We were lucky to catch up with Dominic Wordlaw recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dominic, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?

Well, technically, my creative career started the moment I decided to move to LA from my dingy studio apartment off Main St. in Boulder Colorado. I was getting on to my second post grad year simply existing in Boulder, working as a flooring associate at the local Home Depot when it hit me that I should probably use the degree in Fine Art I just attained after 4 and half years of studies, training and testing.
A few weeks later I packed up all my stuff, shipped it to my mom’s place in Chicago and flew to Los Angeles to make my dreams come true! It took a while, but a few family freind house hop situations later and eventually I landed a job as a PA in the art department on a Paramount Pictures Production and a place to call my own in Koreatown.
This was the first job I ever had where I was able to utilize my artistic skillset for an actual living, it was amazing and addictive. After working a couple years for Paramount, I did my own freelance Production Design for a while and only then did I set my sights on creating my own artistic brand. After working on so many projects bringing other’s creative visions to life I felt a bit stifled, like my own artistic identity was being drowned out. So I decided to create art for myself again, and then I found I couldn’t stop, then I figured out people enjoyed my work and would even pay for it!
Since then my practice has only gotten bigger and more defined. Looking back, I really don’t regret how the events took place, however I do wish I started focusing on my craft a bit earlier in my career, if I could be where I am now 3 or 4 years ago I could only imagine all the epic work I’d be creating. However, I’m excited for the journey to come and overjoyed that this is the life and career I’ve been blessed to pursue. And, given how my life was 3-4 years ago, starting sooner would have meant basically starving and working myself far beyond the legal limits of self-inflicted creative labor.

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 been an artist kind of person for a long time now.
However, the type of artist type person has changed throughout the few decades I’ve graced this existence.
At first I thought I was more of a painter & drawing type guy when I was younger, then I went into printmaking and lithography for a second there, then sculpture and performative art took center stage and given all of that experience I guess I landed on 3D Mixed-Media because who can decide these things right? Might as well do all of it, can’t choose, won’t choose.
Out of that realization I understood that I needed a better comprehension of color, organic color at that, so that’s how the whole acrylic pour thing got started. I painted on canvases to start, the large tiles, then small tiles and that’s when the resin came into play. What a magical material, it quite literally overnight turned my 2D primordial patterns into these 3 dimensional miniature vibe portals that turned out to make excellent coasters. And thus my ultimate practice was born.
I’ve always been fascinated with aesthetic, so much so that I’ve been scolded for touching, nearly embracing works as a child and even on occasion as a young adult, admittedly. The desire to fully experience the art with more than just the sense of sight was strong, is strong still, and so I sought a way to make my art tangible in most cases or at least excite the synapses in more ways than one.
I also really enjoy making works that can be utilized in the everyday world without being too banged up or where the wear on the piece becomes it’s character, ever evolving performative art pieces as well as a permanent installations as well as crazy and eccentric everyday life enhancement accesories.
My baseline is to create work that excites the senses, creates a unique experince for the audience and allows them to expand their consciousness through critical thought. Each piece is an expression of “poetic aesthetic” a term I coined when asked to describe my work. Basically “poetic aesthetic” refers to each of my works being a physical personification of a poetic phrase, statement and/or truth about life and existence I’ve come to hold dear and or have chosen to demonstrate through art.
The second tier to that mission is to create works that can be used and enjoyed, to make works that break the fourth wall and literally become a part of one’s reality. The possibilities are endless, mirrors, back splashes, wine/bottle openers, charcuterie boards, etc. The point is to bring a bit of the unknown and curious into one’s world so that there is a constant reminder of the insurmountable and extravagantly outrageuos possibilities that exist, and not to dwell on the reality of the mundane.
I’ve made trophies you can shake hands with, frames that glow in the dark, tables that walk and there’s a whole multi-verse of possibilities where that came from.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of becoming an artist comes in two parts for me.
The first, you know that feeling you get when you’re in the zone doing whatever it is your passionate about and you’re so focused the rest or the world just falls away? So intense and all encompassing, its like you’ve never felt so alive. And once you step back from that feeling for a moment it’s like gently landing back on earth after the space adventure of a lifetime. As someone who struggles with depression and anxiety those moments are my everything. They allow me to keep going, to keep pushing and to keep elevating myself to the mental and physical excellence I want to exist in, past all the obstacles and adversity that stand in my way.
The second part, sharing the unique experience of my work with the world. This part is newer for me but it is truly one of the grandest points of all. I love seeing the shadowy veil of mediocrity lift from my viewer’s eyes as they allow wonder and mystery to permeate their minds upon gazing at my works. I love seeing brains wake up and work, to step back and watch as someone comes to their own essential truth through the influence of your work, your own truth, is truly magnificent.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

In my view the best way to support artists and the creative ecosystem is by doing just that. I feel like we all know and understand the term “starving artist”, but to truly live as one is no easy thing. I’ve known many artists go corporate because they simply cannot sustain a livelihood based on sporadic sales.
Throughout my artistic career I’ve worked several full-time jobs and an assortment of odd jobs just to keep the lights on. Through consistency and quality work I’ve been able to land some pretty amazing gallery show openings and make incredible clients on commission but I’ve had to work hard, do hours of research and networking with little to no help, and a complete lack of awareness on where to start.
So one, I think society could do more to support its artist by giving aid and creating more selling opportunities for emerging and/or impoverished creatives. And two, I think society could do more to bring awareness to those in need of support in the art communities, by consitently promoting artist and creatives.
This very interview is an excellent example of what the art and creative community needs more of.

Sale of my artwork can be found at
Framedomain.art
Feel free to reach out to me on my Creator account on Instagram for any inquiries concerning purchases, commissions, collaborations or if you just want to chat! @framedomain
If you’d like to know more about my past and upcoming events and showcases you can follow my Instagram and/or Tik Tok profiles,
@framedomain for both!
If you’d like to support my local artistic enterprise through donation feel free to Venmo @Dom-Wordlaw and don’t forget to reach out to me through my socials!!
Thank you so much for your time and attention and many thanks to CanvasRebel for the opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Framedomain.art
• Instagram: @framedomain
• Facebook: Dom Wordlaw
• Linkedin: Dominic Wordlaw
• Other: Tik Tok:

  @framedomain

Image Credits

Danny Schumacher
Ron Collins
Josh Brock