We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ken Stanek a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ken, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I’ve been making art since I was a little kid. For the past 20+ years, i’ve been a graphic designer which is obviously a creative path, but about 19 years ago, I realized I hated it. It took me until now (I’m 46) to completely shift gears into a career as an artist and illustrator.
Ken, 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?
I make art. I make art mostly for myself, but people seem to love it, and like to hang it on their walls. I’m not trying to make any dramatic statements with my work, or work though any kind of inner turmoil or struggle – I just make things beautiful. It started with pet portraits a few years back at one of my jobs. I would paint portraits of the dogs people would post in the “pets” Slack channel. Then coworkers asked if they could commission me for them. Then other friends. Then strangers. It’s a slow snowballing effect.
Another set of illustrations I work on are local scenes. I’ll doodle as many coffeeshops as I can in a tiny little sketchbook that fits in my pocket. Collectively, they end up being a documentation of a community. They’re all happy scenes. Small businesses. The patchwork of entrepreneurs and customers that make a community. I’m here as the local watercolor documentarian.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. My therapist recommended this book to me earlier this year and I immediately bought it from the local book store (buy local!) This book is designed to unstick the stuck artist. It’s intended to be a 12-week “course” where you work on different goals each week. Sometimes those goals are just “positive thinking”. Writing out those affirmations *actually* worked for me. Another huge part of the book is the suggestion to take time each day to write your Daily Words. Sometimes my Daily words are scrambled junk. Sometimes they’re to-do lists. Sometimes they’re fiction. Every time, they help me clarify my day and focus my attention. It’s been life-changing to be honest. In part, this book helped me clarify to myself what I want to do when I grow up. Again, I’m 46.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve pivoted this year. I’m a rookie with this career. I’ve been making art since I was a kid and building the groundwork for a career shift from “having a job” to “being an artist” for a couple years but this is the year I took that plunge. I thought i was pretty well set up for it but there’s SO MUCH MORE that I could’ve should’ve would’ve done. Do I have regrets? Probably. But if I thought about planning too much I may never have taken this pivot.
Earlier this year I manifested a layoff from a pharma job that was slowly sucking my soul away. As soon as that layoff happened, I considered that the end of my graphic design career, and now am a full-time artist, trying to figure out how to make it work, throwing it all against the wall to see what sticks.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shop.studionumbernine.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studionumbernine/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ken.stanek.77/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-stanek-4678134/