SEEDS

You Were Created To Create

The Best of the Best

From the very start I’ve always wanted my artwork to be masterful. I wanted to have the highest quality artwork on the highest quality canvas, with the highest quality paint created with the highest quality brushes and tools. This idea made me cringe at the work that I created early on. I felt like the work was inferior because I didn’t have the best of the best. It even slowed me down when I was in the process of planning a new series I wanted to paint. I would wait so long trying to save up money to buy all of the top of the line materials. Eventually, I caved and I’d end up creating with materials that were in my budget. This wasn’t ideal at all. I was spending so much time trying to save money and find ways to afford the highest quality materials. It wasn’t until I started to study artists that I admired who would change my perspective on this. 

The Art of Freestyle

I grew up in a Hip-Hop household. Ever since I can remember I’ve been listening to old school Hip Hop with my Dad. He introduced me to groups like The Sugar Hill Gang and Afrika Bambaataa. He’s an old head so that’s the best that he could do at the time. My oldest brother, who is six years older than me, was a DJ. I can remember getting off of the school bus in front of our house to the sound of him spinning 2000’s Hip–Hop records. He introduced me to B.I.G, Nas, Ludacris, Nelly and a whole lot of other artists. I remember reading XXL and The Source Magazines and seeing all of the images that each of these artists were portraying. Most of them having an urban look and the environments that they were either being photographed in involved graffiti the majority of the time. At some point I’d come to learn that graffiti and Hip-Hop went hand in hand. They both originated as art forms fueled by self expression and community connection. They were largely created by an underrepresented and disenfranchised people to bring awareness to the rest of the world about their plight. 

In Graffiti all someone would really need is a can of spray paint or something to write with. Yes, most of us recognize Graffiti as specific ‘Tags’ or names combining multiple colors and layers to create a ‘piece’, but the earliest creators of Graffiti were able to express themselves with just one color in the most basic styles. 

In Hip-Hop all you really need is your voice. Yes, Hip-Hop is made up of Beats, Rhymes, Dance and general style overall. However, If you look at the earliest creators in Hip Hop it came down to beat boxing and rhyming off the top of their heads with raw vocals. 

The thing that I find most fascinating about Hip-Hop and Graffiti is the speed in which the artists create. They both involve the art of freestyle, designing ‘songs’ and ‘pieces’ off the top of their heads using words and rhythm. The freestyle is a combination between subconscious and conscious creation. What comes out says a lot about the artist. Who they are, what they’ve been through and their current perspective on the world. Looking at these mediums through a fine art lens both stand out to me as forms of expressionism. Freestyle is exactly what it sounds like. There are no rules or boundaries, just freedom.

Be Like Basquiat

There is a long list of artists that inspire me. I’ve taken time to study them all. I’ve looked closely at their work wherever it was available. Online and in books, I’ve even traveled to see some of them in person. I’ve read biographies and adopted perspectives and philosophies that I felt I could benefit from in my own art practice. Jean-Michel Basquiat is somewhere at the top of that list. Maybe top 5. What I admire most about Basquiat is his ability to create with such freedom. He lived his life as a creator and it seemed to radiate as his sole purpose. Looking at his work over the years I had many questions. Why was it so chaotic and random? What materials did he use? Why was he painting on so many different objects? I learned that he created as much artwork as fast as possible because he believed that he would die young. He wasn’t concerned about how the work looked. He just created because he felt he needed to at all costs. He painted on old doors and refrigerators, walls and Football helmets. Anything he could get his hands on. His materials were “whatever wherever”. This guy is truly inspiring to me. Understanding the way he created changed my practice and my outlook on creating as a whole. 

Vessel

For all practicing artists,

Through my “thinking and trying” I have been pushed to “doing and being”. We all are born with a talent to create. We don’t know why, we just are. Our creator gave us this skillset and talent to carry out a greater plan. With that we must create because we are the vessel for our particular creation. How the world sees it, understands it, and uses it is out of our hands. So, in my opinion, we should stop thinking about what we can do or should do. Stop trying to do something we think will be received well and instead do what we feel and be who we are. This takes the sting out of the feeling of needing more to accomplish what we think we cannot accomplish without the extra tools or products. Use what you have, like Basquiat. As corny as this is about to sound it is absolutely true. We all have a super power as creatives, because we have the ability to create something from nothing. When we use all of ourselves without limiting our work to a specific societal standard or quality of tools & products. That super power becomes unstoppable, there is no kryptonite for the uniqueness of your human experience coming through your work. You have everything you need to create what you are on earth to create. So use what you have, be a vessel for your creation and let it be and do what it is supposed to be and do for others.

-Von  

Burn the ships, Then sink or swim.

“If I can save up enough money, I can have the show that I want. If I can have the show that I want, I can show the world my perspective. If I can show the world my perspective, everything will change for me.” This is how I used to think until I realized these “IFs” were limiting my expectations and affecting my actions. 

This is an exercise in language. 

Get The Paint On The Canvas

When I decided I wanted to be a painter, I just said “I am a Painter”. At that point I hadn’t even put any paint on canvas. I vividly remember the day I saw an art related post on social media that inspired me. I got up, ordered an uber and headed to the art supply store. With less than $100 to my name and I spent it all on 2 small canvases, a few paint brushes and a variety of paints. I think I picked five colors. It may seem like a lot for less than $100 but at the time it was Aaron Brothers and they were going out of business, so I cleaned up. When I got home I started researching how to paint. Looking for a step by step video or some kind of instructional on how to paint. I spent about three hours looking for something to guide me. I’m sure the thought was something like “If I can find a good how-to video, then I’ll be off to a good start. I never found a video. It wasn't an option for me, I needed to be the painter that I decided to become so I just started. That day my motto to myself became “Get the paint on the canvas”. I remember painting until 3AM that next morning. Taking my time and thinking through the work that I was creating while listening to Anderson Paak. This was the start of my journey as a painter.

Three years later, I’m in the same apartment. I gained some pretty cool accolades, a few thousand dollars of art sales under my belt, and an understanding of what I want out of my art practice. My dream was to have a stand alone studio. I would meet new people and refer to my apartment as my studio. It technically was because it was a studio apartment, but I knew the truth. I wanted a painting studio so badly because I felt like it would make me a real professional painter. Thinking “if I could get a studio, my practice will go to the next level”. I would be able to work way bigger and experiment with a variety of tools and materials in the space. This stayed on my mind and hoped that I could grow my practice enough and make enough art to help me obtain my dream of having a “real working studio”. So, I set out to do just that. I created a brand and a company, found ways to connect people with artwork and constantly shared my story hoping that these actions would catapult me to the highest of heights. When I was young a mentor told me to write my goals down. I learned that writing down my goals helped me to gain clarity and specificity, while serving as a reminder of what I wanted whenever the process became difficult. So, I had a checklist going:

• Get 2,000 instagram followers ✅
• Sell a painting for $500 ✅
• Get my art into a Gallery ✅
• Show my art 20 times in public ✅
• Get a studio space
• Sell a painting for $1,000 ✅
• Show at 3 Major Art Fairs
• Art Basel
• Get my Artwork on TV ✅
• Generate $100,000 worth of business

… And so on.

I was doing it. I started, it was working and I kept on going. Three more years pass and Boom, a moment of clarity.

Burn The Ships

I became what I said I would be. I was a painter. Expressing myself through my work, sharing it with other people and I was lucky enough to earn some decent money in the process. I checked off a handful of goals, but there were still a lot of goals that were unchecked. “Get a studio space” was staring right at me. At this point I knew that I'd become a more refined artist. I had proven to myself that I could do this over and over. I needed a studio space if I was to grow and scale what I had created. I was living my dream and I had no doubt in my mind that I would obtain everything I’ve ever wanted and more.

With so much confidence in myself and my ideas, I had a clear vision of what my life and practice would look like. As always doubts crept in. Maybe I wouldn't get a studio. Maybe I would just work out of wherever I was living forever. Maybe that was the best choice. I put so much effort attempting to get a studio but I didn’t know how I’d do it. The vision of how things could be wasn’t enough, I needed to stop hoping I’d hit my goal of getting that studio that I’d wanted for so long and  make it happen. Thinking back to the day that I decided I was a painter. I remember firmly making the choice and "burning the ships". I left myself painting as the only option. Remember, I spent my last dollar on art supplies. I depended on the sale of those small canvases to pay my rent and feed me! I was so inexperienced, when I think back on it now I realize just how insane and risky making a decision like that is. 

Looking back over my checklist and thinking back to the day that this all started empowered me to take control, make a firm decision and yet again, burn the ships. At this time I was living in an apartment in Glendale that I hated. Again, I was running my business and creating large amounts of artwork from that apartment. It was the end of my lease and I decided, the next place that I pay rent will be a working art studio. I started my search for the perfect studio immediately. I found a few that I liked. Then, one in particular that stuck out to me. I’d seen this space before on Facebook Marketplace and reached out to them two years prior, but got no response. So I took another shot and I got a response the next day. I went to see the space and right then and there I knew it would be the new home of Flower Boyy Studio. The price was right and the location was right. The studio itself was clean and spacious with all of the natural light that I’d need. I paid the deposit and rent and within a week I was completely moved into my first studio. 

Check

Sometime during my first month of working in the studio I found the time to revisit my checklist.

• Get a studio space ✅

Staring at me again was the line that read “Get a studio space”. I checked it off the list and added a few more items. My studio and it is everything I expected and more. I wanted it so badly, I was patient and I learned that it wasn’t so hard to obtain after all. Half of me believes that things that we desire most have a divine timing and happen when they are supposed to instead of when we want them to. The other half of me believes that we have the power to obtain whatever it is we want as long as we are open to receiving it. We tend to get in our own way and limit our capacity to turn our ideas, wants, visions and dreams into a tangible reality.

This is an exercise in language and thought.

“I think therefore I am” is a quote I live by daily, but I like to take it a step further and say “I speak therefore I am”. Whatever we think about is what we talk about and whatever we talk about manifests itself in our reality. When I began painting it’s all I could think about and talk about. I was always looking for opportunities to paint something, practice and become a better painter. I would have visions of myself drafting invoices, speaking at gallery events, delivering artwork to collectors homes and the general public recognizing my brand. About five years into painting I remembered how I spoke what I wanted to be and began being it. 99% of the time it is just that simple. While my thoughts run wild with possibility, these days I find myself very aware of my language. “IF’s” become “When” when I begin to believe it. I speak my reality and what I want my reality to become. Sometimes the things that I say can sound delusional to some, but I speak what I believe. Sometimes I speak what I wish I would believe and secretly I think that I eventually will if I say it enough. 

-Von     

Taking the time to reflect and refine.

I took some time off. I guess I can’t really call it time off because I didn’t exactly stop working. I made a series of paintings, spent some time traveling and selling some older paintings that I had in my inventory. It was a slow time, intentionally. I needed to refocus, stop creating so much just to create and consider how I was shaping my future with what I was creating. I was feeling a little burn out, plus the work I was making was no longer interesting to me. Usually I would try harder to psych myself out or “get” myself back into the work, but I let it go and took it slow.

The Slow Burn

My work became uninteresting seemingly out of the blue. In 2023 we have unlimited access to information at our fingertips. I’m not one to purposely watch Netflix or scroll instagram for inspiration. The majority of my inspo comes from within.

Although I’ve always had the motivated and inspired spirit to create, I was missing the understanding of how to connect with others through my work.

Time and time again I would create a piece or a series and it seemed as if it would go right over everyone’s head. It left me feeling crazy and ultimately led me to seeking approval. I studied and learned what “everyone” liked to see an artist create. I lost my way and fell into the trap. I found what would get me the likes, comments and the reaction I was looking for. I became comfortable in that and started to feel like I was connecting with my audience. I wasn’t aware that this would completely kill my creativity and desire to create work that would help me connect with the world around me. I hated that. 

The Geographical 

I knew the best thing that I could do was to get out of my head and out of my space immediately. I booked a one way flight to Michigan, Moms house. There is something about relocating that always helps me recalibrate, especially at home. An environment where I first discovered that I needed to create. My Moms house is tastefully outfitted with some of my best and worst paintings. She knows she can always order a custom painting for free, so she leaves her basement open and available as my workspace whenever I decide to come to town. I spent three weeks in Michigan taking in the slow suburban pace, looking through old photos, watching movies, eating comfort food and cranking out one of 3 polyptychs, a 9 piece painting, that I sold to a new collector I met at the end of my stay. This was the first part of my “geographical”. It gave me some time to be at peace, collect my thoughts, and create with a similar energy I had when I was 15 years old. It’s interesting how much my environment affects what and how I create. When I was creating at home I was confident in my creative choices, I had no interest in outside input and I was sure I would find a buyer at my price by the time I was complete with my work. 

When my mission was complete in the Midwest I booked a one way flight to see my Brother Mose and now Sister in Law Jasmine in Manhattan. This was the catalyst. First off, the energy in Manhattan is insane to me. The way the city looks and moves is incredibly inspiring. I dropped my bags off at my brother's apartment on the East side and took off walking through the city. I walked aimlessly taking the city in through my camera lens. There were a few moments where I felt like I was in a stereotypical movie about New York City. I saw two guys pushing a massive painting across heavy traffic, the sunlight hitting them through the middle of two skyscrapers. I saw a girl in a brown sherpa coat walking 6 fluffy brown dogs, they were practically matching. I was sure I would see someone hoisting a piano up to the 9th floor of an apartment building next. I made my way to the Whitney Museum and took my time combing through the contemporary art wing. I had been in NYC for almost 8 hours and I was already juiced up and ready to create with a new approach.  

I had meaningful conversations with Jasmine and Mose about art, got to look at so many works by master painters and sculptors and learned the stories of many of the contemporary artists I admire. All of this helped me to focus my energy on a fresh and more refined take on my story. 

The Intensifying

When I arrived back in LA I was ready to create with more discipline, focus and energy. I was aware that I needed to use social media to my advantage but I made a choice to not be distracted by it. I now understand it as a tool to progress the visibility of my work. Before I left for Michigan I found a lot of joy in creating abstract paintings and patterns. I enjoy the feeling of painting unplanned. I had the idea to take that abstract style of painting and combine it with a basic figurative style. I had a clear vision of how this work would look and I knew that it would help me to articulate my narrative. At the moment the focus of my work is life painting. I am sharing my life, the people I surround myself with, my experiences and thoughts. I’ve found value in the specificity of a personal story and I no longer make artwork for anyone but me. My inspiration still comes from within, However now the goal of each work is rooted in how I can connect with each person's experience rather than their need to buy.   

-Von

Why are you an artist? Do You believe the artist has a job? 

If you’re an artist, you’re a storyteller by default. It really doesn’t matter if you relate to that title at all. If you are creating work and showing it to others, you are communicating some story in the best way you know how. Your way. 

I created my very first painting in 2016. It was a two color black and white painting, a 16x20 inch black background, with curvy white shapes that resembled cells under a microscope. It wasn’t much, but I spent all night listening to Anderson Paak and forming this amateur piece of art. It was 6am by the time I was done and I felt accomplished. From there I wanted to delve deeper into painting. I had no knowledge of what I was doing whatsoever, but as I learned more and strengthened my skill, I was able to create visually appealing art. How did I know I was creating visually appealing art? Of course I thought everything I produced was excellent, which obviously wasn’t the case. It was the response from the public that let me know I’d created something that looked “good”. Then I had a moment and a bright idea emerged, Voila! I should just make what people like because that’s what creating artwork is all about right? Wrong! That was my truth for the next two years until I recognized how underwhelming the act of painting had become. On the upside I had spent dozens of hours perfecting a process that would help me create visually appealing art quickly, so making art for other people’s taste wasn’t 100% soul sucking. I learned my style and process. I’d become burned out on making paintings that I didn’t really care about, and I had a burning desire to do something different. I needed to find the root of why I even bothered to make paintings. Again, a bright idea emerged and lit my path. This time it was crystal clear. I needed to create work that was personal and share my story. 

I’d become so versatile and efficient with the tools I’d used to make paintings, I could create anything. So I began to tell my story painting by painting. Not only did interest increase in my work, but I was able to connect with so many people. They could relate to my story. I found that the power of honesty and genuinely sharing my life gave my work so much more substance. Taking snippets of my life’s story and turning those moments of time into paintings. It’s truly a vulnerable thing to do, yet it creates a sense of empowerment, acceptance and connectivity to my audience.

Why Am I an Artist?

I was born an artist. I wish I could drain every ounce of cliche from that statement, but it’s true. I can help but to create. I believe this is the same for many others and when we are young we create off of the strength of our adolescent or childlike nature. We create with our emotions and imaginations. As we grow older we begin to experience the fullness of our lives. We travel the emotional spectrum from bliss to misery stopping at acceptance and refusal before working our way back. When we arrive, we continue to create but now off of the strength of our complicated nature and certain reality. 

What Is My Job As an Artist?

Artists are vessels used to communicate our human experience.

Because I can create paintings, I believe that I am responsible for prompting change in whatever area I am called to at a given time. In my opinion, all artists have the gift of being able to articulate emotions through whatever medium they create in. This is so powerful because the complexity of issues like race, religion, politics and sexuality can be articulated in ways that allude misunderstanding creating clear definitions to complicated ideas.

To all of the artists, art lovers and communicators,

I hope this brief writing inspires you. I hope you are inspired to use your voice, press your issues and activate those around you to join your cause to effect positive change. Your gift is a powerful tool to continue to prove your points and validate the popular or unpopular opinions of your initiatives.

-Von

Are You using all of your creative skills as an artist? What can you add to your tool kit?

I’ve worked at painting for a long time, but it is my 3rd try at art. When I was 15 I learned how to throw pottery. It was fascinating to see my instructor form a spinning wedge of red clay on a potter's wheel. It was like magic how he could make the clay expand and shrink in the blink of an eye. From the start I was gripped by the process, the medium and I wanted to get good at it. I’m convinced that I spent so much time watching my instructor, Youtube videos and playing the process back in my mind that I became a natural at it. In a few short months I had the basics of prepping clay and wheel throwing down. It was a good feeling to know that I could actually make a vase or a coffee mug out of a raw lump of clay. Then I learned that I could win an achievement award, and that changed everything.

It was The Ceramic Book Award for my High School and only one person studying ceramics would be able to win it. I was 1000% committed to Football so I had no idea who I was up against. Sure, I had seen other students working in the studio but I had no idea who the heavy hitters were, who was really showing up and cranking out award level pottery. I knew I had no choice other than to live in that studio. I became obsessed and every minute I could spare, I would spend it in the ceramics studio making something. Most of the pottery I had thrown at the time went straight back into the recycled clay pile, but there were those that did make the cut. 10 to be exact. That selection of pottery went on to win me some national scholastic art awards and of course The Ceramic Book Award. That was my first real experience with art in its purest form. I saw what I wanted to create, learned about the materiality of it, practiced and executed the creation of a final product that I loved. In my senior summer I had my very first art show which was more of an art display. This was my first medium and experience as an acknowledged artist.

I took my time to develop. I went to play College Football and study English. Right as I was about to fumble my destiny, I transferred to Columbia College Chicago in my senior year. Columbia is one of the best Media Arts Universities in the U.S. This is where I learned photography. Just like ceramics I was gripped by what I could learn and do with a simple tool. I took to photography head on and spent every moment I could in Columbia’s state of the art photography studio. In a year I was hosting sessions with local fashion companies and being featured in Italian furniture catalogs. I wasn’t even an editorial photographer yet I found myself seeing decent success with an art form that I truly enjoy. I even took it a step further and photographed the old ceramic pottery I’d made to give them a better presentation. At this point my skill set was starting to compound. Having great professional photos of my pottery helped me to see how both skills worked together. I could now combine what I knew to create something bigger. I truly enjoyed photography and my journey as a photographer, but I realized that I needed to be more involved in my work. I needed to use my hands. 

When I began painting I felt like I’d done it before. Even though I had no formal training I knew that it was something that I would be doing for a long time. For me, painting is a combination of both ceramics and photography. It’s tactile and requires me to use my body similar to ceramics, I can break a sweat doing both. Stretching canvas and wedging clay share similar parallels as the prepping processes of each medium.They’re very involved and initiate the fusion between potter & clay and painter & canvas. Photography on the other hand is more analytical, requiring you to look closely at how the light reacts to your subjects and the composition of your subject in the frame. In painting, like photography you begin to make creative choices on the fly as a result of reading your subject analytically, while keeping the image within the constraints of the canvas. I’m drawn to painting because of the connection between both of these elements. I continue to build on what I learn. I guess that’s my point here. If you’re an artist and you know that you have an intermediate to advanced skill set in multiple disciplines, it’s in your best interest to maximize all of your skill sets. My goal is to ultimately produce at a high level in each medium creating a multitude of mixed media artworks. Hand thrown pottery with paintings on them, painted photographs, pottery with photographs printed on them, paintings with photographs embedded in them, ceramic slabs painted and shaped like stretched canvas. The possibilities are endless. This type of versatility breeds new and innovative work .

In this day and age it is becoming harder for artists to be seen by honing in on just one skill. Yes, being the best at what you do matters. Having the highest quality work, materiality, and execution of your subjects all matter. Having all of those things lined up perfectly will definitely increase your chances of getting eyes on your work, but that’s left up to chance. Equipping yourself with the knowledge of and skill sets within multiple mediums can give you a powerful edge and increase your visibility. As artists we should be the masters of our work and our fate. We control what our work looks like and who gets to see it. In my experience the best way to take control of who sees my art is to produce high quality images and videos that articulate my art in an easily digestible way. As an advocate for the independent artist my mission is to empower artists to be stand alone entities that control 100% of their value and story. I don’t see a problem with working with established art galleries and dealers, I feel that the artists should have control of their work enough to dictate that those transactions are fair in the artists favor.  

-Von   

Can you depend on what motivates you? 

Motivation is like drinking coffee in the morning. After that first cup I feel so good. I’m buzzing. There’s nothing I can’t do. I’m so energized I’m sure I can accomplish anything and everything I want to. Then that initial jolt of that coffee wears off and I have to find a way to keep going. 

This year in January I set a handful of giant goals. Initially, I was so amped to get out and make it happen. For the first 90 days or so I attacked these goals with all of the enthusiasm and energy that I could muster. Then business slowed down, life started happening and things became more difficult. The motivation, the excitement, the enthusiasm wore off. Now I’m left with a mountain of work that I have to clear in order to hit the goals I’ve set for myself. The truth is I am not motivated. I’m not driven. I am an artist. I believe an artist is responsible for creating the art, opportunities and direction of their mission. Just like a surgeon is responsible to answer the call of patients in need. I have developed the understanding that I am responsible for delivering the artwork that the world needs. This mindset keeps me consistent and honest about what I’m working on and why I need to complete it. 

This wasn’t always my mentality.

I’m not sure when I made this shift, I do remember my old thought process though. I really believed that I needed to be connected to and inspired by all of the work that I produced. I would focus my energy and talents on things that I felt “moved” by and “connected” too. I can truly say I was limiting myself. I thought I needed to feel that motivation all the time to move forward. If I didn’t feel it, I didn’t do it. For most people, that’s how motivation works.

The truth is; motivation is a feeling. To be motivated is to feel motivated and feelings come and go. I’m sure we’ve all had instances where we’ve jumped from one feeling to another in a split second. Going from scared to laughing after realizing that a friend was just playing a prank or from so excited to devastated after dropping the food you’ve waited 20 minutes in line for. Motivation follows this same curve, from motivated to {insert verb}. I realized that by making a choice to become an artist, I took on the responsibility of what an artist does. So in came responsibility and out went motivation.

Motivation and responsibility cannot fully exist together.

It’s as simple as that. I would love to say something up beat and feel good about this statement. I believe when you absolutely need to do the work, whatever it is that motivates you doesn’t matter. Sure it’s amazing to have things that motivate you and serve as a clear “Why” behind whatever it is you decided to do. Motivation and responsibility can work together but they cannot fully exist at the same time. Above all, what you’re responsible for is your duty, you have control over it, you are accountable to it and you have the ability to act independently and make decisions without anyone’s permission.

I’m in the process of building. For the past 6 years I have put all of my time and energy into my art business. I’ve molded it and shaped it into what I wanted it to be and now I can clearly see the great potential it has. For me seeing the plan on paper and being able to look back at a huge checklist with all of the boxes checked is extremely motivating to me. It does a lot for my confidence and helps me to put my goals into perspective. It shows me the reality of my past and current situation which is; all of the goals you set, you accomplish. This is a great feeling. It’s validating and for me it pushes me to continue to write my goals down. It’s interesting because the motivation that I feel comes before and after my responsibility. So I feel motivated to make a series of artwork. I am now responsible for completing that series and once complete I feel empowered and motivated to do it again.

-Von

What media are you reading, listening to and watching to help you grow?

My very first life commitment was to Football. I started playing when I was 8 years old. Now, let me be upfront with you. I wasn’t one of those kids who started to play football because I was inspired by players I had seen on TV or the feeling of playing the game itself. I was FORCED to play. When I was a kid I was extremely aggressive, anxious and I had a short fuse. I would get into fights in the blink of an eye. I would start fights; with kids who wanted to fight me and with kids who didn’t want to fight me. Kids at school, summer camp and even kids around the neighborhood. Anyone and everyone was going to have to fight at some point. I can’t explain exactly why I was this way. I have some theories. One of them being that I’m the youngest of 3 and I feel since birth I had to fight my way through the family ranks to gain respect. I really don’t know, but I do know that I was forced to play football because of this. 

Football was the first experience I had with commitment. I didn’t necessarily want to play football but after a few years I grew to really love it because I was good at it. I saw that I was good and I wanted to see how good I could actually get. I was committed to this goal. I remember my freshman year of High School. I was captain of the team and my coach wanted me to set an example for all of the guys. It was during two a days and we were conditioning. We had to run nearly 60 yards to the end of our practice field and back. It was a timed run and I had to lead the pack. We did this run at least 5 times and I led the group each time. I remember we all completed the conditioning and I rallied everyone and broke the final huddle. Immediately after, I ran to the sideline and threw up! My position coach walked over to me and said “You’re throwing up after a run like that because you’re eating too much crap. Clean up your diet. Good In, Good Out”. After that day I never forgot what he said. From then on I was committed to eating clean so that I could perform at the top of my game. I was focusing on putting good, clean, nutritious foods in my body. 

I continued to play Football until I was 22 and throughout the years I carried that saying with me. Good in, Good out. I applied it to sports, training, studying and my lifestyle. When I made the decision to pursue art as a career I immediately thought “what are the best resources for learning how to navigate the art world?” and “How do I consume information from these resources?”. I was looking for the best things to put in so I could get the best possible output. Over the years I’ve found many resources that have helped me grow as an artist, entrepreneur and influencer. I was hungry to understand the art, the art world and how it worked. I knew that there would be a lot of weeding through information to hone in on what I needed to satisfy my creative appetite. Here are a few resources I used to gather new information and push my art practice forward.

Podcasts

I started to listen to podcasts immediately. First off, listening to a podcast is way easier than trying to read through an art book that analyzes and explains artwork that I barely understand. As a beginner or someone learning about a topic for the first time, reading this kind of information is not effective for me. I am obviously a man of many words and I always have an opinion. For me the interesting thing about podcasts is that they develop a “ground floor” for how to think about topics. Not that I need to be told how to think, but when I listen to a podcast I get a feel for how much I agree or disagree with the information. This prompts me to dig deeper into the topic by surfing the web to find more information, reading books on the topic or diving deeper into the references mentioned on the particular podcast. 

Most times I visit podcasts first because they are a well of information usually delivered from reliable and trusted sources. They can give me an initial opinion that I can then validate or invalidate or information that drives my ideas based on new findings from the conversation. 

Some of my favorite go to podcasts that I use to jolt my creativity and biz smarts are:

1. The Savvy Painter Podcast with Antrese Wood
2. 99% Invisible with Roman Mars
3. The Tim Ferris Show
4. The Lisa Congdon Sessions
5. Think Differently and Deeply
6. The GaryVee Audio Experience

I would explain all of them but I think it’s best that you jump in the way that I did. They are all really great. Not all of them are art or business podcasts but they all have at least 3 episodes that talk about art and can be applied to the experience of a growing artist.

Art Books

I love art books for both their superficial and qualities. They look so good. You can literally buy an art book and never open it. They’re the best decorations for your home or office. They work really well for that but if you do actually open the book you will learn about so many artists, what they were a part of and how & where their artwork lives in the art world. I have tons of art books. Some art picture books; Art books with hundreds of pages of masterpieces one after another. It’s actually a little overwhelming. There are so many masterpieces back I lose track of what makes each one so special. I have biographical art books which are my favorite and how to art books. These all play a huge role in my personal art education and how my work is influenced. As I learn more about different art periods and styles, I naturally absorb them and they come out in my work. That’s the goal. Take in as much good stuff from the greats and in turn I will be great. Simple right? Maybe arguable but that’s my trick and so far it has worked. 

Here is a list of some of my favorite art books and audio books:

1. Art Money Success: …. By Maria Brophy
2. Aesthetic Intelligence by Pauline Brown
3. Finding Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon
4. Atomic Habits by James Clear
5. One Thing Leads To Another by Dan Stiles
6. Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon

Museums

Nothing charges me up more than going to a good contemporary art museum. I can do modern art museums as well but at this point that’s as far as I’ll go. Anything older is a snooze fest. I love museums so much. If I get lucky, it gives me a chance to see specific masterworks that I’ve seen in the art books up close. It’s like growing up watching your favorite artist on TV and finally seeing them in concert. It just hits differently and I experience a moment of “I get it now”. When I get to see masterpieces up close and personal I get a clear understanding of why it’s considered a masterpiece. There are many reasons but for me it’s the feeling. I look at some works and I might not have an understanding of what the work means or even what it is but the feeling is what I take back to the studio as inspiration. 

Art Shows & Gallery Openings

I love going to art shows. This is the big stage for most artists. It’s where we get to show our work publicly and watch the reactions of those seeing it for the first time. We get to see how the work interacts with the space and viewers and how the viewers interact with it. Going to other artists' shows is some of the best practice you can get as an artist. You get to let another artist run a test for you. No matter what their style is you get a chance to take in how others react to the work, the artist and the environment. The interesting part is that there are infinite combinations in this scenario, but you get the opportunity to see what other artists are doing. If your practice or work is similar you can play it back, borrow from them, or enhance what you’ve seen them do in an effort to communicate your art and message more clearly.   

My approach to creating and refining my work is much like an athletes. I am always training and looking for ways to get better. I want to surround myself with other artists that push me and challenge me to become a better artist. I am always actively looking for new things that will help shape my perspective and clean up my vision for current and upcoming projects. 

-Von

How I use Project Plans to grow as a creative

It’s 2022 and the name of the game is content. Content is King. In an era where no one can pay attention to a video for longer than 15 seconds, creatives need to have 3x the content they initially planned to have. To be honest, I don’t even know why I’m writing this blog. Most people won’t even make it past the first paragraph. This might work better as an audio journal or audio blog. That may be my next piece of content, but I digress. 

I could never understand how to make artwork, take quality photos and videos of it and post it to multiple social media platforms. I knew that I could do it but the thought of it was exhausting. That’s where the plan comes into place. Creating a project plan from beginning to end (including all of the social media stuff) can help alleviate stress, help you to create with a clear head, keep you consistent and on schedule. There are probably infinite ways to do this but I will tell you how I do it. I am a 1 man show. I create all of my artwork, take my own photos and shoot my own videos. I create all of my own graphic content and anything else that you see with The Flower Boy Branding coming from my social media pages or website. I create everything. In a perfect world I would have a full agency of people helping me to make the biggest, fastest and strongest art company there is. Since I don’t have that, I have these simple plans that help me to execute all of the tasks that help me to produce content on a daily basis. 

Making the painting  

I’m compelled to paint and I’m a compulsive painter. I get new ideas for paintings almost constantly. So in order to keep this from getting out of control, I pick the ideas that I think will make the most impact and make a plan for them. We all know that artist that gets 1 million and 1 ideas a day and never executes 1 of them. You don’t want to be that person. 

SO… First I choose my idea. I’ll let you in a little bit about what I’m actually doing. My newest project or idea is to target the real estate market. Not only do new homeowners need beautiful artwork to decorate and commemorate their new homes with, but real estate agents need a unique and special closing gift. My approach to this is simple. Make as many paintings as possible to create a large enough inventory to supply X amount of real estate agents and homeowners. It’s great because you can make that number whatever you want depending on your ambition and ability. My number is 100. Now 100 paintings is a lot, but when put into a solid plan I can conquer small portions until I have created all 100. 

Since all 100 paintings won’t be the same I’ve chosen categories that make sense for general decorative art.

Creating 100 Paintings

1. 25 Flowers
2. 25 Portraits
1. 13 Athletes
2. 12 Celebrities
3. 25 Beach / California
1. 5 Palm Trees
2. 5 Ocean
1. 2 Beach Day Ocean
2. 1 Night Ocean
3. 2 Morning Ocean
3. 5 Boats
1. Sailboat
2. Fishing Boat
3. Speed Boat
4. Racing Boat
5. Yacht
4. 5 Sports
1. 1 Beach Volleyball
2. 2 Surfing
3. 1 Hot Air Balloon
4. Swimming
4. 25 Abstracts
1. 5 Shapes
2. 5 Graffiti
3. 5 Splatter
4. 5 People
5. Lines

As you can see, I’ve divied up the amount of work into 4 sections with subsections. Overall 100 paintings is a lot of artwork. I make these plans because it helps me to stay on track, makes an enormous goal seem obtainable and it also serves as a reminder that in order to obtain the level of success that you desire you have to do all of the work. 

Document your work

Now that I know what paintings I want to make, I can start to document the process. In this phase I’ve already set up my art, I have my materials and my painting planned out. For content creation purposes all of this stuff should be documented. That’s just my personal opinion. Not only does this help to engage those who are watching you via social media, but it can help you to develop a skill for: 

1. Taking photos and Video  
2. Understanding what you want to communicate through this work in progress type of documentation. 

So document everything. I have done it all from screen recording my works in photoshop, filming myself on the computer, filming my journey to purchase supplies, photographing work that i made mistakes on and of course photographing and filming the actual building or creation of the work. The goal is to tell the story of how you created every work or project through imagery. While you work on telling this story you also build the skill of content creation. At first it can be a daunting task. It can even slow you down when it comes to producing the actual artwork. As you continue forward you will become more efficient in your content creation process while developing an eye for your style of content creation. 

Now Share

Again all of these things require planning. So now that I know what content I want to share and how I want to share it, I then create a plan for that as well. The posting of the content comes after you’ve executed both your painting and content creation plans. It’s kind of a stock piling method. You may have to go silent for a while or find something to fill up the space while you create and stockpile your work.

Content creation is a snowball effect in theory. I’ve learned that creating content leads to more content. If I create 10 paintings over the course of 20 days it usually means I would have documented or recorded the progress and completion of the art. Those videos or photographs would have then been posted and now I have a ton of images and photos compiled to make even more content. I repeat the goal is to tell my story using a visual language. If I have the opportunity to tell my story everyday then that’s what I’ll do. The more content I create daily allows me to create for at least another day. I use the two for one method. For every 2 days you create content you get one free. Those two days are now compiled to create another day of new content. Keep in mind all of this stuff can be spread out across multiple social media platforms. I create a schedule for editing content and posting content and boom, I’m off and running.

What’s The Point?

I asked myself this a million times before I ripped off the band-aid and jumped into it. I was so hesitant because it increased my workload 10 fold. You have to understand

I’ve always wanted to create hundreds of paintings. I’m obsessed with the act of painting and I just want to create painting after painting til’ infinity. I also wanted everyone to pay attention to what I was creating. I quickly figured out that the artwork that I was sharing quickly loses it’s luster when it has no context to it. I learned that creating multiple posts and sharing my work multiple times a day In different ways gives context to the artwork and my journey. Now that was the key that unlocked it all for me. I wanted to have my work seen more and purchased more frequently. Posting the same image five times a day will definitely get my work seen more, but it would not give context to my journey or my artwork. I noticed that I needed to show my work and process in a different light, from different angles and in a raw but still professional way. This alone helped me to get to my goal of increasing sales and getting eyes on my artwork. 

I’m not really a writer. I mean I do enjoy it. There is something therapeutic about it, but I am a painter. As a painter I have the responsibility of creating the art and making sure that the art that I am making does what it’s supposed to do. The only way I can make sure that happens is by getting eyes on the work. Content creation does just that along with sharpening new skills, killing inhibitions, and watering new ideas. This blog that you’re reading is a direct consequence of my content creation journey and you better believe I’ll be dipping back into this blog to create more content down the line.  

-Von