We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael James Cisarik a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael James, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

With many aspects in life, we always wish we had started or discovered something sooner. And I feel the exact same way with creating art. Sadly, sometimes you don’t know what you are capable of until you stumble upon it! Discovering art as an outlet during the COVID-19 pandemic was a blessing to say the least and I would never expect it would amount to what it is today. That being said, I am hopeful that it is also just the beginning.

While I wish I would have started earlier, a lot of the experiences and opportunities that I have been privy to today would have likely not existed or been relevant. I have learned that promoting your art simply takes time and I fully expect it to be a long road ahead, but one that presents exciting turns along the way.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Many are now familiar with how I stumbled into this hobby turned business during COVID but a lot of people don’t really understand that I quite literally had never painted before this. Sure, I have had the occasional art project in elementary or grade school, but nothing to this scale or magnitude.

One item that I think really resonates with my clients and customers is that every painting is intended to never be re-created again. Often, new clients want similar pieces from historical ones but I really think people love knowing that they hold a “one of one” original piece. Lastly, I hope each buyer holds a personal connection to the piece they are purchasing. I don’t want my art to be represented as anything near the term “mass produced” and I intentionally produce a small quantity because I want each piece to be exactly as I intended.

On a futuristic note, I am currently planning to expand painting into new mediums soon so hopefully I will be able to reveal some exciting details here shortly.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I will first say that I am definitely going to get some feedback on this one! My personal belief is that NFTs are here to stay, but the traditional fine art industry will use them in different ways than how they are primarily being utilized today. That being said, I don’t suspect that the age of paying millions for a JPEG of a monkey to go away – the flood of excess crypto funds into this asset class has forever disrupted the art and collectible industry. It has also ignited (or re-ignited) the debate of “what defines art?” and if it is art, does it quite literally need to be tangible? The new answer is no.

All that aside, I do think NFTs will play a large role in the more traditional, tangible art industry in years to come for both creators and buyers. If we can connect NFT assets to art assets in reality, this can truly revolutionize how physical art sales occur.

First, the blockchain technology behind NFTs is built specifically with the ability to securely link back to the original content and creator. NFT sales often allow the creator to receive royalties whenever its content is re-sold, regardless of location or owner. This tool would revolutionize traditional art sales as today, artists are typically permanently severed from their work once it’s initially sold. In the future, tying an NFT to a physical work of art could allow artists to continually receive financial benefits as their work appreciates and is re-sold to new owners – regardless if said work is in the virtual or physical world.

Second, buyers (and artists) obviously want to ensure their piece is authenticated, regardless of where it was purchased or who it was purchased from. NFTs have the ability to do just that. Even if a physical art piece is sold over and over again, it can be uniquely tracked and verified if linked to its virtual NFT. This could also benefit artists in preventing counterfeit or “copycat” art sold in their name. A lot of great benefits here that are just on the cusp of breaking into this industry.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Put simply, be true to your work and produce what resonates with you. That’s obviously easier said than done as it’s obviously an element to make money but I at times find myself morphing work into something that would “sell” rather than exactly what I wanted to create. That aside, I have also found that the most loyal and dedicated buyers appreciate original work and that factor of raw authenticity goes a long way. It allows buyers to really connect with your work rather than see something similar or sublime to a work that they have perhaps viewed in the past.

Further, if you are an artist, talk to other artists! The best conversations I have had are those that are usually very informal, just chatting with other artists about techniques, mediums, studio space preferences, etc. These conversations are the ones that help us continue to evolve our work – because who wants to constantly produce repetitive work forever? We all want to grow and continue to challenge each other to our limits in what we can create.

Lastly, if you are a buyer or art advocate, share your feedback with us. Very often I produce something that I personally feel is great but question the response – “will people like it” or worse, “is it good enough?”. Sometimes, receiving a simple message or response from someone helps confirm this indefinable validity. Obviously, desiring affirmation can be a double edged sword but any artist can’t deny that they appreciate those who can connect with their work. Further, if you’re an artist who’s pushing creative boundaries (as you should be), these responses are the ones that can very often continue to propel an artist into producing art that stands the test of time. After all, we produce art not just for ourselves but for those around us and what is art if it doesn’t challenge the status quo.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.michaeljamesart.com
• Instagram: @michaeljames_art

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