We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Darin Gilliam a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Darin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I find myself only wondering what it would be like to have a “regular job” when business has been slow or overly stressful. I am very happy as an artist and creative. I’ve realized over the years that I find my happiness in being able to creatively express myself through my work and co-ownership of an art studio (ArtFarm Studios) and creative gathering space (AND Creative).

Being an artist is so interesting because one moment you are so frustrated with the process of being an artist and getting your work out there or promoting yourself and the next moment you’re wondering how you could live life doing anything other than being an artists. Lol. It’s an interesting juxtaposition that I am very happy to be a part of – I don’t this this because I want to – I do it because I have to. I have to get all of the creativity out of my so I don’t burst!

Darin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My interest in the arts, design, and creativity started very young but spiked in high school when I fell in love with publication design and fashion. It was more about the process and production of it and how they came to life. While receiving my Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from Fairleigh Dickinson University, I studied art history, painting, and graphic design. Being located 15 mins outside of New York City, I found myself drawn to the city and became quickly immersed in the independent art scenes and house music community. It was there that I truly found my inspiration and style.

After working in the corporate design world for 2 years, I left and sought out jobs with small businesses or non-profits that taught me skills in production and marketing. In hindsight, this was by far the most vital time in my budding career. I learned the business of art and creativity. After about 5 years of that work, I went out on my own and became a freelancer that offered graphic design services to small businesses and non-profits. During this time, I continued to create my own art and started a small streetwear line, which helped me to better define my design style.

The entrepreneurial bug bit and I sought out to create my own design studio / gallery & boutique space in my hometown of Annapolis, Maryland. A little over a year into looking for my own brick & mortar space, I was presented with the opportunity to partner with an existing art studio – ArtFarm Studios – and become the new co-owner to existing owner Alison Harbaugh. This opportunity gave me exactly what I had been looking for. Together, Alison and I ran ArtFarm as a boutique, gallery space, and art studio with a small office in the back for our work in design and photography. As our ideas grew, we knew our space needed to as well. We soon moved into a studio space three times larger and after a few years (last year), we added in another studio space in the same building that houses our own creative offices and offers creative gathering space and gallery walls.

In our work together we provide arts education and creative events to our community, as well as partner with other businesses and arts institutions to manage and install art exhibits. We offer consulting over arts based projects and assist with hiring artists and ensuring that they get paid fairly.

In my personal work, I work as a creative director and designer for arts non-profits and independent artist, helping them to create design, marketing, and brand strategy around their projects.

I find myself most proud of the way I can assist in creative strategy for artists and arts based businesses and organizations, while remaining an artists myself. With my design styling being bold, rough, and textured, I’m happy to bring a style that may be a little more gritty to spaces that tend to be more polished. Every project is like a puzzle to me and I’m always happy to solve them.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My two largest pivots in life and career came when I was pregnant with my second child and COVID. Taking a deep breathe now just thinking about it! Lol.

Right before I went on maternity leave for my second pregnancy, I found out that I wouldn’t be receiving the maternity leave that I was told I would getting. This, coupled with my daughter being diagnosed with eight food allergies, drove me into postpartum depression. My mental, and emotional state suffered, as well as my work. I realized in this time that I needed to make adjustments to how I navigated my life, my work, and how I held power for myself because no one else would do it for me. It took me years to heal from that time, but I was able to pivot and find myself in a much better situation where I worked solely for myself and didn’t have to answer to anyone else.

COVID took the wind out of all of our sails. Interestingly enough, lockdown was great for me. I used to feel bad saying that, but it’s honest. I needed the slow down. I needed more time at home. I needed family time. My business partner and I had just moved into our new space a year before COVID hit, so we had to come up with ways to keep our business thriving so we had a studio to come back to. This is where creativity shines and we truly came out on top afterwards. I think it also showed us how well we could work together under pressure and how well we could individually hang in there. Virtual classes, outdoor art studios in people backyards, social media sketch night challenges – we did it all and it really turned out great. I wouldn’t go back though. I like what we have now.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artists or creative is being able to cater to your spirit and soul on a daily basis. Being creative is truly spiritual. Creating in any form is. As an artist, our soul is so deeply tied to what we create and being able to create and be creative on a daily basis, in my opinion, is soul work. It’s work work but it’s also so deeply gratifying!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.darinmichelle.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darinmichelle