We were lucky to catch up with Joseph Finchum recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joseph, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Well, I was born with a defect in my legs and spent most of my formative years wearing large metal braces on them. I was drawing before I could speak. I spent most of my time as a child just drawing and doodling while the other kids were out playing. As a teen I kind of let the whole art thing slip away from me and got my first “real” job as soon as they would let me. From there, life happened and art was always an after thought. However, I was still always kind of doing it and it was the one thing that people would always compliment me on. It wasn’t until I was in my 20’s that I decided I needed a change of direction and started pursuing my art with more ambition. Had I known then what I do now, it never would have been put on the backburner.
As an entirely self taught artist, I can’t really speak of the skills one might be taught from a professional teacher or a mentor. I just experimented with any materials I could get my hands on and figured it all out for myself. To this day I still hear others use terms that I have no clear understanding of, but when I look those things up… I’m usually like, “Oh yeah, I do that too.”
I came from a lower class family and having to work was necessary to the well being of my family. So always being stuck in dead-end jobs that sucked the life out of me was probably my biggest setback. There just wasn’t any room for being creative in anyway. I would say that not having the encouragement to pursue my artistic side was the biggest obstacle I needed to overcome.
Since I decided to go after my art goals, I have not always been financially secure, but I’m far more happy being a broke artist then a well payed anything else.
Joseph, 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 Joseph Finchum and I am a fine artist from Long Island, NY. I’ve lived here my whole life and have very rarely had the chance to leave it. There is a very large and extensive art community here but not one that is easily broken into. Something I am still trying to do to this day. I don’t want to say that the NY art scene is snobbish, but yeah it it can be. The phrases “It takes money to make money” and “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” seem very fitting. I think I have always been drawn to the arts and to create. I have always been a doodler and have always loved making things with my own hands. There is just something very satisfying about producing something from my own imagination or from solving a problem that was getting in the way of my creativity.
I went to college for Graphic design in my early 30’s thinking that it was something that would be a real job and allow me to be creative as well. It wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be, my first design job ended up being at a local newspaper where I did basic page layouts and a little photo editing for ads… it was awful and just made me not want to create at all. It was just like being stuck in another dead-end job going nowhere fast.
I think that the thing I am most proud of is the fact that I can dabble in almost anything I put my mind to and have always been able to pick things up very quickly. I may not know the terminology of the arts but I am still learning everyday. I just wish I had started to go after my art goals way earlier in life. I think I want my followers or fans to know that you really can do anything you set your mind to and that you should never stop trying to make yourself and your art better. There is always more opportunities for growth and self education. You don’t need a formal education to be an artist, If you currently make art, you are already an artist.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Encourage them. I heard phrases like “That’s nice, but what will you do for an income.” for most of my life, and to be fair, it was much harder to get yourself out there back when I was younger. Today there are so many more ways to get your art in front of the people that really will appreciate it, you just have to do it. I wish I had taken to technology and the internet far earlier in my life. I didn’t get my first computer until I was in my 30’s. That was when I first found YouTube and an Artist by the name of Lisa “Lachri Fine Art” Clough. Had I not become friends with her I may have never even tried to do what I am doing now. She was the one that saw my potential and pushed me to start my own channel “Art of Joseph Finchum.” I just wish I had done it sooner. Now I know that I am not the most entertaining or even interesting person and I hold a lot of my personal life back. But I try to do my best to educate others in a way that I learned, by watching and studying the work of others. If I can’t see it being done, I’m not going to pick it up, and if I don’t try it for myself, I’m not going to get better at it. If there is anyone out there reading this that is thinking “I’ll start a YouTube Channel or an Instagram page as soon as….” Forget that nonsense. The best time to start is now. Yeah, it might not be good at first, but nothing ever is, if you’re not doing it, you’re not learning how to do it better.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Making others happy. While I love to make my art and hope that others will enjoy it, nothing compares to when I see someone else look at my work and actually smile. If I can bring some joy to your world for even just a little bit of time, I’ve done my job. The world isn’t always a nice place and sometimes it is these little moments that I remember the most. I’ve never won any awards or accolades for my art, but that isn’t what I want. I just want to see others being happy, even if just for a brief moment. Your joy is my joy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.artofjosephfinchum.com
- Instagram: @artofjosephfinchum
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtofJosephFinchum
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtofJosephFinchum
- Other: MeWe: https://mewe.com/artofjosephfinch
Image Credits
Joseph Finchum