The Mosaic Life with Laura W.
The Mosaic Life with Laura W.
Exploring the Intersection of Art & Entrepreneurship w/ Julieta Fumberg
Julieta Fumberg shares her captivating journey from the bustling city of Buenos Aires to the tranquil mountains of Asheville, where her artistic spirit truly flourished. Inspired by her father’s entrepreneurial drive, Julieta turned her childhood fascination with cameras and creativity into a thriving business by age 21. Her narrative beautifully merges art and business, highlighting the power of creativity and problem-solving in both realms.
Join us as we explore the vibrant and expressive universe of abstract art through Julieta’s eyes. She delves into her paintings' emotional impact on viewers and the distinct technicalities of working with acrylics, watercolors, and oils. Julieta also opens up about the challenges and rewards of creating large-scale pieces and shares her valuable insights into the business side of art—commissioned work, studio visits, and the crucial importance of truly feeling the art.
Reflecting on the pandemic's impact, Julieta offers candid insights into the resilience needed to navigate tough times. Her emphasis on balancing optimism with realism, managing stress, and celebrating small victories serves as a beacon of hope for entrepreneurs everywhere. As we wrap up, we ensure you have all the details to connect with Julieta and continue to be inspired by her remarkable journey. Don't miss this episode for a dose of inspiration and practical insights into the intersection of art and entrepreneurship.
Websites:
https://www.julietafumberg.com
https://www.julietafumbergphotography.com
https://www.julietafumbergdesign.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtistJulietaFumberg
Instagram: @artistjulietafumberg
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julietafumberg/
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Good morning. I'm your host, laura Wagner-Kanesh, owner of Mosaic Business Consulting, and you're listening to the Mosaic Life with Laura W. A mosaic is a bunch of pieces that, when put together, make up the whole in a really beautiful way, and this show plans to discuss the various pieces of a business throughout different industries and how these pieces, when put together, can develop a better, more efficient and effective running of your business. So to reach me, contact bizradious. Today my guest is the me contact bizradious. Today my guest is the amazing Julieta Fumberg, and, oh my goodness, I'm so in. We've been trying to schedule this for six years I don't know how many years. It's been insane, it's been humorous. We keep trying and then something comes up.
Laura :But anyway, julieta is from the vibrant heart of Buenos Aires, right, a city where culture and art dance in the streets. She is a multidisciplinary visual artist, weaving her story through acrylics, watercolors, graphic design and photography, and her journey has taken her through many places throughout the world, but it is in the enchanting mountains of Asheville that she found her sanctuary and a place to call home, and we are so thrilled to have her here. Her artistic style is urban and disruptive, a bold symphony of colors that burst forth in every medium. She touches beyond her canvas. She is a fervent tennis player I'm so into that. A lover of cats love that as well. And a seeker of nature's wonders love that as well. So, um, we really do click, we, and we do like each other. So it's amazing we never got this off the ground. Anyway, welcome to the show, julietta. It is great to have you, thank you.
Julieta :Thank you for having me. I'm excited to, yeah, finally get to talk on the air. Uh, after, after, trying for a minute, but hey it all. It happened in the right time at the right place. That's all that matters exactly no issues there.
Laura :I am kind of curious. You know what prompted you to go into art. Why did you find yourself going excuse me along that avenue versus anything else that you could have done in life?
Julieta :So my journey started when I was very, very young. I found this out not long ago, that when I was three years old, I was having a conversation with my mom and my mom asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, right, and my answer was I am an artist. It wasn't, I will be. I'm going no, no, I am. Oh, wow. And she asked me other questions after, but that was like the one thing that kind of stuck when she told me this story. Because that's kind of how I feel yes, it is my business and yes, it is what I do. But I don't remember a time where I wasn't being creative, like I see something and I want to make it into something else, I want to give it my touch or whatever that is. So, yeah, I don't remember a time where I wasn't making something, when I wasn't creating some kind of art piece or, you know, playing with my cameras and my dad always had cameras, which, again, I was digitizing some old video the other day and I'm always carrying. Either I'm the one filming or I was with the actual photo camera in my hand. So it's been kind of the thing. I do my in my hand. So it's been kind of the thing I do yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julieta :And eventually, when I was 21, I decided to open my creative business, which is when it was like, okay, I don't want to do anything else, I don't like working for other people because I don't, um, and so I kind of had to open like, well, my, oh, my dad has always been an entrepreneur, so I'm like you know what I'm just. Well, my dad has always been an entrepreneur, so I'm like you know what? I'm just going to open my business. And so I did, and the way that I've built it, it's helped me to kind of move wherever I wanted to move because of the digital era. But, yeah, if it's not on a canvas, it will be a digital graphic or, you know, photography it's digital, video is digital. Everything is kind of I can do it wherever I go and still make it work. So, and people have, and people have flown me out for things too, so yeah, if I make it work, that's all.
Laura :Your dad, you said he was an entrepreneur um, what does? What did he do? Or does he do as an entrepreneur?
Julieta :Well, he's an electronic engineer and he's still alive. He lives in Argentina. He moved back after many years, but he's always been. He had the analytical side, but he's always been extremely creative too, in whatever he did. Because you have to be a problem solver, which is what being creative, it's part of being. That's why humans are creative by default, and people are like, oh no, I'm not creative, like, no, no, you are, you just don't. You're just not artistic. You might not be artistic or might not be attracted to being artistic, but you're still creative. So, yeah, my dad is an electronic engineer, my mom was. It used to be a teacher. She's not a teacher anymore, but, um, yeah, he was. He had his own business just creating motherboards for, like sensing it was. He did this for a long time. Capacity sensors, I think they're called I don't I know it in Spanish. It's it's just to count things, it's to count quantities of things, and it just does it by itself. It sensors the thing and it counts the quantities of whatever. So he did that for many, many years.
Laura :But yeah, he always he was, he's always been a business owner. I don't I never saw him work for anybody ever. So what did that instill in you, watching him be this business owner and such? What did that do for you in your thinking as you approached your own business?
Julieta :Well, I think it was a lot of like, it's personal, it's possible, right, you can't be your your own boss? Second of all, be resilient, because I've seen the waves of his business going up and down and mainly living in argentina most of our life. That that was really contrast from like, oh yeah, we're having a lot of money, oh, no, we're gonna eat. Like nothing today. You know like super like up and down, um, but he made it work. Whatever it is that he needed to do, he made it work he had.
Julieta :Sometimes he will have some years he will have big accounts. Some years he didn't. You know, depending what contract he will get. You know for a company that they needed certain things or not. So, uh, I saw I just lived with that all my life and he would do whatever he wanted because he was his own boss. So you know what I mean. It's it's. It's one of those things where you see it around and you're like, oh, I can do that too. I think I can figure it out. So that encouraged me to just do it, even if I was afraid of you know what's going to happen. I think that life is uncertain either way. So I don't care if you're working for somebody or being your own boss. It's still uncertain. The job security is just an illusion. It doesn't exist.
Laura :Anything can happen tomorrow.
Julieta :Yeah, I find it hilarious when somebody doesn't like oh no, but it's a job. I'm like they can fire you tomorrow. Yeah, yeah, and they're not going to care. Yeah, it's a big corporation or something yeah.
Julieta :Yeah, and small people too, I mean, they will take care of themselves before they take care of you. You know it's it's always that fine line. It's always that fine line. You know there's so much that they can actually do for you If they're going down or going under. There's so much they can do for you. So not not on purpose, that's what I'm saying. It's not on purpose, but you know there's so much they can do for you. So I just decided to open my business and see what happened, you know.
Laura :And so you've opened your business and you've really got two tracks. You have your artwork and then you have your photography business right and videography and things like that right and design, and design.
Julieta :Design is actually how I started, because it was the low-hanging fruit, so it was very simple for me to just not out of thin air, but make it quicker to start making money, which was through branding and web development. I already knew how to code because my schools in Argentina were technical schools, so I already knew how to do a lot of programming and stuff like that. And back then we did have to code all the websites fully Not now anymore, thankfully, which makes me more money but back then you had to fully code every single website. And so I started to create brands and do graphic design you know, flyers, business cards, logos, you name it and websites, because back then they were kind of starting to come about and that kind of took off and helped me to actually build from there.
Julieta :I've always painted, I've always done all the things that I do, I've always done them, but they were not always commercialized. I didn't commercialize them as I grew and grew and, you know, did all this design work for years. I had a handful of really big companies that I did work for and eventually, when I started helping more and more smaller companies, I noticed like they were they will give me really crappy images, or really not. The greatest content and design needs to have amazing imagery in order to make it all bring it all home. Yeah, so I started offering photography, and that was kind of part of like not as included, but it's like, well, if you need images, I can help you with that.
Julieta :And then, um, eventually, last year I actually added videography, not because I haven't done it all this time, it's because, finally, I was like, okay, let's start offering that, um, just because, again, whenever I feel like it could become something of value, then I'm like you know what, let's do that. And so I did, and it's been, uh, it's been nice to get to work with a whole bunch of people just listening to their stories and capturing that on camera, uh, but normally some people will hire me for just photography, just videographer, and some people just use all my services. Right, right, they have gone through all the things that I offer. So, um, but yeah, it started with design really nice and then everything else started to be added in in the artwork that you chose?
Laura :you chose acrylics and watercolors as your main mediums, right, but it sounds like you have some either mixed media or um, but what is your style? It, from what I've seen, it seems abstract. But do, do tell and maybe explain your artwork.
Julieta :That would be great, yeah, so, um, yes, I do abstracts for the most part. Um, I love doing abstracts. They are very they're more of a feeling than a thought, so it's whatever I was feeling. I like to just play a lot with the colors and the textures and all that stuff. That's why a lot of my paintings have a lot of texture in them, and most of the times, and most artists are this way.
Julieta :I want to say that we're kind of a vessel, right, so we have a message to deliver, and even if they're abstract, a lot of people tend to like they just lock in their eyes and they can not have the piece of artwork. They must have it at home because it inspires them. It's whatever it does to them. I just paint it really. Um, I use acrylics because they dry fast and I can do a lot of texture with them, and watercolors. I love watercolors because they are very flowy and they do dry fast too. I have no patience for that to dry. I do some oils here and there, but again, they're stinky and they take a minute to dry.
Laura :It's a whole other thing yeah, that's all about layering in a different way, right? The oil?
Julieta :yeah well and then you have to wait until it dries if you want to layer, because if not it doesn't like. It's a whole other process. I enjoy acrylics a lot more because of the type of work that I do. But yeah, there are abstracts. I like to paint very big, so I have a really a whole bunch of really big pieces here in my studio, but I have all sizes of all colors. I've been commissioned to do abstracts for people. That's a whole other process.
Laura :Colors I've been commissioned to do abstracts for people. That's a whole other process. Normally they tend to pick some colors. My apologies. How can people find out about?
Julieta :your artwork. Where can they find it? Oh, they can go to my website at juliettafumbercom. If not, they can come to my studio. I prefer if they do an appointment by appointment, so I know that they're coming, just in case I'm out and about photographing or whatever. But I have a studio in the River Arts District in Asheville 348 Depot Street, studio 120. But yeah, I mean, I love just doing the feelings onto the canvas or paper. I think that's kind of something that I think that's why some people relate to my work when they do and when they really do engage with it, and there's nothing better than seeing it in person, I think, so much better than online.
Laura :Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, and because I also feel like there are stories sometimes behind some of the artwork or inspirations that you know made this piece come to life, and so when you hear about that, you know made this piece come to life and so when you hear about that, you have an opportunity to understand it better. Like, I don't understand abstract in general. That's just me, because I'm such a real, you know, I'm such a concrete kind of person.
Julieta :Like, yeah, you have to feel it, Laura. You don't have to understand that, you don't have to think about it, you have to feel it.
Laura :It's a feeling, yeah a feeling yeah, yeah, well, I'm the musician part, so that part. I can, yeah, yeah, so, um, but. But I'm kind of curious along this journey that you've been taking in the art world. I know that, you know, you and I had a conversation about this the other day, saying basically so many people you know put on that happy face and say, oh, yeah, we're doing great all the time, and you know it's not that way.
Laura :Just like you were talking about your dad's, business went up and down and you had extreme highs, extreme lows, right? What is it like in the art industry, and can you talk to me about maybe a lesson that you've learned?
Julieta :Yes, yeah, it's definitely being so. Being a business owner, it's up and down all the time. I think it's it don't matter how successful you are, how successful you're not. It's just a part of the business, do you? If you create things to kind of fill in those blanks, great, uh, not everybody has the capabilities or wanting to, um, and some people, for some months, they will live off of savings, uh, but yeah, the conversation we had was too, because people kind of forgot that we went through a pandemic and I'm like a lot of people are still recovering. Like I used all my savings through the pandemic, so right now I'm kind of living paycheck to paycheck in the sense of like it'll be fine, I'm not, I'm not worried about it, but it's just part of like I know that a lot of us, a lot of solopreneurs and entrepreneurs, are just kind of lumping along. Yes, we're always like, yes, we're going to make it, but I know that all of us were not, and there's some days that are great and some days that I just don't want to leave my house. Like I cannot. I don't want to talk to anybody today, and luckily because I can work out of my computer for a lot of the things that I do. I'm like I can stay home with my cat and it's okay. And it's okay to say that I'm not great today Not that you should always say it, because then you kind of be a country reality. You don't want to do that either, right, but to the extreme of like oh, we're fine, we're fine, everything's fine. Right, is it, though? And so what I've learned? So my own perspective I mean, the pandemic has taught me so much because I never thought in my lifetime that I was going to go through something like that.
Julieta :Nonetheless, being a business owner and going through that, I don't stress as much as I used to. I really don't care anymore as much as I used to for something I'm like. I'm like come on, it's fine, I'll figure it out like I used to. Like really stress out about like oh my god, I'm gonna be rent, for I'm gonna be late for rent. Or oh my god, I'm gonna be late on this bill, or whatever. I'm like I know I'll take care of it, but'm not going to stress about it right at this moment, cause there's nothing stressing. It's not going to help me do anything about it. On the contrary, it's going to make it worse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I learned how to not freak out and it's like an automatic thing that I do now. It's not even like a thought. I'm like I'll, just I'll be fine.
Laura :Yeah, there are some things you can control and some things you can't, but it also brings up to me this idea that you know we have to take care of ourselves too, and that emotional mental health too. But then you know that I also think that you know if you're always chipper, that actually works against you in sales, and then if you're always down, it works against you in sales too, right. So there's this just being real, being genuine, right.
Julieta :Absolutely, and it's something this is something I've said in another interview and it's something that we me and my best friend she finally did the jump and it's full, full-time entrepreneur since january and I was so happy for her because she has a great business too. Uh, she's down in miami. But this is something that we say to each other all the time when, if we're stressed, remember we're floating on the rock in the middle of nothingness, because that's all the like we're this little tiny thing in such a gigantic universe. Those are the moments just to calm down, like it's not that important, like don't stress about the one bill, it'll be fine. Like you'll be fine, nobody, you know what I'm saying.
Julieta :Like things like that were to change the perspective versus like hyper focus on like, oh my god, what am I gonna do? Do whatever you can today. Do whatever you can today. If you need to take the day to, just because that's another thing I have, I have learned I have done that sometimes I have to just not come into work, because the more I push it, the more I'm stressing about it, instead of just like letting it be. I'm not saying just go and on a shopping spree, or go and just completely ignore what's going on. It's just taking that moment to like breathe for a second, because if not, you go into the hall of like, oh my god, this is terrible, and you know, and you go into that full-blown negativity which is not going to help you.
Julieta :Yeah, the balance of picking both, of saying you know what, I can put it down for half a day, or today I can take it off, it's not going to change anything because it's not tomorrow. Fully energized, I'll just hit the ground running and, you know, make a plan or whatever. That's another thing too that I learned. With all this craziness, you know, and the economy and all that stuff, the economy up and down, you can always make money either way. There's always money out there to you. That's it really. It's a way, it's a fear-based thing that happens um, it's not necessarily true.
Julieta :Yeah, it's not necessarily true. But the fact that we went through a pandemic, absolutely, the fact that a lot of businesses couldn't make it to the other side, absolutely the fact that I'm here today and I'm still in business, even if I'm lumping along, success, that's my, my, my, my perspective of success. The fact that I made it, I'm beyond grateful. Yeah, do I want to be doing better? Absolutely, and I'm working on it. But the fact that I made it this far and I'm still doing it, I'm still kind of, you know, moving forward and still get to do what I love, I still wouldn't change it for the world, yeah, so, yeah, I, I. It made me more resilient, for sure, that's what it's all like.
Julieta :Yeah, resilient without being stressed.
Laura :Yeah, I was going to say some people have this impression of resilience and it's a whole different picture. But I know we're running out of time and I just wanted really quickly to remind people how they can reach out to you, how can they find out about you. They can go to juliettafunbergcom, and it's one T in Julietta, right?
Julieta :Yes, it's in Spanish, Julietta. So yeah, it's J-U-L-I-E-T-A F-S-M-F-R-E-G-U-M-B-E-R-Gcom.
Laura :Nice, nice. And if they wanted to contact you via email or reach out to you another way?
Julieta :is there some other way they can do that? Yeah, they can always email me, but you can always go through the the contact form on my website, and I think my phone number it's in there too. So, um, yeah, I'm visible, I'm everywhere.
Laura :I'm everywhere she is, she's everywhere. Um, it has been so good to have you on here. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It is so nice to have you here and I and I want to thank you, the audience, for listening to the Mosaic Life with Laura W, and you can listen to this episode again and get this great content or listen to other great hosts and their shows by going to bizradious and click on shows. Thanks so much for listening and have a great rest of your day.