Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Rees
Hi Adam, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in wild parts of the West for a good portion of my youth, which instilled in me an awareness of and connection to the natural world. I also grew up surrounded by creatives; my family is full of artists. By the time I was a teenager, my own creative drive was really awakening. At 18, I was introduce to polymer clay when a friend showed me how to make some simple canes. Through the years I experimented with spray paints, clay and other art forms, but when my girlfriend (now wife) asked to make her a vessel I returned to polymer clay. That project lit a passion for the medium and eventually I began combining my interest in the natural world with the need to create.
A single moment can change the trajectory of a life. What started as a simple request for a vessel turned into a 25 years long and still-on-going exploration. I have been pushing and pulling this medium—literally and figuratively—to its limits. The journey has seen devastating failures like the time a massive mountain goat was smashed during shipping to incredible successes like getting into my first gallery. But every turn takes me to the next thing, the next experiment, the next lesson, the next achievement.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes, I’ve definitely faced challenges. From a sculptural standpoint, I’ve learned that if I don’t like a form at the welding-metal stage, it’s best to re-weld or abandon it altogether. There’s no point in investing a lot of time into a form I’m not happy with. The form is the foundation and has to look right.
When it comes to putting on the canes, I’ve removed entire sections of cane slices when they didn’t meet my standards. It’s far better to lose some time than to create something I’m not proud of.
From a larger perspective, the biggest challenge has been reaching a financial place where I could be a full-time artist. In my early years, slow sales meant a return to building work—bills don’t care if you are trying to forge an art career. Now, that I’m more established, it’s easier to get through lean-sales periods. We all know the famous saying about the mechanic’s cars always needing repairs, and the same thing was true for building, but now, when I build something it’s for myself, like my art studio.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Being an artist is a job like any other; I have parts of it I really dread and parts I absolutely love. I get to work from home, which, fortunately I enjoy. In fact, the space I need for my art takes up a good footprint of our house!
I have a fabrication studio off the back of my garage where I do my welding and metal work. My basement is my studio where I make canes and do the sculpting. The pieces are then fired in a large oven I made that is in my yard.
I will let my inspiration drive the process from the animal forms I decided to make to the covering of the piece in canes. On occasion, I will make a commissioned piece. These are always challenging pieces because they are usually an animal form I haven’t made before, and some clients have a very specific image in their mind’s eye. One thing that I find interesting is how many people think I should “cut out the middleman” and sell pieces on my own. They don’t understand how hard the galleries work and what an essential business partner they are for any artist. For an artist, galleries are your marketers, your sales reps, your warehouse, your event organizers and sometimes even your critics, helping you grow as an artist. For buyers, galleries are there to help figure out what pieces you connect with and why and help you cultivate a unique space that reflects your lifestyle and interests.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I guess I learned from Covid how what we think of as stable and permanent is in reality very fragile. Things like supply chains, a well-stocked grocery store, faith in science and medicine and the value of minor social interactions fell away. I also learned how interconnected the world really is: The clay I use became hard to get because other countries shut down totally.
One of my galleries was unable to make it through the pandemic and closed. So, it impacted me professionally and personally, too. It was strange, this social experience that touched all of us but that we had to go through in isolation. I hope we don’t ever go through anything like that again.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://adamthomasrees.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamthomasrees/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Adam-Thomas-Rees/100052214511971/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdnolmyaOmY1C7m71F6_IUA?view_as=subscriber
