The Business of Being a Full-Time Artist
A look at the shift from making art to running
a full-time gallery with Heather Freitas.
Q&A
Heather Freitas on Defining Your
Style & Going Full-Time as an Artist
Founder of Heather Freitas Gallery
Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Heather Freitas is the
founder and creative force behind Heather Freitas Gallery. From a young age, she knew she wanted to be an artist, but it was during a period of illness and isolation that her work developed. Today, her work is bold, layered and instantly recognizable. She creates original paintings, limited-edition prints, paint-by-numbers kits, puzzles and more. What began as a personal outlet has grown into a full-time business built on consistency, experimentation and a clear point of view.
Q: Tell us a bit about how you got started.
What drew you to art? When did you realize
you wanted to make a career out of this?
Freitas: I think I always knew. When I was in lower elementary school, my best friend got
one of those little memory/ question books and we filled it out together. I always remembered writing “artist” as what I wanted to be. My earliest memories were drawing and making art.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you from the time you wake up until you stop working?
Freitas: I think like most business owners, my day revolves around the business. It’s not a
9–5, but more sun up to sun down. I live and breathe this. It’s my everything and who I am.
I usually start the mornings checking emails and DMs, then figure out where I’m going for the day with my art or if it’s going to be a marketing day or packing day. I would say 40% of my time is is making art and the rest is all the other backend stuff.
Q: How did you figure out a pricing form ula that actually covers your bills and your time?
Freitas: I think this is a problem a lot of artists struggle with. I really pay attention to all bills and overhead. I factor in everything, including taxes, and total it up for how much I need to make monthly. I then divide that by how much I would need to make hourly. For in house made collectibles, I try to figure out how many I can realistically make in an hour and price accordingly to meet that hourly rate. With originals, I do the same but as an average and then 3x it. I think one of the biggest areas people miss with fine art is realizing that you can’t sell all your art if you’re not marketing, and you need to get paid for that time too. You also need to factor in if you have commissions to pay. It’s always a work in progress. I readjust semi-annually.
Q: What’s the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn about running a business that has nothing to do with making art?
Freitas: All my eggs in one basket. I relied too long on social media for sales. It’s supported me, but times change. I wish I would have diversified a little more earlier on. By
diversify, I mean wholesale, consignment, brand collaborations, etc. Also, realizing I can’t please everyone. It was one of the strongest inner growth moments for me, but I know it’something everyone struggles with. You literally cannot please everyone, no matter who you are, so you might as well make life easier and double down on who you are as a person. No sugarcoating. It makes life and business easier and I think it ends up creating
very strong relationships in business and outside of business.
Q: What is the one thing an artist needs to have in place before they quit their day job to do this full-time?
Freitas: For sure, a reliable income. I know this sounds like a given, but I think a lot of people just dive into it. That’s a lot riskier than having an established sales history. For instance, I was a manager at a grocery store working 40 hours a week, and then after work and on my days off I would work on my art, not just painting but marketing too. After I had six consecutive months of making enough each month to supplement the difference between being a manager and an employee, I stepped down. Then I repeated that process, cutting my hours in steps until I went full time.
Q: Any plans for expansion? Do you have any interest in moving toward subscription-based services like art clubs or classes?
Freitas: I do have clubs right now that I love. They are taking time to build, but I think this
will be a staple for the rest of my career. I am working on expanding into wholesale and have three physical locations already this year and a few online boutiques. I do hope to open my own store one day if my health permits.
Q: What is one thing you would tell an artist to help them go full time?
Freitas: Before you do anything, play. Experiment. In that play, keep in mind finding your style. This always stuck with me and it’s true. The art market is saturated, but if you make a style unique to you, the only person you are in competition with is yourself.
“If your collector walked into a room and there were 100 paintings from 100 different artists, and one of them was a new piece of yours no one else has ever seen, your collector should be able to pick that piece out of all 100 without question and know it’s yours.”
