daily routine and rhythm. Everyday I learn a little bit more, but there is never a time where I don’t have more to learn!

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
It is the greatest joy to be a mother and an artist. When I had three children. 5 years old and under I wasn’t able to make work with any kind of rhythm .. Looking back this was a time of important observation, deeper understanding of art history, and reflection on how important family history and stories are to my work.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
To be committed to my work means choosing to listen—again and again—to the quiet pull of memory, place, and the beauty I see in nature everyday. It’s showing up with patience for the slow unfolding of an idea, letting family stories, and half-remembered moments guide the work rather than forcing it into something tidy or resolved. Commitment is trusting that the small, intimate parts of the work are worth tending, worth rendering into color, texture, and form.
It also means staying open and honest. Letting the work change me as much as I shape it. Returning to the studio even when the path feels unclear, and allowing whimsy, tenderness, and nostalgia to coexist with discipline and dedication. Being committed is an ongoing promise—to make space for curiosity, to honor where I come from, and to keep making work that is good, true, and beautiful.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days. 
The joy of working in the art studio comes from creating a space where time stops and attention deepens. It’s a place of quiet permission—to play, to wander, to follow a feeling without needing to explain it right away. In the studio, materials become companions and mistakes turn into invitations. There’s joy in the small rituals: mixing colors, noticing the light change, returning to an image again and again until it begins to speak back.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://whitneystansell.com
• Instagram: @whitneystansell

Image Credits
Photographs by Micah Stansell.