We were lucky to catch up with Casey Landerkin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Casey , thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In the summer of 2021 I quit my full-time office job to become a full-time freelance artist and illustrator. I had been working at this company for about four years at the time, and had been one of the only employees to come into the office during the pandemic. Although I was making artwork at a semi-professional level for years along side working non-related art jobs, I yearned to have more time to work on my own projects.

I was very grateful to have a stable job during that tumultuous time from 2020 into 2021. Many of my friends had been laid off, fired, or were unsure of their position’s resilience during the pandemic, so even though I felt time and life slipping away from me, I worked hard in that company and was appreciative for the financial stability.

Unfortunately, like many companies during that time, the path of the organization I was working for stumbled and that stability that I felt there faltered. I remember sitting in my cubicle on a zoom meeting where higher-ups, none of whom had been into office since the beginning of the pandemic, talked about major changes coming to the company. During this call I looked out the window and watched a red-tailed hawk loop around the empty parking lot in the sunshine. I felt suddenly I was waisting the precious time I had on earth inside a cold grey box when there was sunshine and oxygen outside. It was just a pane of glass and an idea separating me from where I wanted to be. I knew then I would be quitting soon.

It was a major risk and I was terrified, but after about a month of decompression I realized how much time I had spent outside and how much work I had made since quitting. I knew that there would be ups and downs, but at least I had time for sunshine and painting, and at that moment, when things felt so unstable in the world, it was the only thing that mattered,

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I think my main start in art making is what I call “itchy hands”. Art making has always been a bit of a compulsive, intuitive activity for me; if there is a blank page I want to disrupt it, if there is un-molded clay I want to squish it. I love the act of making, I love learning to master new materials, I crave learning to new things, and I love the meditative quality of the process. I think this intuitive, action-oriented meditation process is at the core of who I am.

It wasn’t until going to Syracuse University where I found out there were careers to be made out of that itch. I entered college as an undecided liberal arts major but thankfully fell into a group of art student friends who convinced me to switch majors. This was the beginning of an explosion of creativity for me. I realized I was innately good at making, and it’s what my hands itched to do.

That itch and intuition is what shines through most in my work. Some ideas are best conveyed without words: visual explanations of unknowable things. Through my own process I hope to help others see those unknowable things.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The world of social media, at least at the moment, is essential for artists. I remember graduating college at a time where all industries were shifting because of the rise of social media, and I could see this was one of the ways I could be successful. Unlike other avenues at the time, they were free and you did not need connections in order to gain traction.

The most success I’ve found online, and one of the reasons I was able to become a full-time artist, was on Tiktok. When I first signed up for an account is was a chaotic mess of creativity that completely fit my way of doing things and I knew from the start that I wanted to treat my space there as a type of video sketchbook. I had never really dabble with the video formate before, so learning how to use the app felt like discovering a new medium.

I started out with just showing process videos, but I soon found that the more I presented my own voice and personality into the video itself, the more fun my time there felt. Other social media platforms require a level of curation for success, but I’ve found following my intuition and interests and documenting that on Tiktok is where I feel most fulfilled. I think Tiktok requires a level of authenticity to be successful, people can see when you’re not enjoying yourself and if you’re not having fun or are unfulfilled, it will be felt. It’s cliche to say “just be yourself” when talking about social media, but that is the only way to find success there.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think the main thing non-creatives struggle to understand is that creativity is not magic. Creativity is something that can be stifled or cultivated, and the only separation between a creative person and a non-creative person is the label. I feel many people have let creativity slip away from them because they were told as children that it is not a useful or practical trait, but the reality is every single thing we as humans have become is because normal, every day humans are creative every normal day.

Creativity is a muscle that can be strengthen, just like glutes on leg day, and the way you strengthen those muscles is allowing yourself to. People get hung up on the labels of “good” and “bad” art when the focus should be on the making. Being a creative is not limited to someone who can draw, or sing, or write, a creative person is someone who let themselves be creative.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://caseylanderkin.squarespace.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caseylanderkin/?hl=en
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@clanderkin

Image Credits

I took all the photos that I’ve attached.