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

Jose Angel , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

Art is an individual expression of the artist that requires exploration and discovery. Throughout an artistic journey, I feel artists need to take risks and leverage each opportunity to discover positive outcomes besides financial benefits. I want to tell the story about how and why I was offered a solo show, how I prepared for the event, and what I learned. I would like to share with readers my philosophy in regard to artistic style, bodies of work, and the business of art.

I’ll start by disclosing that I did not sell any art during the three-day solo show but I self-curated an art show that was interactive, and fun, and I found other ways to benefit from the opportunity.

Everything began when I applied to MAST (McKinney Art Studio Tour) as a nonresident visiting artist. Upon acceptance, I was placed in a charming historical house called Jump into Art Studios. I was offered to set up outside or on the second floor of the house next to Magali Muñoz Smith Studio, a McKinney-based artist who has since become a good friend. Due to weather concerns, I went for the second-floor space. The weekend-long event allowed me to meet new patrons, and artists and opened the door to a solo show opportunity. The art world is full of different venues, along the way you must build relationships and make the most out of each opportunity.

In a gesture of kindness, Annie Royer offered me an additional opportunity at The Cove, a cooperative venue for creatives in downtown McKinney. Both The Cove and MAST are programs of the Arts and Music Guild, a non-profit based in McKinney, Texas of which Annie is the Executive Director. Annie offered me a solo show at The Cove. I accepted the offer for a February 2023 solo show, and with a three-month lead time I started preparing.

Deciding on the theme of the show was easy. I am best known for my 3D Mixed Media Art consisting of Abstract Philosophical Portraits, Animals in a Zoomorphic Style, and Conceptual Art. I themed the show Zoomorphic & Humanistic Inspirations. I knew I needed to create new works of art. I combined my concept art compositions into my zoomorphic style art and created twenty new works of art. As an added benefit the new artworks increased my inventory of 12” x 12” works of art that are popular when I do art festivals.

To make the show more interactive and memorable, I created a 6’ x 4’ painting on a drop cloth for a photo opportunity and titled it Zoomorphic Culture. The photos obtained I used to create postings on Instagram. With the intention of getting more visitors, I announced a free raffle of one of my original works of art in exchange for email addresses for future communications. I offered a Mimosas Sunday Event for the closing reception to give the reception a different flavor.

I leveraged the space to do a photoshoot of my art before the opening of the show. This was especially important since it is something I cannot do with the walls in my home studio. The photoshoot gave me a variety of photographs that I used for this article.

I learned that promoting the show with local businesses is equally as important if not more important than social media promotions and advertisement.

In response to the question about “Best or Worst Investment,” I respond by affirming that it is all about having the right attitude, planning, exploring, and finding ways of maximizing every situation.

Jose Angel, 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?

As a self-taught artist, I now realize that an artist had always lived in me and decided to make his debut appearance at the age of 43 in the year 2000. I like to call it the midlife crisis that transformed into the midlife journey.

I find most fascinating the beginning of the creative process. Mentally composing a painting in my mind. It starts with what message or story I want to tell, the color palette, and most important the 3D element I am going to incorporate in the painting.

As a contemporary artist, I seek to arouse the curiosity and interest of art lovers looking for less conventional art. My mission is to create interactive, playful art that evokes conversation. Each work of art has been created with objects that I have either found, recycled, or purchased and then incorporated to add a three-dimensional component to the viewing experience. My favorite subjects are abstract/psychological portraits, animals in a zoomorphic style, and conceptual art.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?

Throughout my art career, I have won multiple awards but the most rewarding moments come from conversations with patrons and other artists.

I find it gratifying when a patron tells me why they purchased the artwork. Sharing that personal connection with my art is food for the heart and validates what I mentioned earlier about my creative process.

I do want to highlight a memorable moment. One time I was doing a free community workshop for Western Week in the city of Lewisville, TX. We were painting cows on 12″ x 12″ wooden boards. In the group, there was a young lady that seemed to have Down syndrome. She painted a beautiful pink cow. At the end of the workshop, I whispered to her “Yours is my favorite”. Unexpectedly a spontaneous giggle burst out of her mouth as though I just made her day when in fact that unexpected giggle also made my day.

Art is a tangible object but it has the power to create amazing feelings.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

For many years I was a corporate instructor in the automotive industry traveling all over the US and Latin America. Sometime between the years 2012 and 2013, I was driving from Dallas to San Antonio, TX. As I traveled South on Interstate 45, I stopped at several antique shops on the route. I was walking out of one of the antique stores and stumbled on a rusted and corroded cowbell. It was in severe condition but had beautiful colors. I asked the store clerk how much for the cowbell and he said $2. Two years later in 2014, now living in Los Angeles I decided to create something with the cowbell. I concluded that the best thing for a cowbell is to paint a cow. I sold the painting on the first showing. From that point forward I created a new artist statement that was focused on creating art that is interactive and playful by adding 3D elements to the surface of the painting. That cowbell triggered what I am today, a 3D Mixed Media Artist. You never know when inspiration is going to spark!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Jose_Angel_Art

Image Credits
Gaby Pruitt