Women In Art: Melissa Falconer
Melissa Falconer’s work caught my eye on Instagram firstly for her painting of the King of Toronto and my bday twin Drake, and then some of her original work centering Black Women, and other icons like Nas, Biggie, Tupac, and The Obamas. Hailing from Toronto, her work and reach keep evolving definitely check out my Q&A with Melissa to learn about this talented artist and her journey!
Talk about your formal or informal art training background and what prompted you to begin selling your work to customers?
Melissa Falconer: I started painting 5 years ago. The first painting I made was a portrait of my mom for Mother's Day. She liked it so much that I started painting portraits as gifts for all my family and friends. From there people started requesting commissions and that's how I began selling my work. I'm 100% self-taught and I learned everything I know about painting from YouTube and through a lot of practice.
What was your initial vision for your work and how has that evolved with your techniques and style?
MF: My initial vision for my art was pop art heavily influenced by Any Warhol. Over time I got better at painting details which makes my paintings look a bit more photo realistic than traditional pop art. However, the use of unconventional shapes and colours is still prominent in my work.
How did you go about starting your online store and just the business of art?
MF: I created my website in 2015 once I started getting attention for my art on Instagram. I realized that most people were more interested in purchasing prints than originals, so I focused on reproducing my work in mediums that my customers were interested in buying such as prints, stickers and shirts.
How have you gone about choosing your subjects for your artist/celebrity/pop culture pieces versus your original pieces? How do you choose what to expand into wearable pieces?
MF: I want to create art that represents current Black culture and pop culture, so my subjects are those who have a meaningful impact on the current culture. I will often ask my followers on Instagram who they think I should paint next in order to see who my community would like to be represented in my art. In terms of my original pieces that are not of pop culture icons, those are influenced by images of everyday people that I find on social media that I feel still represent the culture. From there, my most popular paintings will often be turned into apparel pieces due to the amount of requests I get from my followers.
Talk about the scene in Toronto and how that has nourished your career?
MF: Art is such a prominent force in such a diverse city like Toronto. Almost every other person I meet is working on their art in some way, big or small. So I find we're all supportive of each other. There's also a plethora of art organisations that support artists here that you can easily find a community to be a part of. Being a part of these communities has helped me connect with opportunities that I otherwise wouldn't have had.
What has been your biggest win this year and biggest lesson?
MF: My biggest win was being commissioned by Biggie's Estate to create 2 paintings for an exclusive art show they were hosting in celebration of the 25 year anniversary of Biggie's album "Ready to Die". I was invited to the art show in Brooklyn and got to be in the room with a ton of other dope artists and celebrities. That was definitely a surreal experience for me. My biggest lesson was learning how much work it takes to plan an art show. I was initially planning on creating a series for my own art show this year which I initially thought would only take a couple months to plan. But I quickly realized that this was something that would take almost a whole year to plan correctly. So that project is still in the works for now, but it's better to do something slow and right than fast and wrong.
Talk about commissions and your social media presence and recently talking on panels.
MF: I started getting commissioned by big brands like Huff Post, CBC Radio, Flare mag, etc. earlier this year. I think they wanted to work with me because of my strong representation for Black culture and Black women in the visual arts. By consistently building my brand on Instagram, I was able to build a community over the years of people who support my art and identify with the message of self-love, empowerment, culture and community that I promote. Thanks to them sharing my art on social media, that's how I've been able to grow. I was recently asked to speak on a panel about selling art work. I got that opportunity through one of the community organizations I was talking about earlier. I'm just grateful to be able to share my knowledge with my community in hopes that other young artists will be able to grow their art careers too.
What are your thoughts on women in art and any advice or guidance for younger women beginning?
MF: Women face similar challenges in the art industry as they do in every other industry; underrepresentation, unequal pay, sexism, and harassment. Some of these issues I've faced myself while being an artist, but the main advice I would give to young women is to not focus on those negative systems, but to instead focus on building our own lane. I found the best way to overcome those adversities was to take control of my own narrative and my own business and to not let others have control over me and my art.
What plans do you envision for yourself and your brand for next year?
MF: My goal for next year is to grow my YouTube channel so that I can help reach more people like me who want to build their art careers but don't really know where to start. I love documenting my journey as an artist so I hope that by putting it out there on YouTube people can learn from my experiences.
Melissa Falconer working in her studio (L-Nispey Hussle painting, Michelle Obama, Brown Skin Girl, Barack Obama)
