Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marcus Dawson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Marcus , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I would say starting a career in art has been a risk I have taken. I did not have any experience in the Art industry a year ago but because I took a risk I have had so many wonderful opportunities come my way.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started making collage art at my kitchen table during the time were the world was on lock down due to the pandemic. I was desperate for a creative outlet. I gathered materials that I had around the hose and made my 1st collage. Those materials included magazines, books, photographs, and anything else that inspired me. I posted that artwork online with no real expectation but shortly after I received so much love on the art I was just doing for self care. Once I started making art I could not stop. With no formal art education or experience I took the risk of taking myself seriously as an artist. A year later I had my 1st solo art show, have been featured in several publications, and started to teach collage in a school art program. One risk has blossomed into a beautiful art career.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My story illustrates resilience because I used to think that I could not be an artist. The neighborhood that I grew up in was in an area that did not have the resources to expose me to art. I also felt when I was younger that I was not great at painting or drawing. This left me discouraged and hindered me from pursuing art seriously. When I found collage art as an adult my whole world changed. This was finally a medium of art that made me feel at home. Taking material that already existed in the world and transforming them to brand new works of art inspired me. Collage art reminds me a lot of life…We are all made up of various scattered parts, puzzled pieced together to make a masterpiece. Ive pushed past all of my fears of not being good enough to discover a beautiful career in art.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my social media audience organically. When I first started making art I was not sure how I would build an audience from scratch. I began posting my artwork along with videos of me talking about the heart behind my art and my followers organically gravitated towards my social media. I truly believe authenticity is key. People can tell when you are being yourself and when you’re not. Also building community helps as well. Following and sharing others content in your field will also expose their audience to you. When I genuinly shared other artist work they began to share my work in return. This caused a beautiful flow of new audience exposure.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcusdspeaks/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/marcusdspeaks

Image Credits
Headshot Photo by: Ari Cromartie