Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nelson Cardenas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nelson, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
One of the things that many trained and technical artists do is to play it safe, I feel that being a self-taught artist has given me more freedom to venture into unusual techniques without restrictions or rules imposed on me by an art program. I’m sure that there are those particular art applications that I didn’t have the privilege of learning but perhaps I’m already approaching them in my own way. Sometimes in the process of researching techniques I discover that I’m already doing practicing it in principle but just in my own way. I think the reason why I keep my creativity alive is because of my restless mind always experimenting with as many materials as possible without fear of failure, I also believe that that sometimes artist see a failed piece of artwork as just that. I welcome those moments of challenge when it seems like nothing seems to be working and sometimes all it takes is walking away for a few hours and then coming back, this it will give you a whole different perspective on all that have to be done is to change the approach. Nothing in art is written in stone and rules are meant to be broken.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
In the Central Florida art community, I’m known as the guy that paints with fire. I have done close to 100 live fire art shows.
I am fascinated that something so primitive (or sometimes destructive) like fire has the ability to create beauty on so many materials such as wood, raw leather and even metal.
I also like to experiment with all things that produce heat to create art.
One of the most unusual devices that I use is a welder. I use it as a “sketching” tool which allows me to work with wood, metal, leather and all in a single work of art.
I sketch my initial image with graphite pencils. Then in my underpainting process, I create the darker tones with a blowtorch on wood and leather. I use a welder to sketch my designs on metal. And at the end it all comes together in unison.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
There is a lot of truth to the notion that artists require pain for inspiration. But along with that pain, it’s important to have resilience and passion. Those 3 things helped me with my journey.
I was awarded a scholarship to attend the Rhode Island School of Design upon graduating from high school.
Unfortunately, that scholarship was taken away because I was not a legal resident at the time.
The disappointment that my dream of attending art school was not going to happen, shattered me inside. I had no choice but to put the pieces back together and that’s when I decided to teach myself all I could about art.
When my legal status was resolved, I had continued to create art on my own and in the process, I also attended culinary school because I also have a great passion for creating amazing food.
Visual arts and culinary arts are not so different and when there is that flame of passion for anything, there is a responsibility to pursue it. And that responsibility falls on you.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
I read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and it impacted me greatly.
I learned how resilient the human spirit can be in almost any situation. His story of being a survivor of the holocaust brings anyone who reads this book to a humble state, and it teaches you how much we take for granted. There are others who struggle with incredible odds who dont have the things that we have.
I identified greatly with this book. Although, his story is so much more drastic and devastating than anything I have endured, I found some similarities.
Being born in Medellin, Colombia during the height of the drug cartel wars, it was very dangerous day to day. Luckily, I had the great fortune of coming to the United States at the age of 13 and was able to have many more opportunities than I would have had if I had stayed in Colombia.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: nelsoncardenas72
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- Twitter: ncardenas72
