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

Hi Neena, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?

I attribute my success to putting myself in positions that align with what I want and what I stand for. At the end of the day I only want to grow in a direction that pushes my skills and creativity. I’m happiest when I’m contributing to something I believe in and that’s what my focus has been from the start.

I had to get comfortable declining jobs and opportunities that aren’t meaningful, despite them paying well or creating growth for my business. May 2021 until about September 2021 my business was my only income, and I was really proud of that – but I didn’t feel successful and I wasn’t fulfilled. When you have a new business there are good months and bad months. At the time I was accepting every job opportunity that came my way in order to save for a potentially bad month, but some jobs weren’t aligning with the direction I wanted my business to go in and it was putting a cap on my fulfillment. In September I made the decision to get a part time job, and I started working at Arts Umbrella which gave me the financial flexibility I needed in order to continue pushing my business in a direction I was proud of.

I think that success is subjective, but I choose to define success as living up to my own expectations and doing everything I can to create from a place of love and desire.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My career is hard to pin down to art making, it’s a mix of art making and art teaching. I’ve always been really infatuated by the idea of being my able to support myself doing something I love, it doesn’t feel like there’s ever been another option. I love a lot of things and so there was no guarantee that art would become my career, but I’m really glad it has. Making and selling art as someone’s sole source of income is really hard and the thought of that is really daunting to me. I think trying to just do one thing would make it hard for me to continue to love what I do because of the pressure. A lot of different elements are integrated into my career, they all inform each other. I’m able to make artwork and sell it in local shops and in exhibitions that feature my work, artist run centres also pay their artists fees to work which is huge in paying for supplies materials and time. Taking on photography commissions is another route of my business that has brought me consistency, and also brought me into teaching. I’m a contract teacher through Arts Umbrella and DAREarts: with DAREarts I teach film photography classes and through Arts Umbrella I teach clay sculpture, parent and me, and drawing + painting classes. I’m hoping to start doing private and group lessons outside of these institutions soon, that’s something I’m in the process of cooking up right now so stay tuned!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Haha this is hard for me! I feel like I’m always running from one place to another and it’s hard to remember the places I would frequent pre-covid. Granville island and the public market are big ones for sure. It’s definitely an artist hub and there’s so many cool local shops to check out. Vancouver is also full of art galleries and artist run centres, Access gallery, Grunt gallery and Telephone gallery are all really dope, Telephone gallery has a really fun concept where the exhibiting artist gets to pick the next featured artist.

Choosing a food spot would be hard for me! There’s a hole in the wall Pho place on Kingsway and Victoria drive but I don’t know the name, but it’s the best Pho broth I’ve ever had hands down. Sushi is also a must. The General Public/The Eatery sushi has a really cool aesthetic and my Japanese boyfriend has given their rice his seal of approval so probably there!

And I can’t forget Richmond night market, it has tons of interesting yummy food and fun games. All the vendors there are great.

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?
My best friend and my creative soulmate Trsit, who I lovingly call T but most people know as Trs (@trs.mp3 on Instagram) has been my rock through all this. They’re an incredibly talented singer, songwriter, creator, and overall artist. T has seen me through every single moment of my creative journey since I moved to the mainland in 2016 and brought me along on her own. T knows what I’m like when I’m in my power, every time I’m questioning myself I can look at her and know that if she thinks I’m onto something then I am. I wouldn’t have half of the creative community or network that I have now if it wasn’t for them, she’s opened so many doors for me and I’m eternally grateful for her trust and support.

Website: lifeofneena.com

Instagram: @lifeofneena

Image Credits
Neena Robertson

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