Meet Vanessa Leone | Arbol de la Vida ( Tree of Life ) Artist

As an artist, my deep sense of curiosity and exploration lead me in many creative directions over the years which made defining who I am as an artist difficult. My journey as an Arbol de la Vida artist has been much smoother and I believe it’s because of my focused strategy to create, brand and market only Mexican Trees of Life. This focus sends a clear message of who I am as an artist, which has lead to stronger customer traction and sales. So in a nutshell, I would say the success of Sablan Ceramics has come from clearly defining myself and my art early on and not allowing myself to get sidetracked on other ideas. Don’t get me wrong, I keep a list of all those “ideas” but save those for when the time is right. Focus brings clarity to your marketing and branding.

The loss of my brother gave me the courage to become a Mexican Tree of Life artist. I had never shared my art before but his passing reminded me life is short and we must make the best of the time we have left. My background was in marketing and media research and I tried for many years to fit into the corporate world. I believed that art was a hobby not a job. Not true. Art can be a full time job and a successful business.

I would like the world to know my Arbols de la Vida ( Mexican Trees of Life ) are all one of a kind handmade originals. Many people ask me to create custom memorial Trees of Life for loved ones. It’s a colorful and joyful way to remember their memory.

In terms of challenges, the hardest part for most artists is valuing yourself and your art. When you first start off as an artist, you are just so happy someone would buy your art so you price low. So the first lesson would be, know your value and price accordingly.

The second lesson is don’t try to make everything for everyone. Be the master of one really great thing and go deep, become the master. Customers are people of habit and if every time they see a post from you and it’s something different or not related to what you’ve been creating you can lose their interest. So stay focused on who you are as an artist.

South Orange County is full of many great things but some of my favorite places are:

To my finance Patrick, family and friends who support and encourage me pursuing my dream. And to all the help and guidance from above 🙂