We were lucky to catch up with Sean Tiller recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sean, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?
I go back to where I started. I don’t force the new technique, new style, I go back to my grass roots and build up momentum and remind myself what worked. Along the way I make different mistakes, which reminds me that all my techniques are just past mistakes just made at the right time in the right place. I just get in the paint and have fun with no expectations just a really grounded experience.
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?
I grew up with a passion for arts of all kinds. My first exposure was from family. My mom consistently did crafts and painted. My family owned a catering business I worked for, and my uncle competed in BBQ competitions. I started out drawing DBZ characters and my favorite shoes and cars as a kid. In middle school I was on the yearbook committee and got a taste of photography and really enjoyed that. Spending all my computer time on nikeid in high school, I literally channeled all my childhood passions later on in life to what I try to live through everyday now.
Years later I pursued a culinary arts degree hopeing that would be the way to satisfy my desire to create while also making a living. I dropped out. The school was way too expensive and I honestly felt like a dollar sign instead of a student, my passion for cooking slowly faded as I worried more about paying tuition than learning. Soon after I left school I was watching YouTube and seen videos of people painting space with spray paint. Me and a friend just bought a bunch spray paint that we used on some shoes for fun. I took that paint and some notebook paper and made my first piece. It looked like a 5 year old finger painting. Fast forward 10 years meeting local artist who let me tag along at lives shows, gallery features, first Fridays, dance festivals, Black Archives, multiple news stories. I’m now a respected and rising artist in my home town looking for studio space to expand my brand, practice mural work, and harness my skills even further as well rounded art powerhouse.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Cultivating curiosity, spray painting was so foreign and fun from a distance. But having the opportunity to practice and work with the media inspired me. So get your hands on the things you want to do in any capacity and in any creative space. Try it all and be curious.
Be ok with being bad at first, and pay attention to your “mistakes”. You and the craft deserve to build and get better and that takes time. Look at growing in skill and talent as a intimate relationship. Nuture it, be consistent, be patient, make mistakes, but overall show up and enjoy this process of adding beauty to this world and our experience here.
Sharing my art and networking with other artists. As a Introvert and as a kid I grew up thinking artist had to be hermits, low-key and that whole vibe. As cool as that is in the movies (and in real life let’s be honest) seeing other artists work, showing your work, collaborating, having a community to be apart of and contribute to is the most important piece to this all. This is how doors open, this how you hear about the door in the first place. This is where expectations can grow, feedback comes, stories and skills are shared. This how you find your audience, your fans, supporters. Sharing this piece of you, your artwork, your baby, that vulnerable scenario will create a world of opportunities and possibilities that limit only to your mindset. So I encourage you to share your work, even the ones you don’t like.
s we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
THE WAR OF ART by Steven Pressfield. It called me out on my procrastinating and showed me why. But it was funny and playful about it, kinda like your best friend being like hey bro get it together.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Artbysean_tiller
- Facebook: Sean Tiller a space-time artwork experience
