We were lucky to catch up with Kanda Parrott recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kanda, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from an existential need to create art. Being a freelance artist is a lot of ebb & flow, work isn’t ever certain but at the end of the day, I really just love to create and I think that my personal resilience parallels with persistence.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a freelance artist residing in West Michigan. I do a plethora of things under that ‘title’, I create works of art that I’ve shown in galleries all around Michigan, I’ve worked with customers internationally creating product labels, book covers, character development, pet portraiture, mural work for residential and business, and charity art requests for auctions. I’ve recently been involved with our local arts council, on the board as well as being a part of the group of ‘care-takers’ to the public art in the area. I’ve also recently started teaching art classes, adult and youth, in mediums such as acrylic paint, graphite, and paper mache. My biggest passion right now has been trying to find more mural opportunities! I’ve done a few and would love to keep working on a bigger scale!
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?
Qualities that are most impactful to a beginner on the same path as mine would be confidence in your work…Knowing that your work has value, believing in it simply because you’ve made it and no one else could. To create connections with people in your area, people online, people with businesses, people with more connections, people that will bring a fresh perspective and allow your ideas as well as your work to expand. And also to never stop learning. Take a workshop, talk to a neighbor, observe your surroundings.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The biggest issue myself and artists are facing right now is with A.I. art. Artists, ourselves, know that nothing replaces the years of dedication to the craft, the personal style that belongs to each individual, the thousands of microdecisions in every piece, the years of toil and failings, the heart and emotions that go into everything that we create… When someone uses A.I. art instead of hiring a real artist, they invalidate the work of millions of artists. It’s convenient and it’s trendy but it is stolen artwork. If you want to support art, please please please find a local artist weirdo! There’s lots of us out there!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ArtbyKanda.net
- Instagram: @Kandasaurus_rex
Image Credits
All art by Kanda Parrott
Image of Kanda by Dakota Alvarez
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
