We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrew Tripp. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrew below.

Andrew, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

As an artist, at this point in my life I don’t think I could say I am happy. But I would say that I am excited. I’m currently working full time at a dog daycare and boarding facility, and having recently moved into a living space with an office I can and will eventually dedicate to my art, I have definitely not had the time in recent weeks to do the art that makes me as an Artist truly happy. As a person though? I’m the happiest I have ever been in my entire life; with the people I have around me and the opportunities I have on the horizon I am to grateful to feel that excitement.

That doesn’t stop me from wondering what it would be like to have gone down a different career path. Back in ye ol’ early years, I would tell anyone and everyone that I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up. I loved and still love watching Shark Week on the discovery channel, and would picture myself out there on the ocean studying the animals and raising awareness of different conservation efforts. So, from time to time, I still dream of what it would’ve been like to be a marine biologist, or a wildlife photographer every once in a while because a part of me will always think that kind of thing is the coolest. I’ve never really wondered what it would be like to have a “regular” job. Except for probably really boring? I think I was always destined to be an artist in the creative community, in some way shape or form.

Andrew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

For the many who don’t know me, hello there! My name is Andrew Tripp, and I design and create hand-illustrated greeting cards! I also have open commissions for illustrations like posters, portraits and pet portraits, custom greeting cards, stickers, personalized gifts, and more. Many of my illustrations are based around wildlife plants, all sorts of different animals, and I have a particular fondness for bees. In my personal time I really like experimenting with a bunch of different stuff like wood-burnings and rubber linocut stamps. Since a lot of life in general is online these days, I like finding ways to use my art to give people something tactile that they can see in front of them in their own two hands, rather than on a screen. I like to treat each card like it’s a tiny little work of art, with time and attention, no matter how complex the design is.

I am most proud of the personal touch each card I create has, because each one, even if the designs in a set are similar, is an original work of art. Eventually I would love to use my art to contribute to different wildlife conservation
I started drawing really early in my life, and was greatly encouraged by my mom with art classes in and out of school growing up. And all my life my family has been a card-giving family. Birthdays, holidays, graduations, etc. I grew up surrounded by cards and all the different designs and phrases and puns out there in the world, saving way too many to be normal about it. Also for many many years my mom had my brother and I design the family Christmas cards, so really I should’ve seen this path in life for myself years and years ago!

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?

This question definitely intrigued me, causing me to stop and think for quite a long time. A conclusion I came to was that a TON of artists work either full or part time jobs on top of being full time artists, like myself, and the amount of brainpower it takes to constantly keep up on both to feel satisfied takes a lot of effort. The heart and soul we put into all of our art is not only to satisfy a creative goal, but it’s a way for us creatives to express ourselves in a way that maybe some of us normally can’t during a “day job”. On top of keeping up with friends and family, having a social life, personal time in general to simply live life is surprisingly hard to come by when working full time. If anything, consider supporting your local artists through commissions and attending art fairs! We present who we are through our art, and we’d love for you to see it.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Collectively it would be nice to see more people buy stuff from local artists and shops! I definitely recognize how it can be easier to just get something online and have it shipped to you, but supporting your community not only contributes to your social wellbeing, it contributes to everyones. Plus, you get to take home something cool and handmade! Farmer’s Markets too, those are great examples of great, easy access to local resources like fresh veggies, hand crafted goods, and probably some of the best baked goods you’ll ever find. Try checking out a farmers market or art fair near you! You never know what you might find.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.andrewtrippillustration.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celestial_space_bee/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/andrewtrippillustration