Meet Catalina Villegas: Illustrator and Multimedia Artist

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

Hi Catalina, can you tell us about an impactful book you’ve read and why you liked it or what impact it had on you?
There’s a very interesting book called “Everything I learned about business I learned from the Grateful Dead: The ten most innovative lessons from a long, strange trip.” Artists are often cataloged as free spirits with no administration skills, and while this does ring true to some extent, it’s fascinating to learn from the process of other creatives and how they have built their empires and success. As a lifelong rock and roll fan, I was immediately intrigued when Barry Barnes released this book. There are many lessons that can be applied to all sorts of disciplines in this easy read and I will share a few that stood out. Superior Customer Value. The Dead were deeply committed to proving a high-quality experience for their fans. This would range from assuring the person in the backseat got the same experience as the person in the front of a stadium concert, by investing in their enormous sound systems (the Wall of Sound). The Dead kept it personal and up-close with their fans. On the jacket of their 1971 live album “Grateful Dead”, the band printed the following note: “Who are you? Where are you? Send us your name and address and we’ll keep you informed”. 350 people responded right away and the old-school mailing list grew to numbers over forty thousand in 1974. By the nineties, the list had grown to over 90,000 people. They wrote a newsletter that was free of cost to fans and included information such as tour schedule, news about the band, drawing, writing, and poems by Jerry Garcia. It’s an interesting perspective for us freelance artists, to take inspiration from, and utilize in the way we use modern-day elements like email newsletters, social media, and even in-person offerings, between our followers, fans, and customers and our businesses. 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Art has always been my natural state. I never conceived life without involvement in some sort of artistic endeavour. As a kid I would relish in doodling and drawing with my colored pencils. I even sold Looney Tunes drawings as a 5th grader to my friends. Music has been crucial in my development too…from piano to guitar and now as a consolidated rock bass player for about 20 years. I always knew I wanted to work in art and with art but couldn’t pinpoint the exact discipline. I went to art school and learned a whole lot about conceptualizing. Anything in terms of commercializing your work was frowned upon. So I taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator and began freelancing with graphic design on the side. I had a regular day job as a very young adult…from a record shop sales associate to a receptionist at a law firm, and even teaching English overseas. It did not make sense at the time but in 2015 I enrolled in an online course taught by Lilla Rogers and began to learn all about the illustration industry. Then it clicked. You can draw pretty things, companies pay for them, and put then them on products! Mind blown. It’s been my calling ever since. Beautifying surfaces, products and even digital experiences. The great thing about it too is that this weaves into the digital realm, so things like augmented reality filters to designing art for temporary tattoos is a possibility for me to make a living as an artist. I still work as a graphic designer. I enjoy going back and forth between these two connected worlds. Some graphic design stuff is obviously not creatively flexible like most illustration stuff…but I really love the challenges associated with solving problems, which is the very basis of design. I just keep it super positive and always make gratitude the number one thing to infuse in my day. It’s the center of my practice as a human in this earthly realm.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m so boring and I honestly don’t go out, haha. I make a mean chai from scratch…so if my friends are visiting, my house is probably the number spot for something like that. If going out is absolutely necessary it will definitely involve heading to the beach in Pompano. It’s lowkey and beautiful and it always helps me reset when I need it most. I have a thing for sunsets so you will find me heading there first thing at the crack of dawn. My sacred place.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a HUGE shouout to a very talented and loving woman named Juliana Forero. She is an art powerhouse and works in non-profit arts management including fundraising, art exhibitions, and educational programs development. I met her via Instagram several years ago and we ended up working on several beautiful exhibits for the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. Her drive and passion fuel my art world and I am blessed to have her in my life. She currently runs a really cool project called Nomad Art Projects and she is doing many wonderful things for the community.

Website: www.catalinavillegas.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/cativillegas
Youtube: www,youtube.com/cativillegas

Image Credits
Portrait Photo by Carlos Corredor