Meet Bree Marin | Live Painting Artist & Creative

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

Hi Bree, why did you pursue a creative career?
I chose to pursue an artistic career path because its what I passionately love to do. It’s not an easy path to take, but no matter what you choose to do in life, there will always be struggles. There will always be a give and take. Creating everyday brings joy to my life in ways that a normal 9-5 never did. Choosing to take the extra struggle to continue to do what I love and bring art to those around me matters more then the ease of a comfortable life a secure job might have given me.

Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally? Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?
I think what sets me apart is what my style of art invokes in people when viewing my artwork. I add a lot of happy, fun and goofy aspects to my art and when people look at it, I get a lot of smiles and laughter. I think that inner child in us all just wants to be playful and laugh sometimes and I feel my art can reach that place in viewers. My style, which I call Whimsadelic, is a mix of visionary, pop surrealism and fantasy, all different styles that I’ve melded into my own and look to as foundations on which I’ve grown my creative eye.

I’m most excited about a children’s book a friend and I are collaborating on. We created the idea and story board together. She is writing it, a lot in verse and rhyme and I’m illustrating. We plan to self-publish by the end of the year.

In 2017, I chose to quit my career in nannying and child care and started trying to make my art career full time. At that point I was only doing it more as a hobby with two – four events a year and I wanted to do more but didn’t really have the time with work taking up most of my schedule. It was not easy to make the leap, but I’m happy I did and had the encouragement from my family. The first three years I had to keep taking on side jobs to get by financially before I began to see profit, but it wasn’t until the last two years that my business has truly stood on its own two feet. At first I got a lot of no’s on applications to paint at events, people close to me tried to discourage me, I didn’t sell much art or see much progress in my skills; but I didn’t give up. It only pushed me to try harder. There have been a lot of different challenges to overcome along the way but those challenges have all been learning lessons for me. Whenever I face a hard situation or failure, I always ask myself “What is the takeaway from this experience? What can I learn from it or how do I do better next time?”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love the outdoors, hiking, swimming, kayaking. I always love to take friends to all the secret spots so I won’t name anything specific. And who doesn’t love to socialize in the evening. I love being among the community wherever I am. Nightlife, music especially is my go to to immerse ourselves into the community.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I wouldn’t be a live artist today, traveling to create and immersed so deeply in the art community without my artistic friend Maurice LaFlamme. He invited me to live paint with him back in 2012 at an event in SF, when I had yet to pick up a brush and paint, let alone live in front of others. He was very welcoming and encouraging to me. I wasn’t sure what to do, but he assured me I couldn’t mess up, that we can always fix it. Messing up is part of the process. He gave me confidence in myself to discover what was inside of me. It was such an amazing experience, it opened my eyes to what I could bring back to the community I had just newly discovered. He invited and encouraged me to paint live with him a few more times over the next couple years and I was hooked. I’m thankful to him for the encouragement to always go for it and not be afraid to mess up.

Website: https://www.breelikeatree.com/

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

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbHXrbhWtMK4OYm8QcpvIGg

Other: HIve.io – https://hive.blog/@breelikeatree