09/24/08 ~ Etsy Featured Artist

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

BMTyson

Today my choice is BMTyson from Murfreesboro, TN- Brian does wonderful original mixed media collage artworks and paintings. He has many interesting things to say about his art and process, please read on....

What is your "real" life like?
Real life is a total blessing right now. My days are spent working on art (collage, painting, doodling), freelance graphic design work, walking the dog & hanging out with my wife of 3 years. In my free time I love playing golf & tennis, eating out, and checking out real estate.

What is your process?
My process (if you can call it that) is pretty loose & improvisational. I begin a piece by perusing through my ephemera collections or thumbing through magazines looking for colors, textures, words, or parts of whole - something to "float my boat" and get the creative flame ignited. I then prepare my support, and start the collage process - arranging and fitting the "puzzle pieces" together into a pleasing composition and attaching them to the support. Next, I add acrylics in successive layers and then photo collage transfers, all the while working in an intuitive manner until the work "feels" done to me.

What are your goals and vision for your business?
In the short term, I am working towards creating large scale collages in the same style of my small scale ones and offering those for sale. I am also working to expand the online and word of mouth exposure of my Etsy shop and my blog/website. Long term, I want to show my work in galleries and slowly/steadily expand to where I can support my family solely through my art income (what artist doesn't want that). Also, I am passionate about giving to missions/social causes from the income obtained from my art - and would love to see those proceeds increase & expand.

How and where do you market your business?
Currently I market through Etsy, my personal website & blog (www.bmtyson.com), and word of mouth.

Do you subscribe to any business related blogs, ezines or magazines?
I float around the web, the blogosphere, & the magazine rack at Barnes & Noble fairly often - I love to see all the wonderful art & design out there. But I don't really subscribe to much. I find it's important for me to try and stay isolated to some degree so I can keep my personal vision and aesthetic intact. It's easy for me to get distracted by other's art & success.

What inspires you?
There's a lot that inspires me: minimal/clean design & illustration, old illustrations & diagrams (especially of animals & nature), the colors and shapes of nature, color in general, texture (visual & tactile), and words/typography all inspire me to create. Also, as a musician, music is a huge inspiration for me. I often find myself trying to recreate the emotion and energy that I feel in certain songs visually in my art.

Who is your favorite musical artist?
Honestly, there are way to many to pick a favorite. Some of those in the upper echelon include: U2, Eric Clapton, Coldplay, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Miles Davis, John Coletrain, Mark Knopfler, Santana, & Michael Franks.