About a year ago I decided to call my agents and tell them I would be "booking out" meaning I wouldn't be available for auditions for the inevitable future. This was a HUGE decision since I had moved to Los Angeles in 2008 with $1,000 in my bank account and a dream of making it big (preferably in my own hit comedy series)! At the time of my "quitting" I had been in LA for 9 years and for most of that time I had taken menial jobs like nannying and dog walking so that most of my day could be open and available for when Hollywood called me for that fantastic audition where I'd need to drive an hour and a half in gridlock to get to that once in a lifetime audition where most likely my line would be "We're out of coconut milk... is almond milk ok?" but then they'd say the line was cut out can you just 'look bored?' and my answer would be "Yes, I can!" Most of my years in LA were spent hustling, taking improv and acting classes and working to pay the bills... so many bills. Every once in a while I'd actually book a role on TV (see above photographic evidence) and it made everything worth it until one day it didn't...
Let me back up. I've always been an artist and have been painting since a young age. I studied Interior Design and Art in college even though I really wanted to run away to Hollywood and start paying my dues.
So why wasn't acting worth it anymore? A couple years ago I just couldn't nanny or dog walk anymore. I'd been nannying for over a decade and as I was hurtling toward my mid thirties and I just had run out of patience for other people's kids and pets. But the problem was I'd spent my whole adult life pursuing acting and had barely used my degrees and had no useable skills (uh oh). I'd been painting so long and it was so innate I didn't even think of it as a skill but then a lightbulb went off and I realized maybe I could get a job using this skill!?? Long story short I became a painting teacher at the local "paint and sip" studio and then in June, 2017 I became the owner! I started reflecting on these changes over a year later and realized why don't I miss acting more? And I think I figured it out... I'm not an actor or a painter or an improviser or a comedian or a fill in the blank... I'M AN ARTIST. All the things I do are to create art in one form or another and with painting I don't need anyone else's permission to do it. With acting (unless you are a filmmaker) it's a whole bunch of waiting for the phone to ring. Yes, you can prepare and hone your craft and hope opportunity meets preparation and equals success but I just couldn't keep living that way. I needed to make and create my own art and not wait for a casting director to give me permission to do my thang so that's why I quit acting. As I think about the future I think my new goal is to continue creating art and to keep simplifying my life. I'm on a journey to get back to simple. Getting back to simple for me means thinking about simple pleasures like North Carolina, where I grew up, which probably inspired these latest pieces which I will leave you with. More can be viewed here: http://www.daisyfaithart.com/shop?category=animals
