We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adrian Blake a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Adrian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My artistic journey began with my parents, because they believed first. They recognized my talent and aptitude to visually create and express myself by either painting or drawing very early, and realized that my love for graphic material such as comics, graphic novels and the like was a bit different from other children around me, so they leaned into that. I always had Archie comics and the Hardy Boys books handy, so I was always reading and recreating what I saw with every turn of their pages.

I remember tagging along with my mother to the supermarket and hanging on her hip in tears until she got me that Batman comic i wanted, just so that when we got home I could pour my soul over those pages filled with line, color and movement. My parents in realizing how good I was sought out avenues for me to keep getting better. They enrolled me at a very early age in classes at the prestigious Edna Manly College for the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston Jamaica where i quickly stood out from my peers and was moved up to learn with adults far more talented than me, but who were in awe of my gift in drawing. My parents started my artistic journey and with every piece I create, I honor them in their completion.

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?

I am a visual artist who specialize in single subject illustrative pieces and portraiture. Being an artist and a creative mind wasn’t a choice for me, it is who I am to my core. From a very early age as a little boy my craft chose me. What sets me apart from other artists is my unique ability to bring you emotionally into a piece with the elements I use.

I am most proud of my early achievements as a young artist in my home country Jamaica, where I entered a nationally juried art competition and was awarded numerous awards, which subsequently led to one of my awarded pieces being featured in the Jamaica Observer the following weekend.

I would like for those who see or collect my work to have a unique connection with the imagery the see, because that is what makes art important, individual and collective connection to said imagery.

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

Th most rewarding aspect of being an artist and creative is having someone see your work and having a personal connection with it. A connection either brings them to tears, or have it bring to them memories of a time, place or experience that is deeply personal to their human experience. Ive had the privilege to have witnessed these interactions with my work, and I am humbled and honored to been able to have shared in that persons life through my work.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think that people oftentimes believe that if you are an artist in this modern time that your success is directly related to the amount of followers and likes you have on a social media platform. The constant pressure to be constantly creating, in order to keep up with the facade of relevance is overhyped.

My journey as a creative and artist is filled with periods of non- creativity. There are periods where I take long hiatuses from painting an drawing- and admittedly I struggle with these periods- but in those dormant periods the creative juices build to a tremendous level and when I finally emerge, i create something singular and wonderfully unique.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.adrianblakefineart.com
• Instagram: @ablakefineart
• Twitter: @ablakefineart

Image Credits
Adrian Blake Fine Art