How did you get involved in art in general? When you were growing up, what did you want to be?

I think I’ve always been involved in some form of art since I was very very little—my family used to call me “the bag lady” when I was little because I would go around with no less than 3 or 4 bags filled with crayons, markers, colored pencils, basically any art supplies I could get my hands on! I was also heavily involved in music and sports growing up—played the piano, clarinet and sang in a travelling choir that even did a couple of operas, played softball and volleyball (I actually played softball for 2 years in college). I consider myself extremely lucky because I come from a very supportive family and my parents always encouraged us to pursue things that we liked, even if it meant spending money they didn’t have or driving us around town to lessons, etc.

So when I was growing up, I think I knew I’d always be involved in a more creative profession because that’s what I’ve always been drawn to.

What drew you towards doing graphic design and illustration?
I think I’ve just always leaned toward that side of art. Growing up, I used to sit and work on that computer program “Print Shop” on our Apple IIGS (old school) making flyers and signs and wasting all of my parents’ ink ribbons because I’d print so many things out. I guess I didn’t realize I was designing at the time…to me it was just me having fun and creating things from image and type. It wasn’t until around 8^th grade where I learned what a graphic designer really did—my mom had been a journalist/editor at the Democrat and Chronicle, the main newspaper in Rochester, NY, where I grew up and she had worked with tons of designers and illustrators at the paper and kind of explained to me what they did. I think it suits my personality more than the fine art side of art—I never got sucked into drawing and painting for hours and hours like most fine artists—to me I preferred the layout of information, to focus on projects and then move on to the next one. The more interesting I could make the layouts by using my own art, the better. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a huge art department at my high school because we were so small, so it wasn’t really until college that I really got into design and typography and hierarchy and everything else that goes into the field.

Describe your work. What influences you and your work? How do you get inspiration?
Describe my work…hmmm…well it’s kind of hard to completely describe it because as a designer, it’s always varying for me. I LOVE the projects where I get to combine my illustration with design because I feel like all of my heart and soul go into that project. But there are other projects that I will use type and photo without illustration and feel just as passionate about, so it’s hard to say. As a “commercial” artist a lot of times you have to adjust according to your client and what’s going to work for them, so I can’t say that my design has one specific style because I work with all sorts of clients, but my illustration style is obviously watercolor, often combined with image and type. And in my fine art/watercolor I try to use humor as much as possible, because although I’m a pretty focused and goal-oriented individual, I’m kind of a kid at heart that refuses to grow up.

I get inspiration from everywhere and everything, so it’s hard to pinpoint what I do to find it. I am very drawn to and inspired by items/things from my past. I am a HUGE vintage toy lover. I could sit for hours and look at old toys, especially specific ones from my childhood.  And I love new toys that look like old toys, I think that’s why I’m so drawn to the Mighty Mugg series of toys—the flat paint and the way they are all shaped the same but all so different—so beautiful to me.

Other things that inspire me: music, humor, 80s pop culture, hardworking humble people, color, the unexpected, old school Nintendo, happy accidents, thrift stores, flea markets, philanthropy, vintage magazines, the smell of newly opened pool toys…the list is endless.

Of course I look at design blogs all the time to see what’s going on in the design scene (although I’ve been MAJORLY slacking on my blog feeds lately…haven’t had time to check in a couple months to be honest!). There are so many artists and designers out there that I’m just downright jealous of and I strive to kick ass as much as they do, and that includes a handful right here in our city. Some of my very close friends are in that mix! And I think that’s what I love about AIGA—I have come to know each and every one of those people and we support each other like a happy family. It makes me happy to have that support network.

I love your design style with the elements of watercolor. Can you explain your process a little? What draws you to this style?
Well thank you for the compliment! I actually didn’t start doing watercolor until my junior year of college. My teacher and mentor Jerry Kalback was the best teacher in the entire world. He was the one who inspired me to develop my watercolor skills and taught me so many things about illustration that I could have never taught myself. So he has been a HUGE inspiration for me, not to mention a kick-ass illustrator himself. My process varies, sometimes I’ll paint first, scan and add type on top, sometimes I’ll paint the actual type and combine with image, sometimes I’ll print directly on the watercolor paper and paint on top of that—it’s all pretty much experimental for me a lot of the time. Lately I’ve been collaborating with my friend Ashley Hazen—she’ll draw and I’ll paint, or I’ll paint and she’ll draw—I feel our illustration styles are very similar so it kind of works for us. I think I’m drawn to watercolor because it’s so unpredictable, and it breaks me out of that control I get with design, where if you want something to go somewhere on the page, you move it there. With watercolor, it’s like, “oh shit!” But then you kind of adjust to make it work. It’s unpredictability adds spice to my life.

collaboration with Ashley Hazen for the book Things Drunk People Say. available at Urban Outfitters.

Connected to your influences and inspiration, who are your favorite artists and musicians?
Favorite illustrators/designers: Such a tough question to answer since I have so many people and design groups I am inspired by, so I’ll just list a few that come to mind: The Decoder Ring, Frank Chimero, Stina Persson, Andrio Albero, Adrian Johnson, Andrew Bannecker, Design Army. And though I don’t really screen print myself, I am so inspired by the simplicity and concepts in gigposters designed by Aesthetic Apparatus , The Small Stakes, Methane Studios and my friends, the Bubble Process. I’m also enamored by a lot of the letterpress I see coming from Hammerpress, Studio on Fire, the Mandate Press and Yee-Haw Industries. Locally, I’m loving the stuff that Halftone Def and Dog & Pony are creating. And of course I love Ashley Hazen’s work as well.

Music: I have a pretty random taste in music, I try to stay pretty current with new indie stuff but will always go back to the old stuff as well—50s, 60s, Motown, the Four Tops, the Supremes, Sam Cooke, the Beach Boys, that’s my “comfort music”—music that just seems to kind of have this innocence about it, that I can feel and relate to more. I love old country too (not so much new country), bluegrass, Spanish music, anything that reminds me of my childhood really. My iTunes collection is pretty random.

How has your work with AIGA Jacksonville shaped your design, style, aesthetic, and even art in general?
I’m not sure that I can attribute my work and style to AIGA Jacksonville—I CAN attribute A LOT of things to AIGA, like my network of like-minded designers both in Jacksonville and across the country, the opportunity to give back to the Jacksonville community through hands-on activities and design. AIGA provides the forum for us as designers to discuss current design topics and be inspired by what’s going on around us in the design world, but I see my work as more of a personal thing, where I’m gathering inspiration from everything in my world, not just AIGA necessarily. But AIGA is very important to me to be a part of as a designer.

Where do you see yourself in the next five to 10 years? Where do you see your art going?
This is a great question! I don’t even know if I can give you a straight up answer to this because I’m not really sure. I’m actually about to start a new job as Senior Art Director at BroadBased, which I’m really excited about. But I’m not sure what the future holds, to be honest. I know that I’d be sad if for some reason I stopped the art or didn’t have time for it. I think it will always be a big part of my life—creating is my passion, and I could say, yeah I’d like to own my own agency one day, but do I? It seems like it would take away from my chance to create if I had to focus more on the business side of things, and right now that doesn’t interest me as much as creating. Will that change in 5 or 10 years? I don’t know. So it’s really hard to say.

What shows have you been in recently? Any planned for this year?
I recently had a piece in the Totem if you Got ‘Em show that Jack Twachtman put together at Bogda in October and I will be in the Designers in Toyland custom toy show coming up on December 2^nd, during the December Art Walk, which I am also helping organize through AIGA.

Where can we see your work?
You can see my work on my website: cmykaren.com. I don’t have anything in any galleries at the moment so unless you come to my house and look at the various print pieces I’ve designed the past 5 years, just check out the website.

What are your thoughts regarding the Jacksonville art scene? Have any suggestions for improvement? Do you read any local jax blogs regularly?
I wish I could say I’m SUPER involved in the fine art scene but with my design job, freelance, illustration and AIGA on the side, this girl doesn’t get enough sleep as it is! I would love to do more collaborations with the fine artists in town, like the toy show and the artists of 229 Hogan. They are putting out some REALLY cool stuff that I’m really digging. I think the art scene has been blowing up from what I’ve seen over the past couple of years and becoming less “exclusive” in the fact that we have these collaborative shows like Chad and Clay’s skateboard art show and the toy show coming up where anyone can pretty much enter. I know that a lot of the artists in town would disagree and say we need to be more exclusive, but I think having a mix of both types of shows is awesome for the city.

Thanks again for spending some time and letting me interview you. I’ve been a big admirer of your work for quite some time. Any last parting words?
Well thank you very much, that’s very kind of you to say. Thank you for interviewing me and taking an interest in my work. I do what I do because I love what I do and when I stop loving it, I’ll stop doing it…just can’t foresee that happening anytime soon. I just want to tell Jacksonville to keep kicking ass and for the people involved in the art community to stay positive and supportive of each other because so much can grow from that positivity. Collaborations rule.

collaboration with Sean Tucker of Dog&Pony Showprints.

copyright clay doran.

copyright clay doran.

Describe your work. What are your influences, how do you get your inspiration?
My abstract paintings are studies in texture, color, composition, and decay. I have grown up in Jacksonville, Florida surrounded by abandoned buildings with peeling paint and old hand painted signs hanging on by rusty nails. This urban decay has been a huge source of inspiration. I am mesmerized when I see peeling paint creating insanely intricate designs by simply being left to the elements; art without the artist. In my paintings I layer many different mediums in an attempt to recreate the surfaces I see around me. Through building up an assortment of  mediums and then carefully tearing them down I try to simulate the effects of weather, time, and decay.

copyright clay doran.

As Squid Dust I am currently being influenced by 80s skateboarding culture, children’s cartoons, the monsters of old illuminated religious manuscripts and the constant onslaught of pop media that bombards us everyday.

Visually, I am constantly going through phases. Recently I’ve been loving the work of Anthony Lister, Cody Hoyt, Kinsey, Parla, JD Baizley, Skinner, and a lot of those other west coast dudes.  And of course I will always love the classics. Icons like Bosch, Warhol, Schiele, Anselm Kiefer, Rauchenberg, Mucha and Darger will always be a huge source of inspiration.

copyright clay doran.

Where do you see yourself in five or ten years? Your art? How do you see it evolving?
Who knows really? I mean of course I would like to be surrounded by things that make me happy and living off of creative projects. But there is an old Buddhist saying, “the path is the goal.”  I like to think of my artistic evolution in the same way. As long as I am on the path then I have reached my goal. There is no destination.
I recently went through a phase of typography and now I seem to be drifting into geometry and emergence. Hopefully I will continue to be inspired and learn from the world around me. I am excited to see how my work will change and evolve throughout my entire life.

Squid Dust has recently shown at Edge 17, Moon River Pizza, Café 331, Eclipse, and the Exchange (in Gainesville)

I grew up in Jacksonville, going to the Pit in Riverside, and before that the Lion’s Club in Orange Park. Watching kids not much older than me piece together awesome shows. While other kids were complaining about the lack of entertainment in this city, others were going out and doing something about it. They were bringing those bands and artists into a tiny empty room and making a scene that everyone could be a part of. Not for the money or the popularity, but for the love of “the game.” I think Jacksonville still has this in its blood. Dead Tank Records, Burro Bags, Zombie Bikes, Flux Gallery, and Arturo Clothing are perfect examples of kids creating something out of nothing in this city. While “spots” and venues will come and go… we need to always have people with the drive to make something happen. Even in the face of unavoidable public apathy.

copyright clay doran.

I have lots of plans for the future. I have recently moved into a new warehouse studio after painting out of my house for years. Soooo I feel like I have more potential then ever before.

Against Me!

How did you both get involved in art in general, and silkscreen/screen printing specifically?
Sean: Gosh, I have no idea how doing art fell into my lap. Neither of my parents were artistically inclined, so it didn’t necessarily come naturally. But I really dug art class in elementary school. You know, just making stuff for my mom and all that. Plus I’m a lefty, all my art instructors led me to believe that had something to do with it too…the whole left-handed-right-brained thing. I took more elective arts classes in high school, which led me to find out that I could draw pictures AND make money. Enter graphic design. Had some awesome mentors at UNF who led me to understand design on a conceptual AND technical level (instead of just pretty pictures), and now I (along with Tim) do advertising at a big agency downtown.

The need to understand silkscreening came from my admiration of the Minneapolis-based studio Aesthetic Apparatus. They in my mind are the pioneers of what I consider to be modern rock poster design. Sure there are Kozik and Coop and Emek, but AA made me realize something something special — I didn’t have to be an amazing illustrator to make a great rock poster. Their collages and beautifully put-together posters struck me at a time when I was just figuring out what I wanted to do with my career. I got my hands on some of their posters and my fate was sealed.

The tactility of a screen printed poster is something you can’t simulate with offset or digital printing. Feeling ink on a nice toothy paper is beyond awesome for me. So one of my mentors at UNF taught me how she learned and I went from there. Picking up other tips, losing some…finding what worked for me.

Tim: Is there such a thing as nerd art? I drew my own coimcs and comic books as a kid, though none of them were any good. I’ve been obsessed with logos and album art since my early teens. I took about 8 years off of recognizing art and design (I call this my dark period) because I thought, to make a living I needed to sweat my ass off for 40 hours a week. I had a renaissance in my mid 20’s basically acquiring a whole new passion for design, which led me to school, which led to more art exposure which, in the long run, brought me to where I am today. The screen printing process is still a new experience for me. I was aware of artists and designers that created some bad ass concert posters, but had always thought that area of art was sort of restricted for me – having no clue as to the process – I more or less had resigned myself to being a admiring observer. Then one day Sean was hired at the same agency I work for and instantly became a big contributor to my education and motivation into creating the work you see today.

Describe your work. What are your influences, how do you get your inspiration? What made you decide to do band posters? The idea of creating posters for bands you enjoy, and then trying to sell them at shows is genius!
Sean: Describe our work. Hmmm. “Hand-Printed Posters and Goods.” I think we answered the second part of this one above. Aesthetic Apparatus is a huge influence. They introduced us to the idea of selling these awesome things we made for bands we love. The bands usually dig it too! It’s great for us, the band, the venue, the city, screenprinting…everything! We love music, we love art, and we love screenprinting. Gigposters.com is a great source of inspiration. Nearly every relevant printer/designer uploads their posters to the site for the public to feast on. Keeping current with those that are better than us really drives us to make work and to make it good.

Music is obviously a pretty significant influence as well. Our lives are inundated with music. We work with headphones on, we drive with music blasting. It surrounds our lives, becomes the subject matter of our posters, and inspires us daily.

Tim: My contribution to our work can pretty much be summed up like this. We get an idea for an upcoming show, we talk, brainstorm, concept and research. Then I sit around for a few weeks and make Sean mad because procrastination is my middle name. Then when we get close to our self imposed deadline, magically we make something amazing, or great, or good, or pretty ok, or quite mediocre and then print it. Beer helps the process, but not often enough. Anyway, the work we do quite simply, always impresses me (in a positive way). Sometimes its the finished product, sometimes its the journey to the finished product – but every poster has a story and I guess thats how I see our work. We create pieces of art that is unique not only in imagery but in history. I sometimes wonder if any body cares about that stuff.

Declare War on Minnesota

Band posters were a natural progression. We work in a field that we love, design, but we don’t always love our work (at the job) so for a creative outlet that we actually enjoy we merge two of our passions together – music and design.

Connected to your influences and inspiration, who are your favorite artists and musicians?
Tim:
Robert Lee and Mark McDevitt of Methane Studios were my original inspiration and still are the strongest. The dudes from Aesthetic Apparatus run a close 2nd. Thomas Scott hangs on my walls at home and in the office. Sagmeister is mandatory, and I’d include Chwast (for history) and Fairey (for current) as icons of poster design. Music inspriation is all over the place so I’ll do a quick 10 kinda all time/current  faves.  Against Me, the Allman Brothers, Queens of the Stone Age, Less than Jake, Iron and wine, MMJ, Mason Jennings, Bad Religion, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Jay-Z. Is that 10? Currenty El Ten Eleven is in heavy rotation.

Sean:
Ryan McGinness blows my mind, WPA poster artists remind me that I’ve got a long way to go, Stefan Sagmeister takes it to another level, Rosa Loves inspires constantly. Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins are crucial. Delta Spirit’s “Ode To Sunshine” & live show are brilliant. Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon and Elvis Costello slay me at the moment — I’m late on the MGMT train. Can’t deny the importance of Green Day in my development, too. The Who, Deep Purple, Talking Heads, Springsteen = timeless.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? your art? How do you see it evolving?
Sean: Ballin’ — Hopefully the art will get better.

Tim: Old and wrinkly with 2 kids and a dog and a leak in the roof. My art will just be old and wrinkly.
As far as evolution – I expect the art to get better, but the material will always be the same. I’m an old school lover in many senses. I one of those people that likes old cars, rotary phones, and hand made everything (just make sure it fits on my ipod.)

Delta Spirit

What shows have you been in lately?
The Art Institute of Jacksonville held a lovely show of our work last August. It was awesome. Hanging posters that promote other things in art shows about yourself is a weird feeling. The last concert we attended/did a poster for was Delta Spirit at Café Eleven, and there are many many more to come. Ok not “many many” but some. Dr. Dog, Low, Black Lips.

What are your thoughts regarding the Jacksonville art scene? Have any suggestions for improvement? Do you read any local jax blogs regularly?
Sean: Don’t get me started.

Local Blogs: All of them. Golly, I love feed readers. Others to note: Wooster Collective, Mike from Burlesque of North America’s “So Much Pileup”,  Pitchfork Media’s news stream, Garfield Minus Garfield, Under Consideration’s “Brand New”, OMG Posters!, KAWS’s blog, Cool Hunting

Tim: I grew up in Jacksonville and I had moved away and came back before I realized there is an “art’ scene. I assure you there wasn’t one before. There’s a nice foundation for much more visible scene here, it just needs time to mature. Improvement comes with involvement. I read Vic Ketchman’s blog almost everyday – that guy is hilarious.

Where can we see your work? What can we expect to see in the future?
Check our work and blog at dogandponyprints.com. Expect to see more posters, prints, updates, a new website, music, party people and the like.

Have any advice for anyone wanting to get started in the local art scene and displaying work?
Sean: Do what you love and tell them haters to suck on it. Seriously though, do good work. But more importantly: do good.

Tim: It’s nice to have a mentor, a partner or a friend to share with. Whether it’s a local design teacher, friend from class, your boss at work, or your next door neighbor. Find someone that shares your passion and foster is together. One person trying to get their stuff out there for everyone to appreciate, is going to have a hard time doing alone.

Thanks again for spending some time and letting me interview you guys. I’ve been a big admirer of your work for quite some time. Any last parting words?
Sean: Have you any idea how much damage that bulldozer would suffer if I just let it roll straight over you?

Tim: Never compromise your work and always have a breath mint handy.

The Walkmen and Vampire Weekend

Hope you check out his work further and enjoy this first installment of Artist Inspired: Interviews.

Two-Face. copyright Logan Zawacki

How did you get involved in art in general? And the super heroes, villains, and other comic book character illustrations specifically?
My father would have to be my greatest artistic influence.  He’s an architect so I grew up around drafting tables and had an endless supply of pencils and erasers at my disposal as a kid.  You can say I got the “drawing gene” from him because ever since I can remember I’ve always loved illustrating.  Much of my childhood was spent reading comic books and trying to emulate my favorite comic book artists’ style.  My best friend and I would pick up the newest comics first thing Saturday morning and then would spend the entire weekend sitting at our parents’ kitchen tables drawing our favorite superheroes.

Describe your work. What are your influences, how (or where) do you get inspiration?
Over the last two years I’ve been working on commissions where people request to have a portrait of themselves drawn as their favorite superhero, villain, movie character, 80’s cartoon, video game fighter, etc.  I would describe my work as Pop Art and its original inspiration was an illustration done by local cartoonist David King where he illustrated the band Vs The Earth as the Marvel comics super-team the X-Men.  After seeing his cartoon version it really inspired me to do a photorealistic version of the same band.  That one illustration lead to another illustration of the same band followed by illustrations of my closest friends, and then I started getting so many requests that I began commissioning these “super-illustrations” through my Myspace page.  As of right now I’ve done over 100 of these illustrations and have many more lined up as well as a personal series I’m working on that I hope to have done by the end of the year.

Nightcrawler. copyright Logan Zawacki

What process do you go through in creating the illustrations of people as comic book characters?
The first step in the process is a photograph of the customer I’m illustrating.  I studied the artist Alex Ross and his use of photographs to recreate accurate lighting and proportions in his illustrations and paintings.  I request to see photos of the people I’m illustrating and use those photographs to replicate all their facial features and basic body proportions. After receiving the photos I illustrate the customer with pen and paper as whatever character they request.  At this point, I’ve done everything from Captain Jack Sparrow to Elvis Presley to the Wicked Witch to Batman to Spongebob Squarepants giving the middle finger.  After I’ve made the pen illustration, I scan that image and begin coloring in Photoshop.  On average, a completed illustration takes me 2-3 days from start to finish.

Connected to your influences and inspiration, who are your favorite artists?
Without a doubt my favorite artist would have to be the aforementioned Alex Ross.  His simple illustrations and complex paintings are all equally breathtaking and his knowledge about the history of comic books is inspiring.  Coming in a close second would be the comic book juggernaut, Todd McFarlane. He is the epitome of a modern-day Renaissance Man who is still considered one of the most influential comic book artists/creators in the industry, has a highly successful toy company, his own animation studio, and owns practically all of the record-breaking home run balls by McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds.  The same thing can be said about Frank Miller and his transition from comic book artist to movie director/producer of such box office hits as Sin City and 300.  Miller’s ability as an artist to create such detailed illustrations using only black & white and working off the positive/negative space within his composition is truly amazing.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Your art? How do you see it evolving?
In ten years I hope to be teaching as a professor in the field of Photography and still creating my illustrations on the side.  I will continue working on various Pop Art projects ranging from digital illustrations to classic alternative processes in photography.  With all the recent advancements in digital art tablets I see my illustrations evolving from ink drawings to 100% digital illustrations and allowing me to produce more work at a faster pace.  The one thing I can guarantee you is that I will continue drawing comic book characters till the day I die.

What shows have you been in lately?
Recently I have taken a break from local art shows to focus on my newest art projects and my application into graduate school.  Tentatively I’m scheduled to display at Flux Gallery in Five Points as part of a group show in March as well as the next Joe Van Dyke art show taking place at Freebird Live.  I’m also organizing the 2^nd Annual ‘Drawing for Life’ Marathon scheduled to take place on April 4^th, 2009.  Myself and five other local artists plan on drawing for 12 hours straight and then selling our artwork at the April 18^th Relay for Life at Jarboe Park, Neptune Beach, FL.  All of the proceeds from our art sale go directly to the American Cancer Society to support the fight against cancer.  This cause is especially close to my heart after losing several family members and close friends to cancer related deaths.  Together we’re hoping to raise $5000 to support cancer research and the patient services provided by the American Cancer Society.  The reality is that cancer isn’t going anywhere unless the funds are raised to find treatments and cures for this horrible disease, and if my artwork can help that cause then that’s the best effect my artwork could ever have on the future.

What are your thoughts regarding the Jacksonville art scene? Have any suggestions for improvement? Do you read any local jax blogs regularly?
I feel like the art scene is exploding with talent and so much of it is going unnoticed and unappreciated.  The best metaphor I can give to describe Jacksonville’s art scene is to compare it to a large market full of thousands of vendors each with their own unique product and offered at a reasonable price, but only a dozen people willing to buy anything.  This could be a direct result of our current economy, or just an overall lack of interest in the arts.  I have been very fortunate to find a niche with my illustrations and a word of advice to other local artists is to develop an individual style or provide a service that no other artist in Jacksonville is offering.  As for local jax blogs the only one I check frequently is TheOuterBox.com.  I find it’s the only local art blog that is truly focused on helping local artists.

Where can we see your work? What can we expect to see in the future?
My work can be seen at www.flickr.com/lzcreations or www.myspace.com/lzcreations. You can also find my artwork on the cover of the locally produced comic book Unleashed from Chalkline Studios coming out in March.  As for the future, I’m currently working on a hardcover collection of 25 salt prints that every Nintendo fan will want to own, as well as a new illustration series that combines elements of comic books, mythology, religion, classic movies, and literature.

Dr. Doom. copyright Logan Zawacki

Have any advice for anyone wanting to get started in the local art scene and displaying work?
Get out there and be seen!  The only way you’ll ever get known is by getting involved in local shows, whether they’re juried or non-juried.  Also look outside of Florida to display your work.  There are websites and blogs dedicated to “Call to Artists” and making it easier for artists to find art shows geared toward their style.

Thanks again for spending some time and letting me interview you. I’ve been a big admirer of your work for quite some time. Any last parting words?
My final word of advice is to never stop creating art.  No matter what setbacks life brings they are never worth sacrificing your creativity.  And don’t base your success as an artist on how much you sell.  In today’s economy it is very difficult to convince somebody to spend a couple hundred dollars on a piece of artwork when there’s the looming fear of unemployment and the realization that bills are the only financial guarantee we have left.