DU sophomore, Kaylee Schuler, recently opened up an online art shop in April to show her love for art and inspire others to create. At DU, she is studying English with minors in Studio Art and Spanish and is involved with the Queer Student Alliance (QSA). Off campus, she is a member of Castle Rock Writers and the Denver Woman’s Press Club.
Schuler’s work can be found on her portfolio site. Her novella “Midnight: A Wolf’s Tale” can be purchased through The Book Patch, and prints and stickers can be purchased from her art shop. For other works, commissions and updates, she can be found on her Instagram page. Schuler’s most recent short story “Eternal” was accepted on May 15 for publication in a forthcoming issue of the pride anthology, “Decoded.”
Schuler is featured as part of the Clarion’s Arts & Life series promoting student work. In an interview with The Clarion, she discussed her love of writing and art, her creative process and what’s next on her list of projects.
Skylar: How did you get started writing and drawing creatively?
Kaylee: Writing and art are things that I’ve always done. They come naturally to me. I am a very creative person and a visual learner. My parents were always supportive of my art and writing, and that has definitely made a big impact on me continuing to follow those passions.
When I was eight years old, I sat down one day and decided, ‘You know what, I’m going to write a book.’ I carried around this tattered green folder with loose-leaf paper tucked in it, and I wrote what has become a self-published middle-grade novella that I published at 11. As for art, I’ve taken a lot of art classes at school and I try to enter contests just to get my work out there. It is just always been something that I’ve felt like I had to do.
Skylar: Can you tell me about the process of publishing your novella?
Kaylee: Self-publishing can be all over the map. There is a lot of different ways to do it and a lot of different places that you can go to get it done. I did it through an online service called The Book Patch. You upload all your information—like your text, designs and cover—and they print the books for you. It’s really simple. It was easy to get the books put together and printed. The hard part is marketing when it comes to self-publishing, which is something I’m not the greatest at. But I wrote it and I’m proud of it.
Skylar: How would you describe your art style?
Kaylee: It is kind of all over the map. Throughout my life, I’ve been encouraged by my parents, teachers and friends to expand my skill set. I experimented with a lot of styles and different mediums across digital art and traditional art. I would say there are a lot of things that I can draw well, but what I tend to gravitate towards is drawing people. My style is usually a little cartoony, a little realistic, kind of somewhere in the middle.
Skylar: Could you tell me about your art store? What inspired you to open it?
Kaylee: It is still very much in the works. It is the first online shop I’ve set up on my own. I tried Etsy for a while, but that didn’t really work out. I have been making art forever, and more recently I’ve been getting into commissions and trying to make a little money off my passion. I decided, kind of on a whim, to put together an online art shop where I sell prints, stickers and custom commissions. Right now, I only take payment through PayPal. Hopefully, that will change if I get a steady stream of people buying things. I used Wix as the website builder, and it was really easy to use. I built the website in about a week and a half.
The reason I wanted to open the shop was about more than a little extra cash. Something I hope to do in the future is table at conventions like Comic-Con where I can sell my art and get my name out there in the art world. I want to share the work that I’m proud of and hopefully inspire other people to do art and to realize their passions. I hope others realize that art is worth something—not just monetarily, but also it has value to culture and society.
Skylar: What is your creative process like?
Kaylee: I don’t have a very organized way of doing much of anything. When it comes to art, if I have an idea of something that I want to create, I try to write it down because I forget otherwise. What tends to happen is that I get spurts of productivity and inspiration, where I start a project and work on it nonstop until I get burned out.
With both writing and art, I tend to be a “pantser.” There is this running joke in the writing community that there are two types of writers: “planners” who make outlines and plan what they do before they write and “pantsers” who just fly by the seat of their pants. The second type is kind of how I do writing and art. I note my inspiration down, and then I fly with it and see where it takes me.
Skylar: What do you hope people will take away from your artwork?
Kaylee: Something I think about a lot is how my younger self would feel looking at my artwork today. Seeing the progress that I’ve made and the fact that I have continued to pursue it as a real passion is what I use to further my goals and inspire people. I hope that something people get from my art is inspiration to continue doing whatever it is they love.
I make a lot of art that I hope evokes emotion. Emotion is something that’s really crucial to the process and end result. I make a lot of pieces that relate to things like mental health and sexuality, as they are integral to who I am and often misunderstood. I try to use my artwork to inform, empower and have a positive influence on people and movements.
Skylar: What is the relationship like between art and writing for you?
Kaylee: They are very, very close to me. I make a lot of art based on the stories that I write. Since I’m such a visual person, I like to visually represent how I picture my characters in different situations and environments.
I have done or at least attempted a couple of longer graphic novel/comic-type projects. There is a very close relationship between art and writing as creative pursuits and modes of expression. They almost always go hand-in-hand with me.
Skylar: What advice do you have for aspiring artists and authors?
Kaylee: Don’t get caught up in comparing yourself to others, and don’t stop. I had a hard time when I was younger feeling confident in my craft because I knew there were so many people who were more skilled, better and older. It can be really disheartening, thinking you will never be as good as those people.
But the thing about creativity is that art and writing are so subjective. The hierarchy we have created for ourselves and society of what is good and not good is mostly arbitrary. If it is something that you love to do, then do it. It doesn’t matter if other people don’t like, get or understand it because you should create for you.
You don’t have to wait to get the gold star that says, ‘You have experienced enough life to write.’ Just do whatever you want. Do what makes you happy, and do what you love and makes you feel alive. Don’t give up on that passion because the world tells you that you need to be the best or that you need to be profitable or productive.
Skylar: Do you have any future plans for your shop?
Kaylee: I’m going to be continually updating my portfolio website as I create more art. The same goes for the shop. I will continue to add pieces that are available for purchase. Hopefully, I will be able to get to the point where I can accept multiple forms of payment and make it easier on my customers who don’t have PayPal. My plan is to keep it running and keep promoting it. Like my art and my writing, I’m just gonna follow it where it takes me.
Through this time, the Clarion remains devoted to highlighting student work. In this section, we will be featuring podcasts, blogs, and projects that have been created and are run by students. If you or someone you know is interested in being featured, email duclarioneditorialteam@gmail.com.
