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

Felipe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Being a full-time artist has been incredible, but I didn’t always do it full-time, it wasn’t like this from day one. I was working in finance at a tech company for a year when I realized that I was not doing what fulfilled me—this was the fuel for making it all happen. I was already working on my pieces through college, and once I decided to quit—I saved enough money to spend three months working on strictly art. I built an art-studio in my garage, and it all went up from there. I got a part-time job at my friends natural wine bar/taqueria called, Nixta taqueria. I continued to work on my art full-time on Monday through Friday, working on the evenings and weekends. I

A big thing that led to me being able to go full-time was me going out to all the art shows supporting friends, and meeting people in the local scene. Along with two other friends we began an art collective, “Unknown art collective” that focused on showcasing under represented artists and marginalized communities. We began organizing and curating some very cool shows, and this also led to meeting more people in the art world in our town. I think that going to all the events, supporting and all of the little things all were steps to speeding up my process.

Once I had been working on my art for two years—after quitting my tech job, I decided I was ready to go full-time in October in 2021. It is still a process, and you learn every single day. I am continuously putting myself out there, trying to sell work and taking any art-related jobs in the process.

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

My name is Felipe Gomez, I am originally from Bogota, Colombia and I am a local, multimedia artist. I am the classic story of someone who went to school, got the degree, got a tech job, and did not like it. I quit after a year and went into the art world full-throttle without looking back.

I am most well known for my layered wood sculptures/wall pieces. I have shown at various galleries around town and currently have an exhibition at Native in Austin. I tell stories through shape, geometry, and perspective. On the other side of the coin, I also call myself a multi-media artist as I paint in oil, acrylic, and spray large murals around town.

As I said, the thing that people see the most coming from me—are my wood pieces. If you haven’t taken a look at them before, take a look at my IG @felipegomezart and come back to finish the article after you’ve seen the work. It gives you a much better picture of what my large scale pieces in comparison to describing them as 1/8 inch slabs of wood that are cut with geometric patterns to create a finished shape using anatomy and aesthetics.

I would have to say that I am most proud of the size that I have achieved with my pieces. It is an insane style, and to accomplish what I do at a large scale is something that I have always wanted to do. It is very impressive to see in person, and a picture does not do them justice. I want my large scale pieces to be in big homes, offices, and large spaces in which they can have a big impact on the people in those buildings. Besides my wood pieces, I do wood commissions, and murals.

I have small and affordable wood pieces, prints and all of my other work available for sale on my website: www.felipegomezart.com . As far as murals, feel free to send me a DM on social media and we can talk about how to brighten your space!

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

I think that one thing that may get overlooked yet is extremely Impactful is affordable living. As we see the housing market go up and rent prices alongside—us artists are getting priced out of living in the cool parts of town that we have been living in for a long time. I think that the local municipalities should spend some real time and intention into thinking about how to make it a part of local law that apartment buildings have to have a certain amount of units strictly for artists. A program that keeps creatives in cities would be extremely impactful to all creatives around the United States. What questions can we ask so that our local government helps us artists stay in town? How can we creatives continue pushing the culture of our cities forward? DM me and lets push this conversation forward!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think that my entire journey has been a path of resilience. I chose to leave a proper career job in pursuit of finding my meaning in life. I would have to say that anyone pursuing a path in the arts *has* to be resilient. You have to continue pushing forward and through the lows in the waves that define the artist’s life. I had a conversation with a friend over a podcast for Hope Outdoor Gallery in Austin in which we ended up discussing what defines an artist when they have made it, when can you tell if you have finally done it. You cant. You are making it when you are making it. What do we mean by that? Essentially that you are only making it when you are fully pursuing your passion. Theres no making it. The only making it should be towards yourself, and by continuously working on new work—you are making it. You are only making it, when you’re making it.

I think that the way we react to times of scarcity truly define us. It shows us if we are really in it for this life that we said we ” always wanted”. The highs are high, and out of this world—but how will you react when you arent selling work?
Are you going to give up? No, you go and get art related jobs, you help in a gallery, in an art collective, you go help muralists paint murals as a second hand and you do whatever it takes to continue being a full-time artist for yet another month. We don’t *have* to do what we do, we *GET* to do what we do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.felipegomezart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/felipegomezart/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FelipegomezArt