The Art of Hustle

Look around the studio of Manderson CREATE Path to the MBA student Abi Brewer: whimsical paintings of frogs, raccoons, pixies, flowers, and even Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars in a Renaissance costume. But don’t miss the fact that when it comes to her art company, Abi Brewer Fine Art — her livelihood — Brewer is all business. Brewer has an art show coming up, and she knows exactly how much many pieces she has to paint before then. She has plotted out the space in her booth with sheets of paper, and now she needs to produce enough art to completely fill the space, ensuring that she will have enough paintings to sell by the fall. So this summer, she is diligently cranking them out.

Dancing to a New Tune

Brewer has a way of throwing herself entirely at whatever work is in front of her. At first, that work was dance. In fact, she danced professionally for two years with the Alabama Ballet in Birmingham. After enrolling at The University of Alabama as an international studies major with a minor in Chinese, she began to paint as a creative outlet. But Brewer wasn’t content to paint as a hobby, so she added studio art as another major at UA. Now that she was no longer dancing, she needed something to take its place: something creative that she could throw herself into and work to master. “I can be obsessive sometimes with what I do,” Brewer said. “So, I was painting all the time, every day, the way I would be practicing ballet.” The result? Brewer made up for lost time, and leveled up fast.

There is a certain romance to the idea of being a starving artist, but Brewer has already lived that reality as a ballet dancer, and now she sees no reason to choose between pursuing her creative work and putting food on the table. “I think as a small business owner, you kind of have to wear all the different hats,” Brewer said.

“Unless you have a big budget. So, learning a little bit about all the aspects of business, which I feel is the purpose of an MBA, I'm excited about that. Because, you know, while finance is not my cup of tea, I could definitely use some learning in those areas.”

Hence the CREATE Path to the MBA, which allows creative students like Brewer to complete an MBA in just one extra year after their undergraduate work. And hence the hustle. Brewer does a lot of things with her art. She takes commissions, often family or pet portraits, but sometimes architectural paintings. She sells her art online and in person, at art shows, craft shows like Kentuck Festival for the Arts, farmer’s markets. She maintains a social media presence. And she teaches watercolor workshops. In fact, this year she received a grant to support a project to bring free workshops to underserved parts of the community and has established a partnership with Capstone Village Retirement Living.

What's Next?

Brewer hopes to continue to grow her art business in the Tuscaloosa area. Though many have encouraged her to move to a big city with a more thriving art scene, she sees no reason that she could not help Tuscaloosa to grow an art scene similar to that in, say, Fairhope, Alabama. In fact, in 2023, she contributed to organizing the First Friday Demonstrating Artists Program in collaboration with the Tuscaloosa Arts Council and the Tuscaloosa Downtown Merchants Association, a partnership between art and commerce. Who better than Brewer to lead the way?

Abi Brewer

For inquiries, please contact abibrewerfineart@gmail.com