Episode 251: The Blueprint Behind Her Art Career | Louisa Schmolke | Artist, Designer & Content Creator
Louisa Schmolke is a London-based artist whose breakout piece 3024 (Grid of Memories) was featured in the Royal Scottish Academy’s 197th Annual Show. But she didn’t come up through art school, she studied architecture and project management, two fields that taught her how to make art with intention, structure, and an eye toward the audience experience. In this episode, Louisa and Kara talk about navigating burnout, building a creative practice with a business brain, and finding joy in work that reflects your full self. They discuss art, social media, travel, and what it means to be both methodical and imaginative when shaping your path. If you've ever wondered how to make your art career actually work, this one’s for you.
“Not studying art, but architecture and project management meant that I was never allowed to run free and create any art I wanted. We had to think about the budget, the business, the end use. How people are going to see your artwork is just as important as how you feel about it if you want to run it as a business. They’re your customer. You’re not your own customer. How it is going to be received publicly is really important to ask.”
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Scottish, artist, architectural designer, illustrator, content creator & foodie
3024 Grid of Memories Art Piece
AWARDS/FEATURES:
Martin Jones Scholarship Award RIAS + UoD (2023)
TOP GEAR X LOUISA SCHMOLKE for Cupra Formentor Advert (2021)
BBC Top Gear Magazine May Feature (2021)
Vanity Fair Magazine Artist Feature (2021)
House & Garden Magazine Artist Feature (2021)
In Her Studio Magazine June Feature (2021)
Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries Medal for Architecture (2019)
Dundee Institute of Architects Award for Best Final Year Student (2018)
RIAS Nominated for the Rowand Anderson Silver Medal (2018)
Kelvingrove Young Artist's Silver Medal
Craft Magazine Front Cover First Prize for Scotland
Publication of 3 portraits in the Times Educational Supplement
EXHIBITIONS:
Royal Scottish Academy 197th Annual Show, 3024 (Grid of Memories) on display from May 5th-June 11th 2023
Article 25 The Bindery Live Fundraiser Auction for 'Camera Roll #2' (2023)
Humanitarian Architecture Fundraiser - work was live auctioned alongside Banksy, Kengo Kuma, Norman Foster (2021)
Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries (2019 - 6 weeks)
Architecture and Design Scotland and RIAS Lighthouse Exhibition (2018 - 4 weeks)
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Chapters:
(00:00:01) How Louisa Blends Architecture and Art
(00:03:45) Lessons From Her Grid of Memories Installation
(00:08:15) Why She Prioritizes Audience Experience in Her Art
(00:13:20) Switching From Architecture to Creative Entrepreneurship
(00:18:40) Building a Brand on Instagram While Staying Playful
(00:22:10) Embracing Burnout, Balance, and Big Vision
(00:29:05) Studying in Scotland, Living in London, Dreaming Globally
(00:33:45) Working on a Greek Island and Taking the Leap
(00:39:00) What Makes Art Interactive and Memorable
(00:43:30) Redefining Power as a Woman and a Creative
(00:48:00) What’s Next for Louisa and How You Can Support
Follow along using the Transcript
We have been scrolling Instagram nonstop. We're scrolling TikTok. It's wild. We are overconsuming. So much information. So while I was drawing it, I was getting so excited about the idea that this is my social media, this is my camera role. Like it's over consumption. I'm seeing too much. It's too much information.
That's Louisa Schmolke. I'm Kara Duffy and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Welcome to The Powerful Ladies Podcast. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Let's tell everyone who you are, where you are in the world, and what you're up to. My
name is Louisa Molkey. I am a Scottish artist, architectural designer, illustrator, content creator, and foodie. I'm currently in Scotland where I'm from, but I live in London full-time.
I'm just back for Christmas. Nice.
You, as you mentioned, do so many things. How did you end up in this journey where you're able to do all of these things and have fun doing them at the same time?
Yeah, good question. So it's been a bit of a timeline and actually today I've been preparing some slides for a university that I'm lecturing at in two weeks.
And they also wanted me to chat about going from architecture school, master's in architecture all the way through to being an artist. So it's all fresh in my mind and basically it was. Quite well, it was over around 10 years, but basically I went and studied at the University of Dundee in Scotland.
That's an hour and a half north of Glasgow. Scotland's not that big, so I always like to set the scene. Yeah, the timeline goes as follows. I studied a master's of architecture at the University of Dundee and I graduated in 2018, and then I moved into doing a regular. Part two architectural designer job, which is basically what you do straight after your master's in architecture.
And I worked in residential architecture. I was doing a lot of 3D modeling, visualization, and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every aspect of it, but it was in Scotland and I was really craving a little bit more. I'd always wanted to move back to America because I had lived there before and so I quit my job and I was.
Up and ready to move to New York. I had got a job there, a sponsor. They were covering my visa. I was like, it's all happening. And it was March, 2020. Oh. So the plot twist was, I didn't get there. So then I was like, oh my goodness. Essentially what happened was the embassy shut five days before I had my Visa interview, and so I couldn't actually get to New York, and I had an apartment there.
I had a job there. I had quit my job in the uk. I was like, what have I done? This was a bit silly, but actually what I ended up doing was freeing myself up finally. To do the thing that I was most interested in, which was actually the art and illustration and creative side of architecture. So that had always been my strong suit.
It had always been the thing I'd enjoyed, but I'd always followed that classic vocational trajectory of just being an architect. And so I had around nine months to. Chill around, as it were, as we all were in lockdown. No pressure. I moved back in with my parents, which was difficult, but we're fine.
We've moved on. And then I began to set up my art platform and my art business which was with a website and everything that comes with it. And from there I developed a social following, a social media following and. I started to garner a bit of an audience who were wanting to buy my artwork.
And then I realized, wait a minute, why have we all given art such a bad rep? Like you can't make money from being an artist. That kind of struggling artist persona. And I was like, maybe, yeah, that used to exist. But now with social media, I'm like, we could probably do whatever we can try to do here. So that's what I did.
I set up the social media that helped grow and then eventually monetize that and. I wanted to move down to London after the pandemic was over and I worked in architecture firms such as Fostering Partners and Heatherwick Studio, and they were amazing. But eventually as of 2023, I was like, I think enough times passed I could commit to this full time.
And so we are now at present day 2024, and I am spending every hour of the day and evening and weekend. Setting up everything that comes with a business and just getting it going. So yeah, there's the small timeline.
And I'm sure there's, I work with so many creatives and so many artists as a business coach, and they're always trying to figure out their own secret formula of how to go from unknown artists doing it on the side to having success.
And you mentioned the social media component. What are tips you would give to people specifically to build them their presence on social media? Because I think that many people are trying, but I don't know that many are doing it well. So what are some things that you had to learn along the way that allowed you to start getting the momentum that you needed?
Yeah, it is a good question because I think if it had been even five years ago, 2018, that wasn't by, that was six years ago, but even then, I wasn't using Instagram. Properly, as in I was barely using it and it would be like a picture a month and that would be it. And I wasn't really, I didn't really care about it.
And then when it came to that 2020, that beginning of lockdown one thing that I think personally helped me grow was the fact we were in a lockdown. So I was one of those businesses. There's loads of us now, but that's set up right at that cusp of time where everyone was on their phone, everyone was on social media.
People couldn't leave the house. They were looking online for everything. Instagram became Pinterest and TikTok then was for the younger generation, and now it's for every generation. And that all came in the last three, four years. So I think I was lucky in that respect to have people focusing on me.
I'm not so sure in this present day how people begin from zero. 2020. I think it's a different strategy. It's a different approach. Obviously it's video content, it's reels, it's tiktoks, it's being authentic, being honest, speaking, showing your face, all these things that actually I'm not a hundred percent there with yet, but in the lockdown you could do it in different ways that we're more subtle and strategic.
And I actually wasn't thinking about it, which I think helped. I wasn't planning the stuff, whereas nowadays, everyone's. Maybe planning too much. They're maybe like setting themselves schedules of when to post. I'm definitely not like that. I'm quite, casual about it. But I think that's something I might wanna step up if I'm doing an art drop or print drop or a speech or some kind I'd want to plan it in advance, but I would definitely see video content is the automatic answer to your question.
And I found you on Instagram, which is how I've been finding many guests that we've had. And I stumbled upon you, your. And I don't know if I'm saying the right way, but 30 24 or do you say 3024. 3 24,
but 30 24 is fine. I actually threw that name together. I realize now that it's. It's a whole mishmash.
I'm like, should I hold it? That? But obviously, yeah, that was the reason. So that's so interesting. That's how you found me. That's how I seem to be, meeting people in London genuinely out and about and they're like, oh, you did the squares.
I was like, I did do the squares. Yeah. So for everyone who has, who's listening, who hasn't seen it, who's wondering what we're talking about?
What is 3024?
3024 is a large 1.6 meter by 1.6 meter. Don't ask me that in Imperial, I actually dunno. Hand drawn grid of 3024 squares and each grid square is around. Two centimeters, which maybe is a couple inches by a couple inches. Wide. And within each square is my memory and I've hand drawn each with a pen and I drew it over the course of around six months.
And it was memories that were happening there. And then, so it was actually instantaneous. And then it was also coupled with memories that were. Years old. Years and years old, a lot of it was filled with architecture. It was filled with quotations, feelings. When I was in a bad mood, I would like scribble on it.
Thankfully, it was pinned up on my wall the whole time, and it became my therapy, and I started to realize that halfway through it was never the point. It wasn't meant to be for therapy, it was meant to be for. I dunno what it was meant to before, but I've done quite a few more grids before that.
But this one happens to go viral. It's just the way I like to draw and capture stuff. And I also think drawing in a small space like a few inches by a few inches, you are limited. You can't make as many mistakes. It's really easy even for the non drawer. And I've had so many ideas since finishing it about people.
Commenting messaging. People have been emailing me, that they wanna do it and I would love to somehow get everyone on a collaborative piece that would be amazing and get everyone to put in their. Thoughts and opinions, and I just think it, it could go so many ways. And it's so simple and I've always drawn like that.
So for it to have taken off because of social media, that was just so amazing. And it has opened up so many opportunities since,
It's been selected by the royal Scottish Academy. Like you've been getting placed with this project that I don't, did you think it was going to become this thing that.
Other people got at this level?
Yeah. Let me have a think. When I was drawing it and I first marked out these squares and I was on the floor and I was like flat out and I was starting to grid up and my flatmates walked in and they were like, this is a crazy girl. Who is she? I was definitely like, I'm doing something a little bit different here.
I think because of the scale. I was definitely doing something. If it had been in my sketchbook and maybe a little apologetic and I was just doing it for me, I wouldn't have expected anything from it. But because of the size of it, I had done one in my third year. Had also been quite popular, but by then we didn't have social media back then.
That was like 2014 or something. We weren't really seeing these things shared, but it was popular for people that physically went to see it. They would walk up to it and actually squint their eyes and try and read each and every square. And so I was like, interesting as a concept. We have been scrolling Instagram nonstop.
We're scrolling TikTok. It's wild. We are over consuming so much information. So while I was drawing it, I was getting so excited about the idea that this is. My social media, this is my camera roll. Like it's over consumption. I'm seeing too much. It's too much information. I want someone to walk past it in an art gallery in a public space and go, whoa, we need to stop.
We need to look at this for longer than three seconds. And that was the kind of concept behind creating the grid of memories 3024. And so when I was squaring up on the floor, I thought I could see people interacting with this in a public space, in an art gallery somewhere where other art is, and maybe people skip past other art because we all do.
We go to the gallery, we think we're gonna sit and stare at a painting for hours and be really with our feelings. But actually we are all I don't know where the word is. We've just, we've consumed too much. And so it needed to take something, maybe like 3024 to make people stop and you were forced to look at it, even if you, even if it's not your style.
Say you love colorful abstracts and it's not your style. You still were like, wait a minute. We have to see what this is filled with. Yeah. So it was a trick in a way, and that's how I'd like to continue with it. Make more, make many more. And force people into looking at artwork.
I love your idea of having one be collaborative because it could really be a, there were so many.
Random games that were being promoted on TikTok and Instagram to do with your family over the holidays. But imagine if the whole family did this. Like my whole family went to an art class at Disney one day. Wow. And we all drew the same thing. So I have all these photos of all of us. Having drawn a goofy sketch, and it's fun to see where everyone was at and the different levels and what people focused on versus others, even though it was the exact same thing we were all drawing.
But I like that idea of a snapshot of time, of allowing people that room and I think you're right, people get so intimidated with art. And if they're limited to a two by two centimeter square box you can't think too hard about it. There's not enough room, as you said, to mess up. So what mark do you wanna leave?
And it can be that simple, I think. We think art has to be huge and big and something extreme and dramatic and different, and I think we're skipping over the humanity of it sometimes because of that.
Yeah, you've said it I agree entirely. And I also think with the goofy sketches, what a good idea would be is if you've got them physically, you could then just.
Mock them up on Photoshop, create them, curate them together into their own grid, and all of a sudden have everyone's there. It'd be such a nice idea, and I think that I would love to create something in London and want in the middle of the city somewhere that everyone can come and add their piece and it's how we see London.
That's an idea I have for 2024, but. Implementation is always the issue. It's are people gonna come in and vandalize it and graffiti it and then all of a sudden you're like, you are meant to stick to your square, but they never do. So there is that risk.
Yeah. I guess that also sort tells a unique story, right?
Like who would go outside their grid, who would follow the rules? It really does show you what is. What are the people of London made up of? Because that's what it would become. Exactly. I
think depending
on
where you put the grid, it's gonna have a different result as well. And yeah, depending on who knows about it.
Again, with social media, I'd be hoping that my audience would wanna come in and travel in to get the pen and draw in their part, but who else could it attract? Yeah, completely new. I just love that kind of art and installation, large scale installation excites me a lot and I've never really been part of it at all.
That 3024 is the largest piece I've ever made. If the paper allowed it, I would go full wall.
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And then you have to bring in some ladders.
Yeah. I'm keen, I'm ready for it. I feel like in America, I was actually in Greece with my, I was doing a residency in Greece just recently, which we can talk on in a bit.
But one of the girls that I was sharing a studio with Phoebe Low, she's an artist, a mural artist in moving to Brooklyn. And me and her made fast friends real quick. She's a mural artist, and she was talking to me nonstop about murals and I was like, wait a minute. I could really see. The grid being a mural for someone that is willing to get something really overly detailed on the side of a building, I'd be the gal for it.
But I had never thought about that until I started having these conversations with, fellow artists that were thinking bigger than me. I was just thinking paper. Now I'm thinking buildings.
Even in my neighborhood there's a animal portrait artist who happens to live next to a park. And so her entire cement wall.
She has painted dog portraits of all the dogs who come to the park and it, they're all, they're tiny. They're, maybe the biggest one is like five inches. So what is it? Eight centimeters. And so they're relatively small portraits, super detailed and. It's like a whole wall of every dog that's basically walked past her house.
I love that. And everyone stops, looks at it, oh, that looks like my dog. Or, there's, she's a sign up. Who else wants to add their dog? Like it's, it's such a nice addition to the community, and some of the portraits go back 30 plus years, so I don't know how's maintaining them. That's so cool.
But yeah. I'm gonna need you to link me to this. I will GI need to see more. I love that. That's amazing. When I go on my next walk, I'll take a picture and I'll DM it to you. Thank you. Please do. Yeah. One of the questions I'm always asking is if you go back to 8-year-old self. Would she have imagined that this is your life today and what would she be proud of you for?
Oh, lovely. I love that. I think that, I always think, oh, would I change anything? How, what would I see? I think I'd still follow the same path that I followed because whilst I was in the middle of studying my architecture degree, I was like, I don't think I wanna be an outright architect. I still think it led me to this exact moment and perhaps.
The architecture degree has given me a good backing for where I am now. And people do take you more seriously in, in the industry of drawing in London in the art scene when you've come from a degree such as architecture. So I would still kinda steer an 8-year-old me in the exact same direction that I went.
But I would also say people need to, people needed to stop telling children that age. That being an artist meant you were poor. Yeah, I think, yes. I under, I totally understand that was the case then. And in my residency that I just did in Greece, the older resident, Catherine, she's an artist in New York, and she was telling me all about back in the day when you used to have to do art a certain way and you'd have to get found by a gallerist, and it was all a little bit cD and a little bit difficult and everything was a lot harder than it is now. She was saying to me, social media has changed everything, as I've said before, but I think when she was growing up being a female artist in New York, London, wherever that was probably very rare. As we know, we don't know that many well-known female artists when we could have, but we don't because people were telling them not to.
So perhaps I would say to the 8-year-old me, oh, by the way, you can be an artist and still have what would be considered our normal life. You're not gonna be slumming it just because you've decided to sell artwork. But again, we didn't know that back then. Even I remember my granny would say, oh, you're going to be an artist in the city, and she meant London.
I don't think she actually was serious. And now I am. So that's good. And that is where I'd say try not to differ too much. Try not to change too much. It'll all move in the direction it's meant to.
And I think that art, similar to being a writer, it was something that a woman could do while being a housewife.
Yes. Where it didn't have to be serious or support you or, and I think that's still a big conversation today. I've done workshops on that exact topic of how do we give up that narrative because there's so many ways artists can make money and. I love that you're treating it like an actual business.
Like you said, like I'm full-time in my business now, and you didn't say I'm a full-time artist, which I think is a really unique distinction because there are lots of people who wanna be a full-time artist, but it's like, cool, how are we gonna make money? How are we gonna keep leads coming in? How do we make sure it works?
And it's a big. Many of my clients have struggled with how to balance the business side and the artist side, and so it, I don't think running a business is hard, but I'm also, I'm biased, but I think that it does take planning and I love that when even thinking about 3024, you were thinking about how can people use this?
How is this bigger than I am? I was helping a client fill out a grant application recently, and they wrote up their answers to the questions. I go, these answers are great, but if I'm reading this not knowing you, I wanna know who's gonna be impacted by this art bigger than you. Because that's what people, we want momentum for the community, for the art world.
What's the bigger picture? And I think sometimes, and this is true for all businesses, it's hard for people to see. The seven degrees of impact that they can make. Is that something that comes intuitively to you? Like how do you think of those steps beyond your own selfish creation, for lack of a better phrase?
Yeah, I like the way you asked that because I think, again, not studying art and not being an actual considered artist. That might benefit me somewhat in the future, studying a degree that in the end we were thinking about construction costs how much something was actually gonna cost. Don't get me wrong, I don't think architecture teaches you enough about the business side, but it teaches you about management practice law.
And I think that education is maybe a replaceable, and then also it has the creative side. So I was never fully allowed to just run free and create. Beautiful artwork. You were never really allowed to just let loose. Whereas art school, I understand you wear. And I think that might be a natural kind of differentiation.
And then I am a lot more business brained than art artistic brain. And I don't know if that's the right way to word it. I think I've always been a lot more. Concerned about how I can make this my full-time job rather than thinking specifically about how I feel about a piece of artwork. So it's like, how can I actually make this?
I'm quite pragmatic and logical and a lot more I'm a lot more strong in that direction, but I'm also oddly creative. So I think actually having this right side of my brain, the left side of the brain, aligning like that means that I am thinking about how do I monetize this? But also, I don't just wanna churn out loads of ugly stuff that I'm just doing super fast so I can make money.
I think there's got to be a right balance, but I haven't gotten there yet myself. I'm still getting there. But I do think that kind of thinking about how people are gonna see your artwork is just as important as how you feel about it. If you want to run it as a business.
Because
you're gonna be your customer.
You are not your own customer. And if I am thinking about it like that, then I would say it's important to think about how it's gonna be received publicly. Just as much.
Yeah. If that makes No, it makes total sense. I think it's a really important point to make because we only need to make things that people want.
Of course we can make things that we want for ourselves and sometimes somebody else wants them, but it's being mindful of even in my work, I'll have an idea for a class or an area we should focus on. 'cause a lot of clients are bringing it up or need it, but then it doesn't really resonate with everyone because it might be seven layers deep into how you generate money.
People just say like, how do I make more money? And it's we focus on this one thing, you will make more money. But that topic isn't landing in the problem they have right now or the emotional thing they need right now. So there's a lot of ideas I have that sit on a future ideas list that would make more sense in a masterclass or in a multi-step program in what people wanna consume right now.
So it's. Running your own thing. You have that freedom to make what you want. But to be successful, you do have to say, how's this gonna work? What do people actually want now? Yes. So I can keep having cash flow to then make the things that maybe are more aligned with me later. Exactly. I would love to jump into Greece 'cause you, I, what I think is very impressive with your progression as an artist is that you seem to.
Be doing a really good job of balancing your development with also opportunities and placements and being featured. So how did Grace come up and where do you wanna do that type of experience next?
Ooh, exciting. I've applied for a handful of residencies last year, and I'll find out about them this year.
But also I am okay if none of them happen because I do want 12 months to get my. Self going with my business. So I've applied to like certain ones in Europe and I've been looking at a couple in the us but that was just a separate kind of application process. But I can talk on residencies as well after it, because my eyes have been opened up to the residency.
Everything about residencies, like for writers, photographers, artists, like they are wild. I didn't know enough about them and now I'm like, oh, so I could be just like a residency hopper and just keep going. I can see that happening. So basically in 2022, summer, I was leaving my old job as an architectural illustrator at Foster and Partners, and I was scrolling through LinkedIn and I saw an old tutor at my university had posted the Martin Jones Scholarship Award and I'd never heard of it.
And I clicked on it and it. Went through it and I saw, R-U-X-R-U-Y, are you this? And I was like yes. And I was like, oh, I can apply. So it was a free application, which I always think, why not? And it applied to me. I had been a graduate at my university. I had. Certain qualifications that you had to have to apply for it.
And I had a thesis that I had created at my master's year, which is my fifth year at the university, that I wanted to progress further. And I had always wanted an excuse to progress it, but once you leave university, all your wild dreams are gone and then you get like a full-time architecture job. So you just go a little bit.
You just go a little bit in chiller and you're just all about your nine to five, and that's your life for a while. But I'd always thought about how I could apply a methodology that I had created in my master's thesis to any site globally that had been either written on through building before, and.
Existed now as a building. So it was more about footprints and buildings that sat in place that had a lot of history to them and looking at site analysis and analyzing them, and then developing that into abstracts paintings, and then turning that into architect ons, 3D models, and then turning that into kind of a coherent architectural strategy.
A bit of a mouthful, but I had taken that Master's methodology and I put it into my application for Grease, and I'd said I'd love to do what I did in my Master's, but I'd love to do it in a, in the cyclades. I didn't know where, I didn't have my idea of what specific site I was gonna pick. I was just let's do this.
It's gonna be somewhere. And I'd fallen in love with Cyclades many years before and I'd been quite a few times in a, in before I went on the residency. And there was something about the islands that just absolutely fascinate me. I'm just in love with them. They are these beautiful. White sugar cube houses with the clear blue turquoise water and these little narrow winding streets that just look like, like they're fake.
They look like they're painted. It's wild. So I've just, I fell in love with it. I always have been. And I applied and then six months later I heard back. So in that time I had decided to continue on in the architecture field, which was absolutely grand. Took a business development role. So I learned for one whole year about bringing in new work in architecture while I was actually waiting to hear back about this.
Residency and then they awarded it to me and it was funding over two years. So you got half the money in 2023, and then you'll get the other half in 2024 and the first half. So the 2023, I moved to Greece for three months, and then in 2024, my plan is to take all my experience in Greece and then turn it into a body of artwork.
For the end of 2024. So that is the plan, and I can talk a little bit about what the residency was, if you'd like. Sure. Yeah. Cool. So I split it up into living on the island of Tenino, which is, I think it's the largest cycling, and I was living on my own, which was, maybe I regret that decision a little bit now because London can be quite lonely.
But moving from London and then. To be on my own for a month in Tenino. I was like, what have I done? And I was just meant to all of a sudden be really creative and like producing a lot of artwork and painting and creating from the scenery around me, taking sites and analyzing them and sketching.
I was meant to just all of a sudden be really switched onto my creative side. When had come from quite a. Serious role at Heatherwick Studio in business development and writing proposals and bids and winning new work and clients. And so I was going from completely opposite ends and trying to make it work.
So I was really panicking. I was like, I have creative block. I don't know what to do. And I was asking on social media, I was asking him on TikTok. I was like, guys. How do I get out of this? Like I don't know how to, anyway, it turns out it was just time and I don't have a secret answer. It was just being there for a long time and completely.
Cramming down from burnout that I'd experienced in London just because I was overstretched saying yes to everything. Doing events, doing pr, doing my full-time job, seeing friends, eating at restaurants, like just spending all my time on my feet and I wasn't really chilling. So anyway, it was quite good to just relax.
Took about a month until I'd actually was able to produce a bit of work that I was happy with. And by then I went on to C Ross. And my boyfriend came out and joined me in Ros, and there's this town called Oli, which is the capital of ros, and it was actually the capital of the Cyclades. And I think being there.
It's a very small niche spot that not a lot of tourists go to. I think being there really unlocked something in me and all of a sudden I was like, I can do this now. I can take on the architecture, I can breathe it in. I can see it all for what it is. But honestly, there was such a big block for a month. I felt like I was just existing.
I was like, what doing? And then I went on to a residency called Psychotic Arts in Paris. I had been to Paris before. Quite a few times and I'd fallen in love with that island. It is such a beautiful island. It's definitely my favorite. Hit the ground running there. And I was in a residency, which is a live work space.
So there were three bedrooms off of a courtyard and then a shared studio for two artists, and then one of the bedrooms was. Studio for that artist and I happened to be paired up with two Americans and I was like, yay. I think I'm American at heart sometimes. The way that I've just always found my way back there.
I'm always trying to get there. I'm always, still, all my friends are there. So one of the artists was Phoebe Lowe. As I said, she's a mural artist. And the other was Catherine Parker, who is an abstract artist in New York City. And the two of them. Brought to me lessons that I couldn't have told myself.
And I brought to them lessons that they didn't know. And the conversations that three of us had for one month, we were all there for a month, were emotional, they were raw, they were deep, we were crying, we were getting to know each other from strangers to literally like telling each other our deepest, darkest truths.
And also all having that commonality of visual art, basically painting was our kind of. All of us had that tied together. And Demetrius scan, she's the owner and she set it up and she had worked in she had studied in Ellie and she actually set up psychotic arts back in Paris 'cause that's where she was originally from.
So we had all this, all these girls and this girl energy. And I was like, I thrive with girl energy. I think I'm just such a girl's girl. I just like relaxed, settled into it. Didn't think about monetizing, didn't think about business, didn't think about panicking about, basically all the stuff I'm doing now in January.
Took a month of just breathing and they taught me a lot of lessons about just basically. The wider art scene. They've both been full-time artists for a long time, whereas I was brand new into it. I'd left my job on the Friday and I flew to Greece on the Sunday, so there was no time to decompress and become a full art, a full-time artist.
Yeah. Until that point, I think.
I think that leads into a great question that we ask on this podcast, which is how do the relationships with other powerful up to something. When I think of powerful ladies, it's like women who are doing what they know they need to do, like knowing what their heart wants to do.
Like how does being around women like that change You, unlock, you open you to do more of what you know you need to.
Yeah, it's a good question. I think if you're familiar with that person, you're friends with that person, you trust that person, it's not intimidating. You're like, okay, I'm ready to listen.
But see when it's people online that I see that just seem to know. What's up, what they're doing, and they're like, running this. I'm like, wow, what? But that's because you don't know them. Yeah. So you don't actually know where they're coming from. So I think living in close quarters with these I should say ladies, but we just felt like a group of girls.
But I say living in close quarters with them we all began to trust each other really quickly and learn from each other. So I think that was really great. And I picked up a lot from them. They were uncertain in their their own departments. Like they were really looking for help on. Social media, both of them actually.
And I gave them tutorials and taught Catherine how to do reels. She's 65, so she's literally I have no idea. What is this? What is this about? And Phoebe was trying to grow a following so she could reach more people with her murals. And I was like, this is what we're gonna do. And I was teaching everyone that.
And I kinda showed me, I wanted to get into social media consultation for artists as well, which is something that I've just recently thought about doing and actually something that I would've found beneficial. Yeah. A couple years ago. So that kind of thing would be really useful. But yeah, they had their own.
Queries about things, and I had my queries, so we were just all able to support each other and get each other there. And there was a lot of trust. But when I see other girls on, say, social media that are artists and they're just, they look like they're killing it. Everybody looks like they're killing it all the time.
I'm like, oh, she's doing that. Maybe I should be doing that. And oh she's, I don't know, she's got like a Patreon. Maybe I should have a Patreon. And I've got all these. Ideas, and I just keep writing them down and I'm like, when will I execute them? And the one thing that differs between being an artist and being an architect.
When I was an architect, I was so insular. I didn't look at anyone else's work. I didn't care what anyone else was doing. I just looked at my own tunnel vision, got my work done, was really focused. But with social media. You can't avoid it. So I'm seeing too much. I'm consuming too much, and I think it's just important to realize that obviously we're all on our different paths, but no one is gonna be aligned for the exact same jobs in the future.
Some people are gonna suit another brand better and they're gonna go for that artist. And some people are in more in fashion. Some people are more in food and drinks. Some people, they're all, we've all got our different niches. But I think it's important to not, obviously compare yourself. That's a bit cliche, but it is.
No, it's so important. There's who you are as a unicorn is the same thing as what A makes a brand unique so that you know that it's for you. And I think that. We can get so nervous about cutting off potential customers or followers or clients by saying who we really are and what we really care about and what work we really want.
Because we don't wanna turn people away or offend them, but the more that we are bold about who we are and what matters to us and what game we're playing, the more we can find the people who have been looking for us. It's. It's a bold, scary step to take, but everyone who I know who leans in on themselves more and is more direct about what they like and who they are and who they wanna hang out with, suddenly all those people say, Ugh, that's, you've been here this whole time.
I didn't know. And yeah it's, so many people think they need a Twitter or an ex or a Patreon and all those things, and. If it doesn't align, if it doesn't get you excited, you probably don't need to do it. There's so many ways to make money, and I look at the opportunities you've already had and even fun things like you were in that video with top gear.
Oh yeah. I'm curious how that came up, but there's so many things in your portfolio and that you've done that other artists haven't even tapped into. I think where you're going. My unsolicited coaching is that where you're going is great and keep going and trust yourself because you are let years ahead of many people in regards to what you've already done.
And I can only imagine where you're going. Even this year, it's gonna just come, IRA, this is to, you're getting
me. Really? I'm like I'm literally just oh, this is so nice. No, it's, that actually is so lovely to hear. I think I'll look at the projects and the portfolio I have. And I'll be like, cool.
And then I'll look at the portfolio and project someone else has and I'm like I better go and do every single one of them. Otherwise, yeah. No, you're right. Yeah. Like we are just not on the same thing as other people. Like some people are much more, they know they want to do stuff through Patreon and the YouTube classes and things like that, and I'm like, wow, they're so on it.
They look like they're, everyone looks like they're so on it. And I see people and I'm like, they're so switched on. And they're they're probably morning people. I'm not here to judge, but I am a night owl, so I also get to stuff later. I begin later. And I do think that I. I have found now with the fact that this is now my full-time job, obviously you see so much I'm, I am seeing what people are accepting, what projects they're getting and I'm like, I need that project.
But do I, no. 'cause I'm doing other ones that are coming to me separately.
Yeah, I think it's great to be looking at what else is happening in the world so you can find points of inspiration or opportunity that you wouldn't have known existed. Yeah. But I think it's so important to look at something and go, okay, what is it?
What am I feeling? Am I feeling like I want that? Like I wanna go to that school, or I want to work with that brand. Or am I feeling, ooh, I should do a partnership with a brand that fits me? Like I think we don't. Like jealousy and envy show up and we, they sometimes cloud like what the actual, like what our, the universe, our body intuition is to actually telling us.
So we can go a little bit deeper into okay, what am I feeling? What else am I feeling? What do I know? Then we can start filtering things a bit more, but. Otherwise, it's just huh, I want their life and I won't have it.
That's not getting hundred percent agree and thankfully I've never found myself being like, I want everything that one person has.
In fact, rarely is it's more let's just say 30 people and I want one thing of from each of them that they've managed to reach out and they've managed to reach a brand, somehow get through to them, knock on their door, break through, and then the brand has worked with them. That is something I'm learning.
I have not got a lot of. Skills in outreach and reaching for work. I actually more weight. I don't know if this was always the plan, but obviously I was working full-time so I didn't need to monetize it. I was waiting for brands and they would just come eventually. And I wasn't reaching for them.
And I have learned more and more you've gotta get your name out there, you've got to reach out. So I think for me, with this new period of actually giving this my full-time, I'm gonna have to dedicate a lot of time to actually. Reaching brands that align with me, what I actually want to be working on.
I want to do a thousand more of the top gear ads. Yeah, I loved doing that kind of thing. I love shooting with that, those kinds of companies. I didn't really realize that the architectural style of illustration really lends itself to technical drawing, so obviously it lends itself to detailed. Cars I didn't know that and I wouldn't outright say, oh, I'm a car enthusiast that always wanted to draw cars, but wow, that collaboration was.
It was iconic. It'll stay in my mind forever. And it happened in Lockdowns. It also felt really surreal that someone had plucked me out, contacted me out of the blue. I remember getting an email. I was actually sat right here. I remember getting, I was like, oh my God. And I ran downstairs. I was like, top here.
I wanna work with me. And I do still feel that energy when I even get a tiny email from someone. I'm like, it's happening again. But it's never, as big as that. But I still have the same excitement. From receiving emails. I'm not bored from receiving outreach from people and I'm really not bored of brands being like, do you want to do this?
I still get that little flutter and I'm like, why am I still so excited about this? But I think that's good. I'm not bored.
Yeah. Do you want my secret getting connections? I, my, I always tell people, make lots of lists. So make lists of the brands that you want to potentially partner with, and then you do a work back strategy.
'cause you wanna figure out how do you get to one degree of separation of. The decision maker there. So I then start making a list of I, I'll go on LinkedIn 'cause it's such a great tool for this to see who works there that I might know, who works there, that might know someone I know. And then if I can't find something top down, I'll start going bottoms up and think about, okay, who in my life knows somebody in cars?
Okay, who can they introduce me to? And you just start making new friends to move you closer and closer. Another technique is if you, using, again, LinkedIn is go and connect with everyone that's there except the person you want to connect with. Ooh. 'cause when you do reach out to them, 'cause even the free version, you can send a note, which lets you put a few sentences in.
You can say who recommended you? Oh, I talked to and they thought that I should connect with you. Those two people don't need to actually be connected. But because you're mentioning a name that said I should reach out to you, you could even use mine for crying out loud. But they suddenly think that they must know who you're talking about.
Why else did you say it? Yeah. And then when they look at your Instagram account or your LinkedIn, they see that you're connected to all these people that they know. So they're like, oh, you're not a crazy person 'cause all these people know you. And suddenly they respond. Like one of my favorite. Like DM Moments was a message, the co-founder of Hint Water.
Her name's also Kara. She also has red hair and we have a mutual connection and I said, Hey, Julie said we should reach out. Plus you've red hair. We're both named Kara. We should definitely be friends. It was that dumb. And she wrote back in five seconds. Yes, a hundred percent. Let's do it. I just love that.
And I actually, the way that you did
that is what I am like finally, I can send emails like this. I can send DNS like this. Thank God. Because I was tired of being serious. And at my last job they were like, we are losing Louisa. She's become so serious. But when we hired her, she was, yeah, we hired her. 'cause she would, she could speak to people.
She could, yes. She literally could chat in the room. And then by the time I left, I was like. Absolutely sincerely Louisa and I was like, I know this ain't me. And I know that connecting with people. For me, I'm, I don't use like chat GPT to message people. I don't use like some, I don't copy paste.
Like it would save me a lot of time if I did. But every time I reach out to a brand, it's. All completely fresh email. I'm not wanting to do like cold reaching out to people I know they can tell. Yeah. And I actually just wanna type it out fresh each time. And I'm not maybe the most efficient at outreach because of that.
It's something that I'm also just generally new to, because I would say I only started outreaching actively in the past year. But obviously to be in this business and be in this industry, it's it's par it's 50% of the job.
And to me, like we hate the word networking so often 'cause it feels like weird drinks in a slimy bar.
People don't like to talk to. I actually love
networking, miss.
I
do too.
I
miss it. I miss it. I, we don't do it in the UK by the way, like it's. Barely a thing. Like they'll say we don't, when I lived in America, I lived in Washington, DC we would go out and literally random nights out three nights a week, they would send me, 'cause I was young and chatty, and I was like, yes.
And I would always come back the next day. They're like, who did you meet? I'm like, I don't know. But it was a good time. Like we loved networking, so I don't, I know it gets a bad rep. People don't love it. I need more of it. I'm always a yes person. Yeah. I'm like.
And we can make those ourselves, but it's so much about making friends.
Yes, people hire people they trust and and wanna spend time with. So go make friends with the people who work at brands that you want to work with or who are doing PR with brands you wanna work with. And it needs to be real and authentic, which I think you would be no matter what, like it just seems to be who you are.
So go be real, go make friends, and it all starts to work. That's why. Doing the residencies and when people have done like an artist colony, like why do all these people grow together? Because they all hung out and we're like, oh yeah, just give it to them. They'll be great. No one's doing this in-depth research to find people except a few brands and a few galleries who are truly hunting for someone new.
But most of the time it's all right, who's cool? Who's gonna do this? Who can we count on and who's gonna be fun? I think it's getting that, you're right. I think it's getting that specific.
Who would actually do this and who wants to do it. And I'm literally like, guys, I have my hands up. I don't know how else to do this.
I'm ready. Like I'm all yours and I just want, I want the perfect thing to come in that really turns into something you know, paid so that I can live my life and that I'm obsessed with, that I actually want to do and like. So that I don't have to go scampering around for smaller wins and I can focus all my energy on one big win.
That's like my kind, I would love two massive top year things a year. The way that collaboration was, it was a five day shoot. There was so much involved in it. I met so many people. I was driving that car like it was a wild time and I was sketching architecture. I was sketching the car, I was sketching.
I'm like. Yeah. Who else? Who else wants this? I'm ready. And I know that my issue is, I need to know that came to me. So I expect other things to come, but that is the wrong attitude and I've known that for a year or so. Now I gotta reach out.
And you have all those people from top gear to start reaching out to.
'cause who knows what other projects they're working on. That's true. You're very good at your networking. I'm not quite as good at you. And also the last thing I'll say about this is. The next crossover in the design world from cars is footwear, which is where I spent 20 years. So a lot of people who are footwear designers went to school for car design or other, I did not know this.
I love that so much. Good to know. Yep. So it keeps going.
There was a footwear party and I was like, I gotta be there. I gotta be there. How do I get myself to this? It was a big brand. I was like, I wanna be there. I wanna be in it, I wanna be wearing them. I wanna be involved. I just I'm blocked from that specific niche and I'm like, get me in.
Yeah. Now you have a connection, so let me know how I, you did you, of course, we ask everyone on the podcast. A few final questions to wrap up for today. The first is when you hear the words powerful and ladies, what do they mean to you? And do their definitions change when those words are next to each other?
Yes. For me, and I hadn't actually thought about powerful that well, when I think of powerful, sometimes it's got. Slightly negative, like very like big suit and tie moment. Still, to me it's still quite like almost masculine, which is tragic, but sometimes that is how I think about it. Powerful ladies, for some reason, it just makes me feel so safe.
I am. A girl's girl through and through. I can't explain it. I went to an all girls school. All my cousins are girls. Like my, I'm just one of three girls. I'm just surrounded by girls. It's not best exposure because then I'm like, I'm not auntie men, but I just find that I don't have lots of guy friends.
See, when I meet women, I genuinely see. Like the strength in each of them for different reasons. Yeah. But when I'm speaking with guys, I always struggle. I'm like, I don't know how to speak to you. I don't really know what the chat is, but I can always see something in women that I just can't explain.
I can always read them. I can understand them. That's why I find it interesting. I don't get on with a girl. 'cause I'm like, I we're the same. We're powerful girls. We're the, we put the same ideas and thoughts. So yeah, I think when I see the two, words together. That's really interesting.
It's quite positive and safe and comforting to me. It doesn't feel like powerful. Sounds quite stressful to me. Sounds quite workaholic, stress, corporate powerful. Don't know what it is. Something like money as well. Very
Yeah.
Corporate. Corporate for some reason. Yeah. And quite masculine. Yeah, that's my answer.
We also ask everyone where they put themselves in the powerful 80 scale. If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful 80 you can imagine, where would you put yourself on that scale today and on an average day?
Right now, I'm thinking eight or nine came to me real quick. And if you get me in the morning, I'm like a two, maybe a three.
Because I do not feel the same way in the morning as I do in the evening. By the evening, I'm ready, I'm committed. I'm like, I've got this. And that is the night I will meet. I literally am like, I'll achieve everything. But in the morning, I'm like, oh God, if I made the right decision, am I really doing this right?
And that's probably how a lot of people feel day to day. But for some reason, mine is morning to night.
Love that. We've also been asking everyone, what do you need? How can we help you? What's on your wishlist or to manifest this year? The Powerful Ladies is a big group and with women with all different sorts of access and knowledge.
So how can we help you?
Wow. I love that. I would actually say probably what we just spoke about I need. Connected. I need throw in at people. Take me as a ball and chuck me at people. And whoever wants to catch it, they could catch it. I am so open to everything. You never really get to an exact point in your life, or rarely are you an exact point in your life where you want your name thrown around like real fast.
I just want exposure in a way that is gonna benefit the business. I want it to. Mean that I'm not scampering for small work and that I can actually collaborate with, powerful women as well. Powerful ladies. I'd love to be connected with a lot more girls at the top, people that could happily pass me around saying, oh, by the way, I know this really creative artist and architectural illustrator.
She could draw what you're talking about while you're talking about it. I'd love that kinda thing. Not sure how helpful that is, but that's what I would always think is what I'm in need of at this current stage in my life right now.
For everyone who wants to follow you, support you, catch you, where can they find you and reach out?
You can find me on Instagram. It's artsy molkey. My last name is Molkey and my name is Louisa Molkey. And then it's art. So you can find me on Instagram and TikTok and soon on every other platform that I find myself on. Also LinkedIn. Yes, Louisa Molkey on
LinkedIn.
I always forget about LinkedIn, but she's a powerful one.
It is, and it's becoming more powerful. I, it's, I think it's, I had people ask me the other day, should I make a LinkedIn? I'm like. Yes. I don't know how I'd function without it. I get. More business, more connections, more leads through LinkedIn than anything else. Fascinating
and I
love
that. And I
need to take
that with me this evening when I begin my work and it's already seven 30 at night and I'm just beginning bring onto LinkedIn.
The tip, all lead for LinkedIn is people like to have discussions on LinkedIn. So you can use the same post you may have put somewhere else or video. But have a prompt be an open-ended question like, do you agree with me? How would you do this instead? What are your five, because the people like to share their knowledge and engage in a, in that way of happy to jump in and share and give their 2 cents and.
It's really interesting. It's so hard to get people to respond to a question on Instagram sometimes, but on LinkedIn. Yeah.
People I agree with you. People on Instagram are very much aware of themselves. Commenting, TikTok, everyone just screams at each other and it's wild play. It's a wild west, but LinkedIn is a lot more engaged maybe, but I think it's.
You're right. If I'm wanting to be reaching certain people, I think LinkedIn is actually, for me, a lot of the ways to go. I definitely use it, but I could use it a lot more.
Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. It's so nice to meet you. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and your experience with us today. I can't wait to see where you go this year.
I have some people I wanna connect you with in London for sure. Yay. Yes, sorry. And yeah, no, you're allowed to say yay. And then hopefully we get to meet in person if you're in the US or I'm back in London and yeah, just, I'm here. So let me know if you need anything. Oh, thank you, Kara. That's amazing.
And I love what you've
done with this. This is stunning, and I just, I feel so safe and happy.
All the links to connect with Louisa, earn her show notes@thepowerfulladies.com. Please subscribe and review this podcast wherever you're listening and come join us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies. To connect directly with me, visit kara duffy.com or Kara Duffy on Instagram. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode.
Until then, I hope we're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
Related Episodes
Episode 226: Claire Buckley | Fine Artist
Episode 237: Andrew Petterson | Artist, Creator, Engineer, Fabricator
Episode 155: How An Unexpected Debilitating Allergy Revealed the Artist Within Carrie Schmitt
Instagram: artsyschmolke
Website: louisaschmolke.com
LinkedIn: louisa-schmolke
TikTok: @artsyschmolke
Email: louisa.schmolke@hotmail.co.uk
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
