Meet Haley Jane: Painter, Designer, & Recording Artist

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

Hi Haley, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk is essential in business. So many amazing opportunities start with risk. If you risk nothing then how will you reach your full potential. Becoming a professional artist was a risk for me. There are no guarantees in life, especially in the art world. There’s no formula or certification that you can get that will make you a successful artist. Art is crazy like that. That’s why there are sayings like “starving artists” or “you’ll be famous after you die”. It’s because it’s really that hard to make a living being an artist, but if you are a risk taker like me, you’ll stumble upon opportunities and ways to make money and market yourself. For example, doing my first Scope international contemporary Art Show in Miami. I knew no one that collected art in Miami, The booth was very expensive, I had no idea how to ship my art, sell my art for the price I was wanting, and I had absolutely no help. Somehow I figured everything out, how to ship my art, sell my art, and not only did I sell 10 out of 14 paintings, I sold them for the prices I wanted with no agent or anyone helping. If I hadn’t taken a leap of faith I would still be in my hometown of Sacramento, CA wondering how to become an international artist. Similar to how I started my Clothing brand, Dreamworld, at www.weardreamworld.com, I went to Atlanta to do an art show there during the 2019 super bowl in Atlanta. I made 50 t-shirts to sell at the art show. I had no idea if I would sell any or if I would even sell any art. I didn’t sell any art there, but I gifted a shirt to my friend who was a stylist and he put it on Ludacris to wear at the main Super Bowl concert. After that I decided to create my brand Dreamworld Clothing, I am now in 24 boutiques across the united states and British Columbia. It’s little risks like this that you never know how they will turn out. Some are blessings in disguise. Like muhammad Ali said, “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life”. Check out my art as well at www.haleysart.com

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am an artist from Sacramento, CA. I started my art company 2009, but took a long hiatus and came back to my art in 2018. I think I let fear stop me from putting in the work I needed, to become successful. Being an artist can be scary at times. There’s no guaranteed paycheck and no way of knowing your art will resonate with the viewer enough for them to purchase the art. I’ve learned to put my heart into my art and paint things that people can identify with. People Identify with quotes and sayings, or inspirational mantras. I started a series in 2019 for Art Basel for Scope International, that was all around the concept of happiness and finding yourself and your journey in life. I took maps of different countries, cities and states and painted on top of them and used quotes that were up lifting. One quote I found by Bryan Anthonys “Do not be afraid to leave your old world behind, Be brave enough to travel to the unknown to open yourself to something new. Strive to see extraordinary places and meet extraordinary people. Dream with the dreamers and do what you once thought was unthinkable. explore with the explorers and discover endless possibilities. Do not let fear be your map. Do not let comfort determine where you stay. Let curiosity guide you, let your eagerness for adventure for diversity, for aliveness lead you. Do not be afraid of getting lost, you may just find what you need. lose your logic, find your soul. lose your path, find your direction. lose your way and find yourself. You have the power to determine your journey, listen to your heart and you will always be home” Quotes like these were on my art at the Scope Art Show and really resonated with the people looking at my art. I wanted to grasp an emotion inside them so they would not only be inspired, but they would also have to buy my art and also remember my art when they were going through something in their personal life. Due to covid things have definitely been tough as an artist, but luckily I have been able to showcase here and there. I recently was a part of Cube Art fair. They had an art show on 50 billboards across miami. This was a great way to still showcase even though Art basel was cancelled. I also just recently had the opportunity to be featured in playboy for my art. I am not only an artist, but also a designer as well, I have a clothing brand called Dreamworld Clothing. I use my art on graphic tees, hoodies and hats. So despite the crazy circumstances with everything being cancelled this year, I was still able to sell clothing consistently. I am currently in 24 stores across the U.S. and I also have an online store at www.weardreamworld.com.

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.
If I was in Miami with friends I would love to take them to Wynwood. This is where huge murals of art are displayed on buildings and walls. I have only been there once briefly, so I would love to go myself again. Last time I went I stumbled upon a graffiti artist named Grabster. He told me he has been doing murals I think for 20 years, which is amazing. Hearing about how he is able to sketch his design before painting was really interesting to learn. I am also a huge fan of ocean drive. I love the ocean. I’m a scorpio so I am a water sign. Water makes me feel centered and helps calm me and when I’m feeling centered and ready to have some more excitement ocean drive is full of shops and restaurants to discover. I would also love to travel out of the country again when restrictions are lifted. I really want to go to Greece or back to Paris. I studied abroad in Paris when I was 19. I would love to go back now that I am much older and experience the same things but with wiser eyes. I’m so sad that Notre dame burned down though. That was one of my favorite landmarks there. I would love to visit Monet’s gardens again and see the beautiful flowers and see his quirky little house.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank Scope International Contemporary Show for giving me a chance to showcase my Art in 2019 in Miami at Art Basel. They not only launched my art career to what it is today but also solidified me as an international artist. They gave me the confidence to sell my art at what it is worth and something to build off of. They didn’t have to accept my art into the show, but they did! I also want to thank Cube Art fair, especially Gregoire Vogelsang who reached out to me during the pandemic to invite me to be a part of Cube Art Fair in Miami 2020 which ran congruent with Art Basel, even though Art Basel was Cancelled. I was able to showcase on 50 billboards across Miami. I am so thankful for these opportunities.

Website: www.haleysart.com

Instagram: @haleyz.jpg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Haley.Jane.Music/

Other: www.weardreamworld.com