We recently connected with Flannery Cowan and have shared our conversation below.

Flannery, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Ever since childhood, I’ve had a strong affinity towards photography and digital artistry. Growing up in the early 2000s, I would play with my parents’ film cameras, shooting anything and everything I could, even though at times there wasn’t even film in the camera. When I wasn’t being a shutterbug, I was on the computer, and Microsoft Publisher was my favorite “game.” I’d design pretend catalogs, flyers, and more, emulating all the artistry I saw and admired in the world around me. I taught myself a large majority of my skills via online resources and through experimentation. When I’d appreciate art or publications in public, I’d think to myself, “I want to make something like that,” and from there, I’d nosedive towards whatever knowledge or processes would allow my vision to come to fruition. I consider myself a sensitive and empathetic individual, and as such, I find that I have an eye for capturing raw moments in their authenticity and think this skills is equally as important as technical knowhow.

In high school, I kept myself occupied working on the editorial staff for yearbook, continuing to hone the skills I’d planted as seeds in my childhood. I watered those seeds throughout my school years, learning the craft as I went with incredible mentors and professors helping me along my way. I truly believe I had a very experiential learning experience, hitting the ground running and learning whatever I needed to fulfill whatever creative vision I was pursuing.

I feel the skills I’ve picked up have come from a variety of sources and experiences, some of which can’t be sped up or manufactured and must simply come with time, trial, and error. Technical skills for the trade are some of the most essential, and ensuring I remain dedicated to continuing education and honing new techniques is one of the best ways I continue learning every day. Although textbook knowledge is powerful in its own right, the practices of photography and design demand hands-on experience to truly gain a sense of mastery of the craft. I think the ability to “play” and experiment is essential to learning my skillset, and a fear of failure/embarrassment is what poses the greatest risk of standing in the way of new knowledge.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Flannery Cowan, and I’ve had my finger on the shutter button since I was only a handful of years old. I’ve always been a creative, someone who enjoys expressing the beauty of emotions and the human experience through artistry. Drawn to sparkly packaging and sleek designs, I’ve always had an eye for form and function and have now since dedicated my career to helping any of my clients find the sweet union of form and function, whether for their branding, photography, web-design, etc.

I’ve been a photographer and graphic designer since elementary school, taking on commissions for my community at a young age. By high school, the development of my photography and design skills was in full swing via my involvement with yearbook. Between school projects and extracurriculars, I spent a majority of my time crafting any and all my contributions into a learning experience that would help me to grow my skills. Hands-on “horsing around” in the Adobe Creative suites and with my camera are what have led me to develop the skillset I currently have. Truly finding fun and joy in the craft makes it so even work feels like play, an art of passion.

I like to think I help solve the problems pertaining to the accessibility of fine art. I believe everyone should be able to feel beautiful and experience beauty around them; as such, I’m proud to offer my services at a flexible, affordable price point while still providing deluxe value, imagery, and service. I like to believe I capture authenticity and can translate the beauty of human emotion and human experience into a keepsake, whether a photo or a design.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When I was a much younger photographer, I had an erroneous initial belief that photos shouldn’t need to be processed. I had thought that if a photo needed processing, it was a weak photo to begin with and digital manipulation was cheating as photographer. I had thought whatever came out of the camera was the exclusive testament to my artistry. Now, however, I understand the whole process of photography and post-processing as an art form that leads to the final product.

Of course, the higher quality the image you begin with, the higher quality image you end with, but I’ve learned not to be daunted by editing. I’ve accepted that having to process images doesn’t make me a weak photographer and is only a means to express the experience and memory the photo evokes. It’s a two-part system, and I can’t imagine only completing half the artistic journey these days.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The ability to bottle feelings and points in time, expressing those details through artistry, is the most rewarding aspect of being a creative.

Freezing the emotions and moments, capturing them to preserve for years to come, allows a natural, human beauty to shine through, and I think it’s so rewarding to archive the experiences that make life feel rich.

A brief excerpt comes to mind, “Medicine, law, business, engineering—these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love—these are what we stay alive for.” I believe being an artist allows you to enrich life’s noble pursuits and help us feel connected to a reason for living, bringing out the beauty and romance of our own everyday lives.

Contact Info:

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

Image Credits

Flannery Cowan