Today we’d like to introduce you to Memory Thomas.
Memory, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It was 2015 and I was living in Vegas at this point for about three years. I was working through some personal issues at the time and I was numbing it by working all day and partying all night then waking up the next day and doing it all over again. I remember feeling extremely sad and alone. I began to feel lost. I began to feel like I was losing who I was…like my environment lacked a level of meaning especially for someone who grew up getting lost in any book I could get my hands on, writing mini songs and poetry books, and using creative expression as a way to escape. I needed something.
I started rearranging my bedroom lol. While rearranging my room I discovered a big empty sketch pad collecting cobwebs under my bed. I wish I could remember who gave it to me and thank them. It was given to me months before and I had no use for it. Something made me grab a pencil, open that sketch pad and start drawing. I had never taken any kind of art class in my life but by nature, I knew how to draw what I saw.
I was big on collecting fashion magazines at the time, like Vogue and V. My process would include grabbing one of my magazines flipping through the pages until I found something that inspired me and sketching an idea around what I found that inspired me. I eventually collected a bunch of drawings and hung them on my bedroom wall so it felt like I was sleeping in an art museum every night. When people would come over, they’d take photos and post my art wall on their socials, all amazed. I thought it was funny. It was only a hobby to keep my mind stimulated and my surroundings familiar. One day my cousin suggested I start making money off of drawing since It was something I became passionate about. I couldn’t see myself as just an artist though, I didn’t even view art as a serious career due to the stigma surrounding an art career and when you come from nothing, a career that doesn’t appear as it will guarantee success, is scary.
Being the person I am, with the work ethic I have, I wanted more than just creating works of art for people. What I wanted to do was to build a brand around my art with a message, something bigger with hopes that this brand would one day become a business or marketing/ad agency that will produce more than just visual art.
I did an overview of my art and I realized all the art I had drawn reflected women. Me, my sisters, my mom, my friends and all other women, both different and alike. I realized all these pieces of art I created had a common denominator which was mostly pain. Upon realizing this pattern that occurred subconsciously, the name womanthouart was created.
Shortly after, I moved back home to LA to started to create art under the name womanthouart, networking and learning the ins and out of how to go about taking art seriously as a career. Since then, I’ve been in 3 different art shows, I’ve held my own small solo show, I’ve created multiple works of art for people, I’ve hosted and put together paint and sip events dedicated to women empowerment and I learned how to build my own website from the ground up. Everyday I’m still learning and growing to get to that ultimate goal.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As a self-taught artist, the road has not been easy at all. I am aware that building something doesn’t happen overnight but I love to learn and grow. I have had to do a lot of research and self-learning to figure out, from ground up how to perfect a smooth, clean process for creating my art, and how to package and mail it. I’ve had to learn myself how to hang my art and etc. I’ve struggled with the smallest things that seemed easy from the outside in but really every little thing is a science. From using quality tools to learning how to draw on larger scales. It took me two years to create my website and portfolio exactly how I wanted it without paying an outside source. At times I’ve had people who have scammed me out of an art piece and people who didn’t believe in me or take me serious. There’s also the factor of how much money it takes to build something. You’ve gotta buy art supplies consistently and pay for your website monthly. There’s business cards and products you have to invest in. I’ve had to carry two jobs to provide for myself and sometimes I’m too tired to create.
Despite all of these things, I am absolutely grateful. For with trial, comes tribulation and where there is failure there is room for growth. I knew how hard it would be going into this. Quite frankly, it’s been a challenge and challenges excite me!
Please tell us about Womanthouart.
My art persona and name I create under is womanthouart. I specialize in visual art that usually reflects womanhood, culture and reason. I don’t really like to box myself to any specific art style, I have my own style. But if I had to, I’d say my art is mixed media and pop art. I’m influenced by Roy Lichenstein and Andy Warhol and their stand against traditional art by challenging the art world and showing us that one does not have to create fine art to be taken serious as an artist or considered one.
When creating, I use anything from book pages, printed material, glitter, rhinestones, acrylic paint, watercolor, sharpies and pastels. I make it a habit of making my art bright like fashion magazine pages and throwing in something shiny to draw attention to a bigger issue or question a moral belief. I make it a habit to include some type of black culture so I feel connected to it and maintain my identity.
I am most proud of how far I have come and how much I have learned and built having no knowledge of the art business and no prior art experience whatsoever. and I’m proud I haven’t given up because its easy to give up and be complacent in a corporate job. I’m proud of my courage to become vulnerable and put what goes on in my head about life, love and my experiences down on a canvas or paper for all to dissect.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My childhood was like something out a John Hughes film. There was me and my three other sisters and we were stair steps so we got into everything. We’d be out and about in the neighborhood until the street lights came on. Everyday was an adventure.
I have a lot of great memories but some of my most favorite memories are the walks to school. My sisters and I would save the 90 cents my dad left us for the bus every morning for a snack at lunch and take the hour-long walk to school. We played games, we raced different routes and see who got their first. We laughed, we argued, we fought, we made us raps and songs, we met new friends along the way, we played American idol. We’d walk by each house and guess the type of people who lived in those homes, imagine ourselves and a family of our own in those homes. All this before 7am just the four of us.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1316 S Meadown Lane apt 187
Colton, CA 92324 - Website: www.womanthouart.com
- Phone: 5623292031
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @womanthouart
Image Credit:
All shots taken by myself or my friend Donnell Warren: @deekaydoubleyou
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