We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jordan Pastor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jordan below.

Jordan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Being an artist as a profession was always a dream that I felt was not achievable. As a young adult, life & the universe had other plans for me which ultimately led to living my dream. Let me elaborate!

Drawing was something I loved doing since 2000. I always found it therapeutic and seeing how people react was extremely fulfilling to me. Fast forward to the present, that is the exact feeling I chase when I bring my art to events.

Throughout the journey, I stopped drawing from age 17-20 until my girlfriend (now wife) convinced me to pick it up again. I graduated from Sacramento State University with a degree in Marketing, while working various manual labor jobs as a forklift driver, etc. After college, I thought the car industry might be a viable path for me, so I started selling cars at the local Chevrolet/Cadillac dealership. Although I was pretty good as a salesman, I hated the feeling of selling something I wasn’t passionate about.

Than I thought to myself, “If I can sell a car that I have 0 attachment to, I can definitely sell art that I am passionate about” which led me to apply to a small convention called Vacacon and the rest is history!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

PinoyShotArt is my art brand where I inspire others to embrace their creativity to the fullest. I focus primarily on Filipino & Anime culture-inspired artwork in the forms of enamel pins, waterproof decals, key charms, art prints, etc. My mission is to bring the Filipino culture to the forefront with my art and knowing that I have a support system behind that mission is my proudest achievement.

I also focus on artist mental health content because I want to provide a blueprint for other creatives who feel lost or unfulfilled at their current job.

In 2021, I started my clothing brand, Still Balanced Apparel. Still Balanced is a premium streetwear brand that encourages a healthy mindset. Growing up, my grandfather would always say “There’s time to eat, there’s time to sleep, and there’s time to study.” which I never truly understood and would just mock because of his accent haha. I was at a dark point in life when he passed and what helped me grieve was his catchphrase. I realized that he was telling me that Balance is the answer to all of my problems and that was my “Aha!” moment.

We focus on highly crafted t-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, etc. as well as, original artwork by PinoyShotArt.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The greatest pivot in my career was embracing the Filipino culture and implementing it into my art. When I first started, I would just create different comic and anime fan art which wasn’t really different from what you’d see from other artists at a comic/anime con.

Although my art was well-recieved and something I was proud of, I still felt like I could offer more. Due to a recommendation from a friend, I made my first Filipino crossover fusion called “KillerJoy” which was an interpretation of Jollibee as a Naruto ninja. This was the art piece that the culture first started to see and everyone encouraged me to keep making art to represent the Philippines.

The following 2-3 years, I always felt like it wasn’t right for me (Filipino American that grew up in New York with little to no Filipino friends) to make art/money from a culture that I internally never felt I could represent to the fullest. Being with my wife (who moved from the Philippines in 2006) helped me embrace the Filipino culture in ways I never thought were possible and helped me overcome that lack of self-esteem. The love and support I have received this past year after doing all of the Filipino festivals in NorCal has been the greatest feeling in my career thus far, so thank you all who reads this!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My life goal is to have a museum that showcases all of my original concept work. I am currently writing my first art book, which shows the final art piece, adjacent a page from my personal journal that shows the creative process that went behind the art. This book (First of many) will be the blueprint for the future museum I have planned.

All of the events & networking I have done the past 4 years in my journey is what is preparing me for my ultimate goals. I know in my later years, I want to become an art business coach and motivational speaker. In 2022, I went back to my high school in New York to speak to the art students about my career path and the validation I received from the next generation made me decide that this is something I want to pursue in the future!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pinoyshotart.com & https://stillbalancedapparel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinoyshotart/ & https://www.instagram.com/stillbalanced/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PinoyShotArt

Image Credits

@pinoyshotart