SEEDS: Good Reads

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   

I love color.

If you’ve seen my work it’s obvious. I’ve loved color ever since I was a kid. I always had the most vibrant sneakers, especially during the throwback era. I loved to match my throwback jerseys with my sneakers. My older brother would tease me because I never had a “normal” pair of sneakers that could go with anything. by that he meant I never had a pair of all white or black sneakers. No neutral color sneakers to wear with any outfit. I was drawn to the crazy patterned vibrant non-matching sneakers. I guess that’s how my love for color initially started to show up. It was always just there. Naturally, I’m drawn to colorful things. I didn’t begin to understand color until I went to Columbia College Chicago to study photography. During that time I learned all about the different elements of photography that could help to create a dynamic beautiful image. One of my favorite elements is color. 

Controlling the intensity of colors in an image is the most fun for me. To take that even further, controlling how those colors complement each other makes it even more satisfying. In my process, complementary colors are the key to creating something beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. Once I was able to understand how colors worked together then I was able to run with the color rules along with the ideas that I wanted to work out. At that point, I knew I would be able to create artwork that would be aesthetically pleasing. 

A color is only as prominent as the colors relative to it.

All colors are relative to the colors they’re presently next to. It’s all about the overpowering or under powering of the current color combination. When I’m making a painting I always consider this rule. When beginning the painting process I prefer to default to contrasting colors that usually compliment each other. When I’m choosing those complementary colors I’m often drawn to choosing colors that are opposite each other on the color value scale. I normally choose two vastly different color values while keeping them generally complementary. I want the stark contrast. I enjoy the science of color and love to experiment with unlikely color combinations. My overall goal is to create something aesthetically pleasing as well as thoughtful and engaging.

Once I was able to understand color palettes and the manipulation of color, then I was able to use my own system to create customized color palettes. Now, here’s the fun part. I’ve created a process where I design each original painting digitally. I form the perfect digital composition and select all of the colors 

that I will use digitally. I then take those cover values and then plug them into my Behr color app. The color match function gives me an exact color ID and from there I can go to any store that offers Behr paint and have that color produced exactly as seen on my computer screen. Now I have an exact layout of what colors I’ll be using and a road map for exactly how I will execute the painting. This makes the actual painting process 100 times easier because now I don’t have to think about the infinite creative choices I could potentially make when painting. They’ve already been thought out and planned. Now all I need to do is execute the painting.

Choosing the right colors in a painting make the difference in how aesthetically pleasing the artwork will be. In my opinion it doesn’t really matter what you’re painting. Now take this statement with a grain of salt, because what I really mean is if you start with colors that compliment each other you are destined to create something that is aesthetically pleasing. Most times when someone looks at painting for the first time. The first thing that they notice is usually the color of the art. They will usually mention something about how the colors go together. It could be a painting that is boring to look at or could it could be a painting with a negative subject matter. All in all the color will be the first thought and the subject matter will be the second. 

-Von

When I first began this art thing or whatever you want to call it. I guess it would be selling art or making art professionally. Basically, treating my art like a business. When I first started this, all I had was ideas and a little bit of skill. As I started to create more and think about what I wanted to do with my art, I realized I didn’t have much of a direction. I spent time thinking of a way to make a clear path for my career but I was unsuccessful because I had no reference for a standard. I immediately began to scour the internet for resources. I wanted a black and white “How To”. As I searched the web I also spent time reaching out to other artists, shooting my shot at galleries and potential clients. I came to find that there’s no right way to do it. The art world as a whole is made up of many little individual art worlds, the individual artist’s wold. I found out that it works differently for everyone. Every individual artist needs to do the work for themselves and figure out how their art works in the industry as a whole. It’s based off of your artistic voice. Your voice is determines what your art looks like and what your art is saying. When I realized this I came to understand that there’s no “How To”, no outline, no roadmap. I have to create my own plan and roadmap that works for me. In the building of my roadmap I found these three resources combined, amongst others, to be the staple of my ever evolving roadmap. In combination with other resources, videos and conversations I’ve had. I use these books to create a simple plan that I follow daily.

 This first book that I stumbled into is called “Find Your Artistic Voice” by Lisa Congdon.

As a start I wanted to get a general understanding of what an artistic voice is. I was interested in standing out and understanding my style. Once I got into the reading I gained a lot of insight into how that all works, how you find your voice. I was lead to this book because I felt I needed clarity. We can all agree that the art world can for the most part can be very vague and general. There’s not a lot of clarity for new artists trying to navigate the art world. I think a lot of new artists spend a lot of time making things and trying to figure out what they’re doing. Sometimes, arguably the majority of the time, we procrastinate. We don’t actually make the work because we don’t know what we’re doing, where we’re going, or if it will work. It can easily feel like a waste of time if we create something that doesn’t fit in with all of the other things that we’re creating. Anyway, that was a least my experience and I know a lot of others that can relate to this type of process. I really enjoy this book because of the light it sheds on the process of pinpointing and defining your artistic voice. Really what makes up an artistic voice. Here’s a spoiler. Generally, it’s really a handful of things. It comes down to skill, style, medium and subject matter. Those things can be as simple or complex as you want them to be. It could be as simple as the color red is an amazing vibrant color. Or as complex as American society was created to serve white men. This was a major piece of information that helped me to understand what my artistic voice is. It also helped me to shape my voice and my style. Once I became aware of what I was naturally saying then I could lean in. So I came to find my voice and style but only after the brutal, painstaking process of making what seemed like an endless amount of paintings. This was prompted from a list that Lisa shares in the book. It is 10 steps to building artistic skill. Here it is:

1. Begin
2. Practice 
3. Keep showing up 
4. Practice more
5. Stretch yourself 
6. Practice 
7. Practice 
8. Note your improvement 
9. Practice more
10. Repeat

5 of these 10 steps are practice. This is the real key to finding your artistic voice and building artistic skill.

The next book is “Art, Money, Success” by Maria Brophy

Now it was kind of a natural occurrence or a natural flow of thinking because once I had a good understanding of my voice I need to figure out how and where to sell my work. I went on a quest for resources that would tell me: How to market my work and How to sell my work. By default I think most artists have an idea that you should sell your work in a gallery. Or give your work to someone you can “Take care of that for you”. Well, this book helped give me perspective on how and where I could and should sell my work. It sheds light on different ways to sell your art and ways to make multiple streams of income from selling one painting or art piece. Maria Brophy does a good job of giving the reader a broader perspective on how to sell artwork. It gave me confidence in the fact that I could sell my own art and I didn’t have to depend on some entity, gallery or some kind of backing to successfully sell the art. For me this book has become a really valuable resource because it gives real life examples and suggestions on how an artist can get themselves out of their studios and into the public eye. Most of the principles in this book are rooted in basic sales techniques. I also find this book really helpful because it takes into consideration the idea that not everyone is great at selling and not everyone has the personality to get out there and go talk to hundreds of people. I think there is an art to picking up the phone and calling 500 people. It is not easy. This is understood so, Maria is sensitive to that fact and offers alternative ways to make this option feasible for all artists. She gives examples of thinking outside of the box and creating some kind of system where you could have someone else do it for you. You need to know how to do everything or be able to do everything. You just need to know how to do your job, which is making art. Now, because your art is a business you don’t have to do it alone. You just need to create a plan and start to work the plan and if need be recruit others who can help you to successfully execute the plan. Again, your art is a business! If you don’t treat it like a business, the chance of you growing financially is slim. If that isn’t your goal then sure, you can be successful sharing your work, having your work displayed, you can even win awards. It’s all up to you. I refer to this book every month. Constantly it feels like. I can’t even tell you how many times I refer back to this book, but I’m always reading it and I’m always looking for new ways to adapt what Maria is saying to my art business and my life. “Art, Money, Success” is a really great resource in combination with “Find Your Artistic Voice”.

Lastly, “Aesthetic Intelligence” by Pauline Brown.

Now, I actually found this book by mistake. It was definitely a ‘What you’re looking for will find you’ situation. I was hanging out at a friends house and I need to go to the bathroom. So I’m walking through the house trying to find the bathroom and I ended up walking into a roommates bedroom. Normally if I walked into the wrong room I would just turn around. this time was different. I saw this really cool Mid-Century modern bookshelf and all of these fashion books. Weirdly enough I started to look at these books and I saw this book called “Aesthetic Intelligence”. I thought ‘wow this book sounds really interesting’. I just want all of the information, I want to be smart so anything dealing with intelligence, I’m in. I read the first page and from there I was hooked. I got the book for myself and boom. The icing on the cake. “Aesthetic Intelligence” is the completion of the Holy Art Trinity. For me the combination of these books work so well as a crash course to creating, selling and presenting art in a polished professional way. This a great read because it talks about the art of aesthetics; how the biggest global brands have mastered the aesthetics of what they do and their origin stories. This book helped me to gain a better understanding of what I want my brand to be, what I want my brand to say and how I want the brand to look. It also gave me some insight onto some things that I could do to make my brand stand out and expand the customer experience from initial purchase to opening the package. Pauline Brown drives points on principles rooted in brand image, brand identity and most importantly the little nuances of your customer experience that personally communicates to customers. I highly recommend this book. It continues to be a really helpful resource for me as I start to now build out a bigger, broader and more cohesive roadmap. 

Now, if you know me you know I rant and rave about these books. They seriously changed my life and the direction of my art career. Before I read them, I was making a lot of artwork, but I had no idea what I was doing. I was walking around like a chicken with my head cut off. I had no direction. Therefore, I had nothing to focus on. Just a lot of ambition and a lot of creativity. With that, I will continue to encourage artist who are trying to grow their brand, show and sell their artwork. pick up these books and read them because these resources can really help you to sharpen brand of your artwork to a clear direct point. 

All in all, The Holy Art Trinity of these books have become my have become the base of my roadmap and they have helped me to successfully grow my business, sharpen my skills and tell the origin story of my brand in a clear and direct way. I’ve noticed that as long as I continue to refer back to these materials I can see improvements in my business as a whole every year. 

-Von