We recently connected with Yasmeen Pico and have shared our conversation below.
Yasmeen, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
For me, keeping my creativity alive has meant that I have to reinvent myself periodically. I have such varied interests, some on the opposite end of the spectrum, and when I let myself go down a different path, I find a different me. These different aspects of myself have different viewpoints. Difference aesthetics. Different musical tastes. Exploring them has opened up the possibility to express myself through multiple mediums.
You just have to go through the changes without fear or judgement and allow it to take you in your next direction.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Right now I’m focusing on my photography business, Joshua Tree Prints. After working as a product photographer, I took a lengthy hiatus from photography altogether, even going back to my old life as a costume designer working in film. My photography mostly focuses on my other love, horticulture. Living in Joshua Tree has given me a special connection with the flora and fauna of the high desert and capturing it and some of my favorite people in town has been beyond inspiring.
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?
1) letting go of what people think
Not everyone going to love your work. It could even be a parent or sibling or spouse. Don’t let that stop you from making it or putting it out there.
2) self love
Investing in yourself is hard if you don’t love or trust yourself. Whether it’s a degree or photography equipment, you have to trust yourself first. Working on your relationship with yourself will open these doors and probably open up your creativity even more simultaneously.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The book that really changed it all for me most recently was The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin.
Oscar Wilde said that some things are too important to be taken seriously. Art is one of those things. Setting the bar low, especially to get started, frees you to play, explore, and test without attachment to results.”
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being
All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Contact Info:
- Website: joshuatreeprints.com
- Instagram: @joshuatreeprints
Image Credits
All photos copyright 2023 Yasmeen Mustaklim Pico/Joshua Tree Prints
