We were lucky to catch up with Ava O’Connor recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ava, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?
I used to be a camp counselor, and I was in charge of a group of 15 or so 7 year olds. Most were rowdy, hyper and excited to play as you’d expect, but I remember one kid mostly preferring to stay on the sidelines and drawing. One day I was sitting aside while my coworker entertained the rest of the kids, and I talked to this kid about his doodles. He didn’t even have any idea that drawing or any sort of creative field could be taken seriously by adults, led alone as a job. He was bewildered when I told him I went to a school specifically to learn how to draw. The prevailing education system has not changed too drastically since the Industrial Revolution, and still so many children are suffering under this oppressive learning environment designed to produce factory workers. I wish I had more support in my own creative pursuits when I was a child, and I strongly believe that to best benefit this next generation, schools need to broaden their horizons and support all kinds of future careers.
Ava, 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?
I am an illustrator, through and through! Primarily my focus is editorial illustration, but I have also illustrated an old manuscript called The Moon Pool, I have done portraiture, album covers and advertising. In my work, I tend to focus on more dark and macabre imagery in order to put across a harder hitting message, as much of what I focus on are social causes I am very passionate about. I fell in love with the visual language very early in my childhood and was hooked ever since I realized people could have such visceral reactions to artworks. I work fast and I’m used to very quick turnarounds, and I love the fast paced environment of the art world!
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I have worked as a project manager before, and the best way I’ve found to keep everyone together and motivated is clear and consistent communication. Especially now when so much work can be done over the internet, it’s really important to share as much information in a digestible way as possible, and maintain a welcoming and productive environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing concerns and questions. I have been working in groups where the final product has suffered because people were afraid to ask the right questions, so anything that works towards keeping a dialogue open between everyone in a team is vital to success.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I’m not entirely opposed to them, in my eyes they’re the natural progression of art sales in the age of the internet, and there’s nothing I can do myself to stop their sales. Rich people have always spent money on things the rest of the 99% view as foolish, and it will always be that way. But being an artist, selling NFTs of your own art is a great way to make money if you’re willing to give away all the financial rights to that image to someone else. It’s a slightly more lame way of selling a painting.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://avaoconnor43.wixsite.com/avaoconnor
- Instagram: @avawasastar
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avaoconnor
- Twitter: @avawasastar
Image Credits
Black Thumb Photography