Someone asked me recently whether or not I still do a lot of personal work to stay creative and just have fun with photography and art. My answer was, “Well of course, with a great big "YES" and an enthusiastic smile! I love visual art! Whether it’s painting, sculpture, performance art, film or photography, I am greatly inspired by it all. I am so very fortunate to be doing something that I love to do! Whether it's shooting simple products on a white background for a catalog or making images of political figures for a magazine, I'm living my dream of being a professional artist!
Being an artist means that you are constantly exercising your mind, evolving your style, and exploring new techniques and ideas. This is just part of the job! However, one of the biggest hurdles I’ve experienced as a commercial artist, “I think” is that I have been known to be "too creative” at times. I've learned over time how important understanding the difference between a "fine art" image and a beautifully executed image that effectively "sells a product" is in my world of business. I am also learning how to effectively balance these two worlds and make them work well for me.
The truth that I've found is that most art buyers love to see beautifully executed "art" images with GREAT concepts but the question always arises, "How can I sell what this person is doing?". An artist's creative mind is the unique trait that sets them apart from everyone else in the business. As an artist, I have an overwhelming need to "create" but not always to "sell". It's been tricky to figure this out. But overall, I think I've learned to just focus on making great imagery in my personal time, continue to grow as an artist, and to keep in mind the importance of creating thought evoking imagery that challenges the mind and keeps the viewer thinking. A very wise person once told me to, “Shoot what you love and then focus on finding the market for it!”. I’m sticking with that approached! Of course it never hurts to keep it simple, clean and design friendly so that other creative minds working in print publications might find themselves saying, "hey, I can see myself running copy around that!"
Featured above is one such image that is derived from a personal body of work I’ve been playing around with on coastal landscapes. Of course my personal landscapes are often influenced by my twisted imagination. Hope you enjoy!
