Meet Tess Davies | Artist

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

Hi Tess, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have always been a visual artist, but after managing a gallery in town for a couple of years, I decided to pursue my studio work full time. I owed it to myself and my clients to give my art my full attention, and owed it to the artists the gallery represented to find someone to manage them who could fully commit their time to them. It was a win win for everyone and felt like a really smooth transition as the demand for my studio work and mural work had really picked up.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a studio artist and muralist in Nashville, TN. I work in a wide range of styles, but my color choices and compositions stay pretty consistent allowing my work to be recognizable. I think I owe a lot of my success to my organization and communication skills. I pride myself in getting things done efficiently and turning in mockups, proposals, and commissions before deadlines. I am probably most proud of my installations at the Four Seasons, mural for Madewell, my mural at the Nashville airport’s Hilton hotel, and a series of 6 murals I did for a local developer in town. Clients who are pleased with my work and want to use me again in future projects are the best kind! Becoming a mother this past year, I think I’ve really leaned a lot about time management. It’s been both so challenging and motivating. My daughter, who is now one year old, just started daycare two days a week, so I make the most of those two days in the studio and my husband and I trade off when he goes on the road with his band or I have murals. Every week is different!

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.
My husband and I are both from Nashville. He’s a musician so I’d have to say a show at the Ryman is a must for anyone visiting. Our favorite local spots are Streetcar, Smith & Lentz Brewing, Rolf & Daughters or Folk if we are celebrating something, the Filling Station for a beer, Proper Bagel for breakfast and we often walk to Brown’s diner. We love being outside, so Percy Warner parks are a must hike & Cheekwood always has something interesting happening. I’d want to show off a mural or two of mine, so visiting Germantown to see a few is always fun when family is in town and stopping at Little Hats for lunch while we are in that area. The Frist is a wonderful art museum & the art crawls downtown and in Wedgwood Houston every month are worth checking out! Stopping by Nashville Artist Collective’s showroom is always a good idea. This city has so much to offer, and I know tourists always want to go downtown when they’re here, but there are so many neighborhoods with rich creative scenes.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My clients, my team at Nashville artist collective, and my family have all supported me tremendously. There’s a really positive artist community in Nashville too, I feel that we all have each others’ backs and are so encouraging of one another.

Website: https://Tessdaviesart.com

Instagram: @tessdaviesart

Other: https://nashville.artistcollectives.org/collections/tess-erlenborn

Image Credits
Mason Goodson is the photographer of the photo of me painting and standing in front