Meet Alexandra Wuyke | Travel Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexandra Wuyke and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexandra, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Balance has become one the biggest obstacles while pursuing my art career and business. I currently work a full time job and work on my art on the side. Although it’s on the side, it’s a very BIG side. When I’m not working my day job, I’m either painting, doing administrative tasks such as updating my website and listings, checking inventory, or I’m working on art business development. It’s a balancing act of all these components. My free time has changed a lot as I’ve begun to prioritize my art and art business. In the spring and summertime, I do artisan markets, which takes planning my personal schedule ahead of time.  The balancing act of everything I need to and want to do is a work in progress. There are days where my full time job is very busy, so I have less time to dedicate to my art at the end of the day. Sometimes I shift all that work to the weekend, which then takes precedence over making personal plans.  For me, building up my art career and utilizing my spare time to work on that is what is most important.

The balancing act of everything I need to and want to do is a work in progress. There are days where my full time job is very busy so I get less time to dedicate to my art at the end of the day. Sometimes I shift all that work to the weekend, which then takes precedent over making personal plans. I don’t think there’s an actual working equation for getting around to it all, but at the end of the day, it’s what I choose to do! I could just stop pursuing my art career and gain a bunch of free time back, but what fun would that be?

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I refer to myself as a travel artist, fusing two of my passions in life- travel and art. I only recently started referring to this as my title though. When I seriously picked painting back up after college, I started painting places that I would visit. I lived in Tampa, Florida at the time, so I was painting beaches, and lots of tropical scenes. I mainly stuck to landscapes and seascapes for a while and gave my business the tagline “Art for the Adventurer”. Last year, 2021, I decided to pursue animal art, which turned out to be a big hit! But I didn’t feel connected to the work. I realized my favorite pieces were those that I was personally connected to- like the pieces from my travels. In late 2021, I made the shift back to painting from my own experiences and adventures, and started to call myself a Travel Artist.

Establishing myself in this new niche is a bit of a challenge, especially since one day I was painting animals and then the next day a beach landscape from Tulum, Mexico. As an artist in business, I hear a lot of “you need to paint what is in demand”. People love animals, pet portraits, that sort of thing. But it’s not what I want to be known for. Transitioning into a travel artist is definitely a work in progress, but I am excited and passionate about this subject matter and I think that’s the most important (and fun!) part.

The challenge with embodying what it means to be a travel artist is that there isn’t an actual definition of what it can mean. There’s landscapes and seascapes, but I want it to be much more than just a pretty scene. I want travel art to capture not only the sights but the tastes too- so sometimes my art will also involve foods from my trips!

Being a travel artist means the world to me- both emotionally and literally. I was born in Venezuela and grew up with the Venezuelan culture but was also exposed to many other cultures in my childhood. Both my parents belonged to cultural clubs and organizations at their workplaces and we would always go to all the events that were hosted. We also traveled a lot and I got to see so many amazing places even at a young age. As an adult, I’ve made it my mission to visit as many places as I can, both domestically and internationally. This love for travel and learning about cultures fuels my desire to create and to bring to life these experiences through my art.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The best thing about living in Boston is that there are SO many places to visit- in and out of the city! In Boston you have to do the touristy things- check out Fenway Park, do the Sam Adams Brewery tour, even walk the Freedom Trail if it’s a nice day. My favorite places in the city are in the Seaport where you can find Harpoon Brewery and Cisco Beer Garden when it’s nice out. If someone had a whole week to spend in Boston, I would highly suggest checking out neighboring states like Rhode Island-going down to see the mansions in Newport, and also driving up to Maine and checking out Portland. The best part about all of these places would definitely have to be the delicious seafood and the coastal views. As you can tell, I would be traveling all over the place and trying to show my friend as much as possible!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My story starts so long ago, like most artists who knew they were creative since their childhood. There are so many people I could shoutout but it would definitely start with my parents. My parents could see my desire to create and encouraged it since day 1. A shoutout for someone who deserves recognition and exposure would have to be for my color theory instructor and art friend Laurel Greenfield of Laurel Greenfield Art. Her Vibrant Vision course helped my artwork in so many ways, from finding my style, to understanding how colors work on the canvas to achieve my vision. I also need to shout out Rachel Christopoulos of Rachel’s Shoppe. Her ROOTED course has helped me hone down my niche and develop the art business side of my career. Of course, there’s all the people who cheer me on on the sidelines, and my boyfriend who is my biggest fan. A big shout out to them!

Website: https://alexandrawuykeart.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandrawuyke_art/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexandrawuykeart/