We recently connected with David Palmer and have shared our conversation below.
David, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
Whatever work ethic I have comes from my love of the work itself. I love the ongoing flow of ideas, starting new projects, working through uncertainty, and finishing them. It’s important to keep going when things don’t seem to be turning out the way you envisioned. I find I can only plan things out so much in advance. The rest is discovered in the process.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I live in Los Angeles, and make a living selling my paintings. I split my time between working in the studio and traveling around the country to outdoor art fairs. I love both parts of the process: the time spent alone painting, looking and thinking, and the time out on the road, showing my work in public and talking with thousands of people. I used to show my work in galleries, but I found that I wasn’t meeting the people who were seeing my work. So now I’m an independent artist, and that works a lot better for me. One of my favorite things about this lifestyle is the amazing community of fellow nomadic artists I’ve become part of. We run into each other at various art fairs – in Palm Springs, Chicago, Park City, and other many places; we share information and ideas, get together for meals, encourage each other, and sometimes deliver each other’s artwork to collectors. They’re my family on the road.
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?
I think the three most important qualities an artist can have are curiosity, persistence and a sense of humor. Talent is a bit over-rated, in my opinion. It’s not that it doesn’t matter, but whatever is there will reveal itself through your work. My advice to anyone early in their journey is to just dive in. Get started. You’ll figure out what you need to know as you go.
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 a book recently that I highly recommend, whatever type of work you do. It’s called “The Creative Act: A Way of Being”, by Rick Rubin. Rubin is a top level record producer who has worked with a wide range of acts, from hip hop artists like Public Enemy, and LL Cool J, to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and even Johnny Cash. He really understands the creative process, and the book is full of useful insights. I learn a lot from other visual artists, of course, but I’m always learning from people in other fields as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://davidpalmerstudio.com/
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