What is your primary medium?
I'm mostly an illustrator. So I will draw on just about anything. Paint, sketchbooks, right now I'm really big into drawing on clothes. So my main medium is anything to get the weird pictures out of my head.
How did you get into creating art?
I've always been doing art and it sort of became a thing that I mapped my life around in high school, when I had to choose things to do. Art was the thing that I kind of hid in and did by myself.
Did you go to school for art?
I did. I went to Boise State University for a Bachelor's in illustration and did that for five years and came out, decided I didn't have anything to illustrate out in the real world. So I went back for a graphic design degree.
What inspires you to create?
I am a giant nerd. So I will find inspiration in weird science things. I'm really into space and I love comic books. Anything superhero, zombie or vampire. Yeah, I've got a ton of different wells that I sort of find. Color is a big thing that I really love to play with as well. So anything that sort of catches my eye and makes me think a little is where I get inspired.
What gets you out of bed and creating?
It's generally just having something in my head and knowing that I have a story to tell and I need to communicate it through an image. So that's the main thing that that puts me in my studio is if I've got something that's sort of like a bee in my bonnet that I need to express visually. That's the main thing that I'm always trying to express in my work.
Why do you think art is important?
Art is important because it allows people to express an emotion or a feeling that I don't think a certain section of us can do otherwise. It's the sort of expression that helps people find themselves and express it to the world. And that's, that's kind of been what gets me going and gets me excited to see new art and to do new art and find others that express themselves in similar ways.
Do you sell your art?
I do. I need to be better about it. I'm not a great marketing person, so what I do is I generally just create stuff that I enjoy, and post it on social media and find people that are interested in that. And, I mean, I used to be a part of the Swell Artist Collective and that was a good way to at least get my name out in the community and I did sell a few things through that, but it's been an unusual year. Less people are buying at the moment.
Has the pandemic changed the way you work?
It's not really doing a whole lot for me because I'm such a solitary worker when it comes to the arts. It's changed the ability to do things communally. I do miss that. I was a big component in the Freak Alley Gallery Downtown and I've missed being able to do that with people, going and painting murals and communicating with my art friends. It's a bit like artist summer camp down there and we don't get to do that when there's a pandemic happening.
How important is having a space for you to work?
It's huge. I moved into this house with the idea that I was going to turn this third room into a studio and I was super excited about that because I was living in a little bitty apartment and anytime I wanted to create something, I had to move things out of the way. Then once I was done I had to figure out how to collect it and keep it from mucking up the rest of the space. So it's been a huge, huge part. Being able to set work aside, come back to it later and having an inspiring space is super important for me.
Are there any Boise specific opportunities you've had?
I think so. I think the fact that it is such a small close knit community, I've been able to make connections with artists that I probably wouldn't have been able to in a larger space, or would have felt like I wasn't up to caliber in a larger city. So it's been nice to be able to at least know that there are people out there that support me and are rooting me on and we can all swap ideas. That's also allowed me to connect with smaller businesses and get to design things that are more ad based and graphic design based, which is cool too. I don't think I would have had that opportunity in a larger city.
Are you able to flex your artistic muscles in your day job?
Definitely, the job that I have is in the creative sphere, which is very cool. I haven't had that in a while. So being able to do a 9 to 5 job that keeps me creative is really helpful. I'm allowed to just kind of daydream things up, which is a space that I'm still getting used to. But it also allows me to kind of keep in a creative space so that when I do leave my 9 to 5, I can come home and still have that creative mindset for my own stuff.
Do you do commissions?
I do, yeah. Several of the jackets that I've designed I've sold. They are a little harder because people have to bring me jackets. And again, pandemic, so it's tough to swap clothing during this time of the world. I've done a couple kids books. I worked with the Western Idaho fair and designed their 2018 and 2019 ad works, so I was the character designer for all of the odd little farmyard characters that were on billboards all over the valley. So that was a fun sort of commission and I'm hoping that I can continue finding things like that here.
How can the Boise art scene be improved?
I think as Boise is growing and as the art scene is growing, we've gotten more unique people into town. The people that already live here are coming up with really creative ways to display art, or to get art out into the community and I feel like the Visual Artist Collective is one of those places and we're all kind of rallying around them, trying to make sure they stay open. Freak Alley was my sort of intro into it and I really want both of those spaces to maintain and continue so that other artists and other people can experience the creatives in the community. But yeah, I think everyone's kind of working as hard as they can to keep spaces that are here present. And hopefully, when the world comes back online, we can all sort of open new spaces and find creative ways to kind of gather and view art again.
How has the community changed over the last year?
Well, the pandemic makes it a lot harder to communicate and, sadly, it was the reason that the Swell Artists Collective closed. I really do miss being able to get together with all of the creatives that were a part of that. All of them were super inspiring and going to what felt like a show a month was super. It was the greatest thing to gain ideas and swap techniques and it's just not there at the moment. I mean, social media is kind of there and I still talk to people that way, but it's different. I mean, I’m just trying to make it through, and hopefully just art myself into sanity.
Do you think art is something you will ever stop doing?
Never. Art is something that I will always do. I'll be somewhere senile and painting on the walls if they allow me. Creating and mixing colors, even supply shopping is an exciting part of being an artist because there's potential to it. Having something in your head and being able to bring it out into the world is just something super special that an artist gets to do and I can't imagine not being able to do that. So I will always be constantly creating.