Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Daren Todd. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Daren, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

My journey as a professional artist kicked off a few months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The service industry layoff hit me, just like countless others, prompting me to reflect on an uncertain future. In the midst of this uncertainty, I made the decision to share my art, a practice that had been simmering in the background.

What started as a gut feeling soon became a daily ritual, surprisingly fueled by Reddit! Back then, Reddit hosted live video streams featuring various activities—cooking, music-making, outdoor running, art creation. It struck me that there was an audience for my work after one of my streams went viral, pulling in over 7000 viewers from around the globe. The idea that people would be interested in what I was creating, let alone thousands of them, had never crossed my mind. Buoyed by this unexpected response, I persisted and ventured into selling paintings online. I vividly remember the first time my rent got covered by the proceeds from selling my art. That moment marked the realization that I could turn art into a viable career, and from then on, there was no looking back.

Around the same time, I started expressing my desire to paint murals to friends and former colleagues. Commissioned paintings, though rewarding, were time-consuming, and I recognized the need to diversify income streams to thrive. Murals, with their expansive nature and higher production costs, seemed like the perfect avenue. My inaugural mural adorned a friend’s mother’s fence during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement in Portland. Painting amid the supportive Albina-Humboldt community, I attracted attention and even secured another mural project from a couple. This positive turn of events led to the birth of my art business, Art Larger Than Me, in the fall of 2020.

Since then, it feels like one project seamlessly leads to the next. I’m grateful not to be constantly hunting for work, thanks to the word-of-mouth power of murals. Seeing my name regularly as people pass by serves as impactful advertising. Along the way, I diversified my practice, acquiring skills in prop design, set dressing, digital illustration, design, animation, live painting, speaking engagements, facilitating workshops, and, most recently, teaching middle and high school students.

Fast forward four years, and Art Larger Than Me has steadily grown as I establish connections within the vibrant Portland creative community. I’m thankful to be thriving, utilizing my skills and passions to enhance and uplift my community and the world around me.

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’ve always identified as an artist, though initially, my career aspirations leaned toward being a musician. The pandemic, however, abruptly shifted my focus from performing to creating art, a twist that felt devastating at the time but turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me.

My creative endeavors encompass a wide range of products and services. I work on murals and paintings using acrylic, gouache, or flashe paint. Additionally, I delve into drawings, digital illustrations, and animations. Custom-painting and designing apparel and merchandise, from shoes and jean jackets to sweaters, T-shirts, hats, fanny packs, bags, and unique items like small wooden boxes, are all part of my repertoire. Wood sculptures, clay vessels, and plaster relief works also feature in my creations. Collaborating with arts organizations, businesses, and collectives, I curate artwork collections and host art shows. Woodworking comes into play for framing my artworks. I offer various creative services, including live painting and graphic notation for events and conferences. I facilitate art workshops and host sip-and-paint-style parties for small groups and corporate teams. On commercial video and photography sets, I contribute as a prop-master, fabricating or customizing props. I’ve even ventured into interior design, teaming up with the global furniture company IKEA to design and create room solutions for small spaces, catering to individuals across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and identities.

Driven by curiosity and creativity, I always have a personal project up my sleeve, whether it’s designing an oracle card deck, exploring block printing techniques, or teaching myself hyperrealism styles in graphite.

My true fulfillment comes when I can use my work and creativity to solve problems or meet clients’ needs. I relish exploring my creative practice for the sheer joy of creating, firmly believing that artists should have the opportunity to produce work unrelated to income.

What excites me now is the ongoing pursuit of ways to diversify my skills while honing in on the core practices that bring me joy. I’ve discovered that when I am passionate about my work, my clients share that passion and excitement for the products and services they receive. I eagerly anticipate opportunities to collaborate with businesses, companies, and individuals seeking genuine creative solutions.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The identity of my business is encapsulated in the name Art Larger Than Me—a dual meaning that touches on the literal, as murals are vast, and the metaphorical, emphasizing art’s potential to catalyze change beyond my personal sphere. My enduring goal has always been to make a meaningful impact, fostering empowerment within my community and encouraging individuals like myself to believe in their capacity to bring their dreams to life.

The tagline for Art Larger Than Me, “Make Art Every Day,” stands as a beacon guiding my creative journey. Embracing this philosophy compels me to confront the occasional boredom and monotony inherent in artmaking. It pushes me through creative blocks, ensuring a constant search for inspiration in my work. I achieve this by navigating through various practices and styles, setting one aside and picking up another when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, many of these practices seamlessly align with the commercial facet of my work, allowing me to leverage the skills I develop to craft products and services for my clients.

Championing the challenge of making art every day is a mission I extend to all artists. It’s a call to learn the art of creation even in the absence of inspiration and the skill of navigating through creative blocks, understanding when to push forward and when to rest.

In answering the question of whether there’s a particular goal or mission driving my practice, the overarching objective is clear—to create art that transcends personal boundaries, instigates change, and empowers both my community and individuals with the belief that they can manifest their dreams through creative expression.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist, for me, is that moment when I look up from my work and realize, “I am making this all up as I go!” This realization is profound, embodying the wonderful and almost indescribable feeling that my ideas, dreams, daydreams, visions, inspirations, and relationships—all these elements inform the work I create. This work, in turn, ventures into the world, shaping it and supporting my life. The process often feels surreal, hard to believe.

I also feel rewarded in moments when my practice inspires other creatives to be fearless in their curiosity and creativity. From the students that I teach weekly to the people that I host workshops with, to the community members who wander by my murals while I’m painting, to my friends and family, I am so honored when my work inspires others to create in their own way.

We each have a voice and a vision inside of us, and the world can truly be made better when each of us steps up and lets our light shine.

Contact Info:

• Website: artlargerthanme.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thedailydaren

Image Credits
Liz Quezeda Linzy Slusher