We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lexi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lexi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful projects I have worked on are causes that hit home personally. The first one I ever did was design a Tshirt for an animal clinic bowl-a-thon raising money for the local shelter. The most recent project I’ve recently completed is designing the bike jersey for the MS society ride in Historic New Bern ,NC. My grandfather died from MS, he was someone I really cherished and loved.
Lexi, 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 am a retro-inspired, mixed-media pop artist. A long title to say I like creating pop culture art physically or digitally with a retro spin. I am available to help clients make their ideas a reality. Whether that be a tattoo, t-shirt, or postcard design. The sky is the limit. I enjoy thinking outside the box and creating multiple drafts of an idea to really hone into the final product. For example, I recently designed a book cover for an author and I made about three drafts that took a total of 40 hours. The final product that he loved? Was nowhere near what I had been working on and was something I kinda threw together to see if it would work out. When I’m creating just for me, I don’t focus on what is popular or what will get the most likes, I create for me. I think that’s important as an artist. I create what I want to see in the world. Growing a following is more genuine that way because then the people who follow me are following me because we enjoy the same things. I’m not consistently trying to keep up with what’s popular.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I think NFTs are a current fad. I’ve had multiple people tell me that I should get into the NFT game and I am not interested at all. You can bore me with all the details about how much money I could make and how it would be “special”. What’s special to me is someone hanging a canvas on their wall, and someone walks into their living room and says wow that’s awesome I want one! or if someone gets my art tattooed. They are a walking canvas/billboard for my work. That aspect of the digital world does not impress me. When I’m at a festival or convention and my art is displayed, people stop and connect with a canvas or print that resonates with them. They can physically walk away with it. NFTs, in my opinion, do not have that effect.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
“wait…you made this?” “this is exactly what I was picturing!” “I adore this.” Any reaction of these types makes my heart warm. Not that I necessarily create for the accolades but they are absolutely a fun part of the process. I also enjoy kind of the opposite, when I create something exactly how a client requests but they’re not a fan. I then recreate it with my vision and they fall in love with that direction. Seeing progress as an artist is really rewarding as well. Looking back on past work versus current work and seeing how much you have improved. Especially when you thought you peaked at a certain point.
Contact Info:
- Website: finalgirlgraphix.com
- Instagram: finalgirlgraphix
Image Credits
bowl-a-thon T-shirt picture – megan wright