Meet Adderly Grant-Lord | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adderly Grant-Lord and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adderly, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

For me as an artist and as a human being, it’s essential that I’m my authentic self. As a Black woman, I know that some people in this world would prefer that I make myself smaller, or that I box myself in, or make myself more like them. That’s not an option for me, and I’m glad that I had experiences in life that encouraged me to be my authentic self, even if that meant I took risks, made some people uncomfortable, or pushed the edges of things. I needed to do that to be my authentic self. The rewards of living this way are great.

In my early life, I always felt that I had more to give, and I knew that I’d need to intentionally seek out spaces that would allow me to grow as a unique individual. I knew that corporate America didn’t make space for that. I worked in sales management for many years, for a company who had incredible values that were really in alignment for me, but I knew that if I was to grow beyond that, I didn’t want to rely on finding that alignment somewhere else. It had to come from within me.

I think that when we talk about freedom as artists, the conversation is often focused on creating the art that matters most to us, that speaks from a deep place inside of us. That’s certainly the case for me, but by having my own business, I can also use my art to live out my values in community. For instance, I started having community events with visual art from different mediums, music, and food. These types of community spaces are life giving, and the energy that I get from relationships, new ideas, coming together, all feed directly back into my art. I also believe in supporting community nonprofits, so the events were not only used to generate support for the artists, but also nonprofits that I know are doing meaningful work.

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 create paintings that come from my inner core; I don’t plan things out. I choose the size of canvas I love, which is often 36 x 36. I start with color and let go of my conscious self. What shows up on canvas comes to me, I don’t seek it out, and it frequently surprises me. I paint joy and it comes out in full-blown color. It’s radiant and it slams up against your heart, turns you upside down and inside out, and moves you where you need to go. A lot of my viewers don’t expect abstract paintings to provoke something that’s deep, but my viewers often share the ways that they relate to a particular painting and the powerful connections.

Earlier in my life, I had a love of fashion and decided to study fashion design, fashion illustration and visual arts. I worked in New York for Oscar de la Renta for a short time. The fashion environment didn’t make me feel very welcome as a Black woman. It’s very harsh in general and no one cares what you did before; they just care what you’re doing next. I didn’t want to live my life like that. I switched from fashion to management and sales because it was convenient when my family moved to Hanover, New Hampshire. A company sought me out and their core values just aligned so well with my heart. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to be doing, but I learned that I could feel healthy and whole even when not in the ideal job.

When I think back to challenges that have shaped me, I recall when I started working in fashion sales in Colorado. My first assistant manager said, “I’ve never met anyone like you.” I thought she was talking about my energy and personality, but as the conversation progressed, I realized she was saying that she had never met a Black person, and her ideas were shaped by harmful stereotypes. These kinds of ongoing experiences made me question whether I wanted to be in this environment. I had to address the issue of racism in the workplace and recognize that my assistant was resistant to working for a Black woman. This was not easy but it made me determined to stick around because I couldn’t prioritize their comfort over my right to be in that space and thrive. I decided I would not give anyone the right to dictate my direction in life.

I’m not going to let anyone steal my joy or put out my fire, because I only have one shot at this life. I’m going to keep being me, keep evolving, and let go of other’s expectations. Happiness is not something you seek outside of yourself; it’s inside me everyday.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Colorado has so many incredible places. I’d definitely take any friends  on a beautiful hike near Flagstaff in Boulder. I’d head to my guilt pleasure in Aurora, Juicy Seafood, for some King crab, Dungeness Crab and some shrimp, with margaritas. For evening fun, we might hit the Comedy Club in Denver.

Another day, we’d cook and relax at home. I’m from the Caribbean and I love feeding friends and family followed by an outdoor fire with music.

I also love taking friends to see the street art, Friday art night out, First Friday art walk in my own community in Lafayette, or at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art or the Boulder Museum. It’s interesting to see whether the art really reflects who we are as a community, and I think it’s important to recognize that there is beautiful art work coming out of smaller communities, outside of Denver.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Sally Mina, artist and friend, who encouraged me to start painting

Website: Adderlyart.com

Instagram: AdderlyArt

Facebook: AGLart

Image Credits
JOANNA TRUTT