Today we’d like to introduce you to Renée Parker.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Renée. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Throughout my life, people who didn’t consider themselves creative would often tell me they couldn’t draw a straight line. My creative journey has been anything BUT straight lines. It has been an evolution that has involved many twists and turns, and plenty of highs and lows. My name is Renée, and I am a multimedia artist. Multimedia simply means multidisciplinary, or the pursuit of more than one type of artistic expression. Before you get the idea this will be a rundown of ultra-prestigious, inconceivable art snob merits, I’m an art school drop out who credits all my breaks to an unrelenting curiosity and passion to just CREATE. It really isn’t always about who you know or the papers you can show.
According to my parents, I was drawing, painting, smushing Play-Doh, before I could talk well (around three years old). They paid attention and gave me my first art supplies, years of encouragement, and an in-house residency (poor them!) creating art for them, our extended family, and friends. For this, I am eternally grateful.
I went on to pursue independent creative exploration throughout my school years, primarily in my first loves drawing and sculpting, to the bane of my teachers. They all knew I would rather be working on my next masterpiece. My first professional work was doing commissioned charcoal portraits in high school. I went on to sell other things that I made, including jewelry, little sculptures in oven bake clay, salt dough- whatever I could get my hands on or in. I loved it all. But I wanted to do more and be better at it. I wanted to reach the realm of masterpieces.
Speaking of masterpieces, it took me years into my adult life to zero in on my favorite creative disciplines and to feel I was creating my best work. A HUGE part of my journey has been practicing focus and discipline. Those are the two most valuable tools in my arsenal, and they have earned me the creative evolution that I sought from an early age. In short, practice makes– er, better (isn’t “perfect” an illusion?).
Somewhere along the way, I rediscovered the media that I’m most known for, paper mache. I say ‘rediscovered’ because my first experiences with that media were NOT promising. Picture a messy elementary art class with paper, water, and flour everywhere. I was not in love. Fast forward to college, when I wanted affordable decor for my first apartment. I was also beginning to feel concern for the environment, as reports of the ozone layer deteriorating and climate problems began to regularly appear in mainstream news. I thought of paper, began experimenting, and the rest is history. That was the nineties. My first feature in a national magazine happened within a year, when my paper beads were chosen by FIT among other artists’ work for a feature on eco-friendly art and design. That made me consider the possibilities – for an individual to create impact, for the environment, and for my creative work.
Today, I have created everything from jewelry and accessories, to series of home decor and art objects in paper and paper mache, respectively. I’ve been commissioned to create everything from props for a theater in London, to a giant paper mountain for a display at a spiritual retreat. I have appeared on the DIY Network to demonstrate a paper mache technique, and I’ve had work published. It has been a wild ride, and I sometimes still think about it in disbelief, because I didn’t have exceptional qualifications, an advanced degree, a lot of money for supplies, or well-heeled friends. I just had the passion. All I did was say, ‘sure, let’s see if I can!”
Has it been a smooth road?
A smooth road? What’s that? I am thankful every day to God, my family, and my supporters for the things that have worked out for me. And, actually, also for the things that did not. I’m finally at a place in my career where I’m at peace with those things, because I now believe that if an opportunity is meant for me, I won’t miss it.
It is a fact that there will always be people who look at others’ lives and think they have it made, or have all the breaks (including mine). But I’ve had my share of painful disappointments, mistakes, and unfair events throughout the shiny, happy story I can tell. I don’t share my “highlights” to be phony or to seem like I’ve got it all figured out (some days I just want to stay in bed and hide under the covers). I have simply had to teach myself to focus on the millions of little things going right (I even designed a series with that phrase!). It was a MUST for the many times I just wanted to straight-up QUIT.
I could whip out a violin and share all the tissue-worthy stuff that has tried to convince me that this was not worth it, that I was not worth it, but I won’t. I will say that for my list of accomplishments, I have faced at least triple that number of rejections. No thank yous, “Not the right fit”. “Needs work”. “We decided to go a different direction”. Or “my order was lost”, “why does it cost THAT?!”, “I could make that!”. Not to mention the struggle to learn how to make a living from my passion, and then beyond that, how to maintain a work/life balance and not run myself into the ground. In my company, Created by Renée, I currently wear all the hats. I’m the artist, the photographer, the advertiser, the copywriter, the sales rep, the packer and shipper, the bookkeeper. It’s a lot. But building this thing around all of the things that I am passionate about is what keeps it going. Keeps ME going.
To this day, I still have days where I need to take a break to focus on self-care or to simply, reboot my mind and my mission. To remind myself why I’m choosing this every day, why I want to continue to choose it. Where I want it to go. To check my inner language and to make sure I’m being gentle with myself and encouraging myself, not just depending on validation from others. And when things get overwhelming, I’ve learned that what works best for me is to focus on what I can accomplish now, today, to align with my greater, big picture vision. Having bite-sized tasks every day really helps my sense of organization and accomplishment, even when there seems to be a mountain of work, looming deadlines, projects not going as planned. Managing my time and my mindset every day makes all the difference.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
As I mentioned, I’m a multimedia artist, so I offer original art and commissioned work in a number of different media. I draw, paint, sculpt, build, and design. I work in traditional media like pencil, pen, charcoal, watercolor, acrylic, oil (paint and pastel). I am inspired by nature, driven by conservation and I love to incorporate recycled materials like paper, wood, wire, and plastics into my work.
I specialize in paper sculpture, or what I call modern paper mache. I feel I’m part of a movement of modern artists who seek to elevate paper mache from humble craft to art form. There are growing communities of creators who are mastering this medium and showing it to the world from a new perspective. I’ve used it to create intricate relief art, home decor, and large scale sculptures. The possibilities are endless. I love pushing the limits in what paper can do and I enjoy having people interact with the work I create while trying to understand how it could be paper!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
Here’s one of my weak areas- I will admit to having a library of books, many to help me evolve and improve as a human and as an artist. And I love to read. But these days I just don’t carve out the time I’d like to read. I will say that before I had my own library, Pre-internet (yes, there was a time of no internet!) I practically lived in the public library as a kid (thanks mom). I would check out book after book on different art and craft techniques, then check them out again. Most of the skills I developed before college were discovered in library books. The first book I can remember reading on paper mache was “Rediscovering Papier Mache”, by Susanne Haines. Since then, I’ve read and bought numerous books on the topic. I ultimately ended up in one!
Most of the books I own are on art history or technique, business, design, spirituality, some novels and cookbooks. I will say that I am currently reading “The Thriving Artist”, by Ylane Duparc, “Handmade to Sell”, by Kelly Rand, and “Grow Your Handmade Business” by Kari Chapin.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.createdbyrenee.com
- Email: renee@createdbyrenee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/createdbyrenee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/createdbyrenee
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/createdbyrenee
Image Credit:
Renée Parker
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