Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Stones
Hi Steve, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t make art. Making art has always been a part of my life routine. When I was in grade school, my sister would take my drawings to school and sell them to kids at school for fifty cents each. This gave me the confidence to continue to make art for the rest of my life.. After High School, I knew I wanted to pursue an art degree. I earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in Illustration at Weber State University in 1996. I went on to earn a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in painting at Utah State University in 2000. I have been teaching as an adjunct professor of art in the department of Visual Art & Design at Weber State University for 24 years.. All my free time outside my teaching responsibilities is devoted to making art..
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The business of art is never a smooth one. We always hear about the so-called “starving artist.” I have never starved, but I can also tell you that making a full time living from art is lots of hard work. Before social media and the internet, showing art and promoting the sales of art was much more difficult. With social media, you can create work and immediately put it on Instagram, Facebook and other platforms to get a response and to market the work. If you are an artist working today and you have difficulty selling your art, you may have one of three problems. First, you may not be creating something that people want. Art for the sake of art is great, but you also have to create things that inspire the every day person, and things which they want to buy. Second, you may not be creating enough of your product (art) to continually market it on social medium platforms. Third, you may not be spending enough time promoting your work on social media platforms. To be successful, you have to promote your art every day on social media. If you do not, you likely will not be successful.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My interests in painting lies in deconstructing and appropriating mass media symbols and imagery . By deconstructing and reconstructing torn fragments of advertising and pop culture imagery, I aim to challenge the viewer’s perception of consumer culture and its impact on our visual landscape. I often make my own interpretations of recognizable works – sometimes master paintings, and other times popular advertising characters to transform them into colorful visual idioms. Through this process, I seek to reveal the underlying structures and messages embedded within advertisements, while simultaneously celebrating the inherent beauty and chaos found in the fragmented forms. By offering a new perspective on these discarded materials and images, I hope to invite viewers to question the role of advertising in their lives and to appreciate the artistic potential that exists within the most mundane of objects. My process includes acrylic on canvas painting combined with cut and pasted collage technique.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to support any artist is to follow them on Instagram and other social media platforms. I can be contacted through my Instagram or Steve Stones Art Facebook page to collaborate or to inquire about commission work or to purchase art from me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stevestonesart.wordpress.com/
- Instagram: @steved.stones
- Facebook: Steve D. Stones’ Art
- Twitter: plan9crunch2
