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

M. Owen , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Not long before the pandemic, I was looking for an outlet for my creative side. My background is in theatrical set design, but I have not worked in my field for many years. I really needed to spend some energy on creating. I have spent a lot of time camping and canoeing in wilderness areas such as the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York, always with my camera in hand looking for those serine shots that I could take. Mostly for myself and my wells at home. At one point it was suggested that I take it up a notch with my work. It seemed like a logical step, but mostly on a hobby level. When the pandemic broke out and I lost my regular job, my “hobby business” started to take up my time. I now had plenty of it, and since social distancing was the phrase of the year, I took the opportunity to travel out to some of the locations you see in my work. Hotel rooms and the outdoors are good locations to isolate and devote time to my work. My childhood was full of time in the outdoors, and now I had the creative means to bring that wonder to people who may not be able to see the world in person.

M. Owen , 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?

Since I was very young, my father and I would spend time in the outdoors. Most often in nature preserves with binoculars and later my camera, looking for those hard to find birds on swampy boardwalks and woodsy trails. There is a private nature preserve near my childhood home called “White Memorial Foundation” (Litchfield CT) that deserves credit for my view of nature. Between this great location and my fathers humble teachings of the outdoors, I learned to appreciate the natural world and carried the love forward into my art. When I look for a picture, I am trying to capture a moment in the world that we often don’t get to experience in our every day hustle and bustle. I want to capture images that have a sense of the outdoors that each individual will have a connection to. Not even necessarily that they have been to the specific location, but maybe a world they wish to experience. A reminder that the natural world is still out there, still strong, and is waiting for your return. Perhaps an image on your wall of a flower or a mountain will keep your camping or hiking dreams alive. Perhaps it will be a reminder of a different time of your life, and remind you those times. Mountain and forests and rivers can be inspiring in so many ways. I hope my work will inspire the viewer to dream of the fresh air world outside our doors.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I would argue that every artist has had challenges in their careers. It is not always a lucrative business, and relies on sales and a lot of luck sometimes. However, it can also be considered a “calling.” A need to, in a nonverbal way (although it could be this as well), express a thought or an idea. Every creator out there will know what I mean. But sometimes obstacles get in the way. These obstacles can come in many forms: health issues, money issues, or family issues for example. Mine was a major health issue. While trying to build my career as a freelance designer I was suddenly diagnosed with cancer… for a second time. And while my diagnosis was actually pretty good, and I genuinely knew how lucky I was, it removed me from the work force for almost a year. After that year, my wife and I decided that I needed to step back and just work for a while and hold off on my freelance work and building my brand. We had so many financial obligations and a child to raise, we needed the consistent income. So, I changed paths to work a job that would allow us to be more balanced and financially secure. It was a HUGE pivot for me, but sometimes you need to re-evaluate your priorities. However, I used this time to develop new skills, ranging from professional work skills, to gaining a better understanding of standard business practices, communication and polish up computer skills. These skills put this artist, who is used to working with only his hands and pencils, in a great position to start his path into the wonderful world of photography.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

When I started my business, my plan was to have a website and promote it in social media. Later, I decided to do onsite sales at craft fairs and the like. This was a big step for me, being the introvert I am, haha. Producing the products was not the challenge, but the actual set up was. I am a one-person operation, and getting a whole booth set up and taken down by myself was my biggest fear. However, with the help of my wife and daughter, the first opportunity worked out quite well. I made a couple of sales and quickly got my “sea legs.” This made future craft fairs more and more successful. I found that I like meeting my audience and talking about my work. In the end, the personal face to face presentation seemed to suit me, and I feel better about it than even the online posting that I do. Stepping out of my comfort zone is something I need to be less fearful of moving forward!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://imagesbyowen.com/
• Instagram: @images_by_owen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImagesByOwen