We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joe Nolan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Joe, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today 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?
If you want to create a career in a creative industry, my best advice is to actively get into that space at any level you can. Kris Kristofferson is a world famous singer-songwriter, but he started out emptying ashtrays and mopping floors in a Nashville recording studio. There are two ways this strategy can benefit you: You can learn and develop valuable skills that will make you better at what you do. And you’ll also be rubbing elbows with the exact people you need to be networking with. I regularly show my work in galleries, but first I spent years working in frame shops and museums, learning tons of valuable skills about how to organize and display art for maximum impact. I also just completed a book project for a university press, but first I wrote countless short profiles and reviews of artists and exhibitions for local, regional and national publications. Don’t be afraid to start small and always be looking for every opportunity to get closer to and more involved in the creative spaces you want to occupy.
Joe, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m an intermedia artist in Nashville, TN. I’m a painter and an experimental short filmmaker. I’m a singer-songwriter and recording artist. I’m also an art and film critic and a book author. I sell my work to collectors and also work based on commissions for custom work. I’ve also won awards and grants to create public art and community-based projects using public funds from the city and state agencies. My wide-ranging and prolific production sets me apart from creative peers and helps my art practice to be more sustainable. Art and creativity fill our everyday lives with beauty and inspire deeper insight and presence in our living and work spaces. Being able to move someone’s heart with a painted panel or engage their memories with a surprising song lyric can help to heal heartache or bring courage into a place of self doubt. The arts are intrisic to our quality of life and I never see my collectors, patrons and fans as mere clients.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
NFTs are very misunderstood. The real magic of NFTs isn’t the JPEG or the GIF that’s linked to them, it’s in the smart contract itself. NFT’s have made digital art collectable through certification of 1/1 works. You can copy and paste images off of X all day, but if you don’t own the NFT — the contract — you just have a fake copies of a thing on your hard drive. NFTs have inspired me to extend my traditional art into the digital space using scans and animation tools to bring my abstract paintings to life. I also include my original painted artworks in my NFT sales as unlockables, giving me a new outlet for selling my actual paintings. NFTs also make royalties possible on future sales. Not every platform supports these, but many do and it’s still one of the most promising aspects of NFTs for independent artists. Royalties constitue a sustainabitlity solution for long term art careers.
Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?
Every creative I know has to be just as imaginative with their business as they are with their art. I’m an artist and a filmmaker, but I also write about art and film. I also act as a facilitator organizing community art projects or running classes to teach artists how to apply for grants and how to access and leverage media to get more attention for their work. When I’m not making music in my studio I’m a mixing engineer for hire. I also get paid to speak at university art classes, conferences and events. I’m always looking to develop new skills and techniques as an artist, but that also applies to discovering new ways that I can open up overlooked revenue streams.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joenolan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mightyjoenolan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joenolannashville
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MightyJoeNolan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmpGL_RWo-sBd65hAbT2R9g