We recently connected with Brad Noble and have shared our conversation below.

Brad, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always had an interest in creative projects ever since I was young. I remember asking my parents for a camera as a kid, thinking of myself as a photographer. After teaching myself photo editing in high school, I went to college for art where I picked up a love of drawing.

My interest waned for a bit after college while deciding what I wanted to do post-graduation. There was even a multi-year period where I barely made anything at all. I did end up picking it back up again, but, unfortunately, covid hit and then I was diagnosed with cancer shortly after.

4 rounds of chemo and two surgeries later and I’m currently in my 4th year of remission from testicular cancer. I remember having a very distinct thought during treatment that I had always wanted to try to make a living off of a creative pursuit. I think that I shied away from it because It was always said that making money off of art is impossible, but I told myself that It couldn’t be harder than what I just went through. A little perspective works wonders.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

While I was always interested in being creative, I didn’t feel like I had a creative discipline until about 3 years ago when I decided to finally sell art. I did have some background in industries that are adjacent to art, but I was never given full creative control over projects.

My current creative discipline is a combination of a lot of things that I learned over time and new things I had to learn to make them. It involves a bunch of things I picked up at school like drawing, digital art and design. More recently, woodworking and papercraft skills have come to use in my work

The original idea to make my art dimensional came from a friend of mine, but I slowly built and upgraded my shadowbox designs over time. I noticed that people wanted frames for prints they were buying at events, shows, etc and I figured I could include the frame in the pieces themselves. While this adds more work on my end, it also gives me an opportunity to customize my pieces even more.

Aside from the fact that I get to do multiple processes to finish one piece (I get bored easily, so this helps me stay focused), I like being able to make a piece from start to finish on my own. I mill my own wood to make each frame, and I’ve even gotten to the point that I can take a fallen tree and turn it into a shadowbox.

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

Having a universal basic income for everyone would not only bolster the already existing creatives, but it would allow a lot more people to feel comfortable exploring creative careers as an option. Creatives are already good at using what they have in front of them and even just a little extra guaranteed income would go a long way towards future goals. While every artist has probably heard the phrase “I would buy your art if I only had the money” and rolled their eyes a little, it can still be true. Basic income would open up everyone’s ability to support things that are not just needed for basic survival.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

In some ways, I feel like my biggest hurdle in becoming an artist (and hopefully, a full-time one) was being able/willing to articulate that it was an actual goal of mine. I always considered myself a creative person, but letting people know that I had aspirations for it opened up a whole new level for me in how I talk to people and other artists. In some ways, it’s more hopeful and it feels like others want to help you reach your goal – but they can’t help you if they don’t know that it’s a goal of yours.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bradleave.com
• Instagram: @bradleave

Image Credits

Maya Carolina