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

Alright, Em thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

This feels like something I’ve always known but just had to uncover in myself which I think was a lengthy and sometimes annoying process. I have little regrets in my life but the ones I do always seem to revolve around not fully committing or believing in myself because I was afraid I’d be alone, or abandoned if I did. I love this, Plato (I think?) quote that goes something like “we can only ever learn what we already know” and this feels so true to me when thinking about pursuing art more professionally, or giving it all of myself. It’s so scary “giving yourself away” without a guarantee because we live in a world that’s impossible to endure or maintain without guarantees! But I think it’s a kind of revolutionary act, to pursue a belief in yourself. I think the older I get the more I realize that the things that are most meaningful to me are the things that have always been there, like pursuing art or a passion etc., that I keep putting off until I’m “more secure” or have a little more love in my life. Anyway, I’m digressing a bit, but I knew I wanted to pursue art when I decided to live on a thinner budget and take any possible losses that might come from devoting myself full-time to my art for a year. Gratefully, I’m still going!

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

Hi!

So I’m an artist living and constantly bouncing around the USA. I make comics, and graphic novels and make most of my income from selling my prints online and through various stores around the world (although mostly in the US and Canada). My work has changed with my life and I think this is something I’m most proud of as I always feel this tendency to stick to what people like and what sells but I have taken some creative risks and have used the foundation for some of my older work to take risks and do more passion projects with my time. I think another thing I like to do is share that you don’t need a degree, or even to be technically good at art, or recognized by any kind of institution or platform in order to commit yourself to what you make. I like that my art hasn’t necessarily “gotten better” and that it’s approachable for people, because I think it makes art a part of every day life rather than something relegated to the publishing industry, or like blue check marked-people on social media.

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

I think just honoring artists the way we do other professions. For some reason it feels like an artist’s legitimacy is allowed to be questioned whereas like being a coder, nobody questions you or wants you to prove it or there’s no need for validation there which feels very odd for me. I also think that if we encouraged everyone’s own artist inclination there’d be less of a “us” and “them” territory for people who don’t understand “art,” or “can’t do it.” I also think in the art world itself, it would be great if there was a wider breadth of exposure for artists, instead of just one artist getting really popular and then just being repeated through all the different media outlets. I think once an artist is featured, with social media now, people can find their work, and it would be good to see institutions with a wide following bringing exposure to artists who don’t have the resources to reach a wider audience.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the idea that “I’m not good enough” is a good driving force in order to make work, get better and secure more opportunities. It was a survival skill that served a certain purpose for a while, but I found that when I’m relying on that thought as impetus that I ultimately find myself unfulfilled and always wanting more. I wanna make art to make art not to be ambitious or successful. Just because my art is a business doesn’t mean I have to treat it like a business and only focus on it as a business, because if I do that, then it’s truly not art for me anymore, and not really that therapeutic or about intimacy with myself anymore. Thanks!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jonmichaelfrank.com
• Instagram: @jonmichaelfrank

Image Credits
I have the rights to this work – it is mine!