We were lucky to catch up with Jamie Pomeranz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jamie, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I was always a creative at heart, and spent much of my high school years buried in a dark room developing my own film and prints, but when it was time to pick a college program, I didn’t feel like being a creative was “secure” enough. Artistically, I was very inspired by print advertising campaigns such as the black and white Guess Jeans campaign staring Anna Nicole Smith, so I decided I would become a creative through more of a business focused path in advertising and marketing. After graduating from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, I began working in marketing but quickly became frustrated with the reality of clients restrictions and corporate red tape. After only a couple years, I decided that life was too short not to spend my days doing what made me happy, even if I knew it would likely be more of a struggle. I quit my job and enrolled in a full time program at the International Center of Photography in NYC. Upon graduating, I started my first creative business, a tee shirt brand with my graphic designs hand silk screened on them. That was over 15 years ago, and although my creative focus has changed a few times, I’ve never regretted my decision or considered going back to more traditional fields.

Jamie, 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?

After leaving my marketing job and completing a full time program at the International Center of Photography in NYC I started a tee shirt brand, called Devils May Care, and hustled selling my designs for almost 10 years, but after having kids my focus and priorities changed. I found a new medium called alcohol inks when a good friend, and very talented artist came over for a little wine and whining. I immediately fell in love with the feeling that this unpredictable and beautiful medium gave me. I hadn’t even realized how much I NEEDED to create to feel whole. I joked to her that I should start posting my work on social media as I learned the medium and maybe, just maybe one day someone would send me free art supplies. So I did. I continued to use the name Devils May Care and everyday I took just a little bit of time for myself, created work and posted it. At that time, it was all about the journey of creating and not the final piece, so I shared both my successes and failures. People gravitated towards my raw honesty and when I invented a new technique to create realistic roses with ink drops and a blowdryer, the account took off. With followers came opportunities. I started selling work, offering lessons, hosting corporate workshops, licensing my art, producing social media content for art related 3rd parties, and working with art supply brands through affiliate relationships to promote products online via my own channels.

One of my absolute favorite and completely unanticipated outcomes of gaining a social media following for my art has been seeing the butterfly effect that it has had around the globe. I remember how therapeutic finding my creative outlet again was for me, and seeing how my work inspired people to be creative and tap into that part of themselves because of something I said, or a piece I posted is priceless. I think that people relate to my desire to play with different mediums (Ive since branched out into epoxy resin, clay, acrylics etc) and express myself through various channels. While social media platforms encourage people to be niche, I encourage people to play with their creativity and focus on the act of creating rather than the result. My Dms are open to all and I spend a lot of time answering people’s questions and cheerleading them on.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I know that people have very strong feelings regarding NTFs not being a legit form of art, but I completely disagree and I believe time will tell. When photography was first introduced to the world, it wasn’t accepted by artists who believed painting and drawing were the true art mediums. Over time, people accepted black and white photography as a legit medium but then looked down upon color photography as fine art. It wasn’t until William Eggleston “legitimized” color photography that it became an acceptable artistic medium. I think the same will happen with NFTS. NFTs finally give digital artists the opportunity to sell original work. People need to remember that it isn’t just digital art that can easily be reproduced. There are millions of copies of the Mona Lisa, but that doesn’t take away from the original piece. I believe as display screens for digital art improve, and mental shifts regarding the “copies” are made, people will become more accepting of NFTs as medium

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’ve been really fortunate with my social media growth in that it has been 100% organic. When I first began 5 years ago, I focused on hashtags but I think one of the reasons for my success was because I placed a very high priority on building a community. I can’t stress enough how important it is to engage both with your own followers and on the posts of other professionals in your niche. Growth will ebb and flow but I always say that your number one worry should be keeping the followers you already have happy. They already support you and will continue to do so if you give them meaningful content. That being said, we all want growth, so the best advice I can give is that the social media landscape is ever-changing and you need to be adaptable. Don’t get stuck on one platform and think that you are good forever. You need to diversify onto different platforms and pay attention to new the features which are always pushed by the algorithm. Different platforms have different audiences as well as different styles of preferred posting (eg, instagram has a more polished feel while TikTok wants to see more authenticity) and your posts should be crafted to reflect those differences.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://devilsmaycare.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/devilsmaycare
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DevilsMayCare
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jamiepomernaz
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@devilsmaycare
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@devilsmaycare
• Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/devilsmaycare/

Image Credits
Image credits: Jamie Pomeranz