We were lucky to catch up with Thony Aiuppy Aiuppy recently and have shared our conversation below.

Thony Aiuppy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

In my 20s, all I knew was that I didn’t want to work in a box factory my whole life. After high school, I got a job working in a box factory. They specialized in frozen seafood and cigar boxes. It was pretty terrible because I’d get done with all my work in 2 or 3 hours and have to stay on the clock doing nothing. I had to learn how to fill my time and “look busy” which was the absolute worst. When you’re that bored you can’t help it but be creative, or get into trouble. I took the creative route. I started taking journals and sketchbooks with me to work and would write terrible stories or poems or draw horrendously bad pictures. It was the only way I was going to survive.

After too many years of working there, I had my fill, I enrolled in junior college and started taking art classes. That’s when the world of being a creative was unlocked for me. By the time I took upper level painting classes at university, I knew being a professional artist and educator was for me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Yeah, absolutely. My name is Thony Aiuppy. I reside in Jacksonville, Florida in a historic district called Springfield. It’s just north of downtown. If you don’t know where that is, it’s Northeast Florida. I live with my spouse and three kids.

I’ve been an artist and an art educator for over a decade. I’ve taught students from elementary to college and also life-long learners. Since Fall 2020, I’ve been an elementary visual art teacher. Over my career, I’ve taught painting, drawing, cartooning, 3D fabrication, self-published zines and comics, and digital art.

As far as my art practice, it has evolved quite a bit since the last time we did this. The summer the Pandemic started, I ended up taking a 6 month graphic novel course online with the Sequential Artist Workshop (SAW) in Gainesville, Florida. I needed a creative outlet and I had always wanted to learn how to make comics. I’ve been learning the mechanics of sequential art and have been making comics ever since. I’ve been published in several zines, comic anthologies and have self-published my own comics. I just wrapped up my Year-Long Comic Certificate Program with SAW.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Having an art practice helps keep my mental life in check. If I go too long without making something, my hands shake and then my anxiety and stress can flair up. Being an art teacher helps because I’m always making, whether I’m doing a demo for a whole group of students or I’m working beside someone one-on-one. In tandem, my practice fuels my curiosity. Making art is how I process learning new things. When I’m interested in a topic, I tend to go “all in” and become a bit obsessive. When I read books, watch documentaries, or listen to podcasts on a topic, making art is part of how I retain and express the information I’m learning. You can track my interests by the art I make.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The Pandemic was really rough on me. Not physically, per se. It was rough mentally, spiritually, I turned 40 and went through an identity crisis. The work I had came to an end. The creative practice I had as a painter and collage artist felt doomed because everything shut down. I moved what I could into the eat-in dining space of my kitchen (about 50 sq.ft.) and purged everything else. I was in the midst of an identity-faith-job-mental crisis and I didn’t know how to deal with it. Making comics helped. Then, out of nowhere, a school reached out to me. That helped, too. My life took a hard pivot and I’m grateful for everything I learned from the experience. It was the hardest season of life I’ve ever experienced. Sometimes I think back and can’t believe I made it through.

At the end of this school year, I’m going to pivot once again. Starting in June I’m going to start my own art teaching business in Jacksonville. I plan to take all my teaching experience from the last decade and provide private art lessons, group art lessons, seasonal art camps, and portfolio development for art magnet and college applicants.

Contact Info:

• Website: Aiuppy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stupid_sketchbook/