We recently connected with Kennedy Lindberg and have shared our conversation below.
Kennedy, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
One of the things I took away from going to an art school is the habit of making art everyday. Since my freshman to senior year, I constantly had multiple projects going at once that even carried into summer and winter breaks. What I have noticed from doing this for the past four years is that when you develop this habit, you really see improvement quickly with everything you make. It allows you to explore more styles and discover what you enjoy doing most. Now that I’ve graduated, I no longer have classes that hold me accountable to make art everyday, which is definitely an adjustment now that I’m not making anything for a grade. I’m rediscovering what art means to me and why I enjoy it. I think it’s important that even if you’re in a career where you’re getting paid to create things, to make things outside of that because it’s something you enjoy for yourself.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a recent graduate from the Savannah College of Art and Design, with a BFA in costume design. I love all things costume and film, and I’m currently an article writer for a costume site.
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?
Share all of your work online, have confidence in your work, and make connections with people whose work you enjoy. Every connection I have made and opportunity I’ve had, has been through sharing my work on Instagram. I was surrounded by so many talented artists these past four years who didn’t share their work online, and it always killed me to see how they are keeping their work to themselves. The world we live in now, like it or not, exists online. You have to share your work. Everyone’s excuse is always no one wants to see it, it’s not good enough, it won’t get a ton of likes, etc. but I really believe you have to just share it, because there will be people that want to see it, and you never know who will and might offer you an opportunity because of it. Even further than that, you should share your process or the behind the scenes of how you made it. This was always a requirement of us in school, to take pictures during your process. My next point is confidence in your work. Even if you have to fake it, people will not believe in your work if you don’t. And my last thing I’ve learned is that it’s never too early to connect with people whose work you look up to or enjoy. You might have some serious imposter syndrome about it at first, but you’ll never know until you try. I’ve had a lot of luck with connections through just sending that email, asking for advice or a 15 minute call. You’ve got nothing to lose by doing so and I really believe these three things have helped me more than anything, only you can make it happen.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I graduated from SCAD in June this year so I’m currently still in my job search. What makes this even more challenging is the historic double-strike happening right now in entertainment with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, so it has been a great struggle to find work in these areas as someone who would be entry level. I know the people who graduated with me are struggling with this as well, but what I have learned from this is that as long as I’m in a place I’m happy in, stable, and able to be creative at work or in my own time, I’m more than happy. I have really enjoyed doing remote writing work.Writing and researching is actually something I really enjoy. With entertainment being so limited right now and the foreseeable future, I’m grateful that I’ve been offered a new perspective on what I actually would enjoy doing for the rest of my life, and that has changed from intense film and set work to what would offer me with more of a healthy work-life balance.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kennedypeyton1.wixsite.com/costume-portfolio
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kennedylindberg/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennedylindberg
Image Credits
Snigdha Gopidi, Courtney Beauchamp
