We recently connected with Mike Geno and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I did not expect to actually get to this place where I can live off of my work. Initially when I was offered the opportunity to go to college. I went to Penn State University having no idea what I wanted to do, but figuring being a business major was practical. There was a core curriculum requirement that included the need to have two classes of art and so at the age of 19, I experienced my very first art class. I was immediately hooked on a pair of intro to drawing class. I had always drawn since I was a kid but now I was getting credit for it and it was a blast. By the time I enrolled in the “Intro to Painting” class, I was delving into electives to justify taking it. By the third painting I knew I needed to change majors. My teacher encouraged me and I ended up transferring to Tyler School of Art, nearby. Starting over there I felt like I was in the right place for the first time in my life. Even as I was going to grad school to get my MFA in Painting, I never felt it was realistic to expect to live off of my art. I had learned that I love to teach there, so I figured I’d find a tenured track position somewhere out there. Several years and many fortuitous circumstances later and I find myself making a living, fully off of my art. I am not wealthy but I am very happy, and never set an alarm clock. :)

Mike, 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?

In graduate school I eventually began to focus on still life painting, which was not something I had predicted. Previously I had worked from photos, but working from a subject right in front of me, really helped me grow as far as exploring painting as a medium. Having painted a series of toys, I was enjoying form and color but felt something was missing. I joked to a good friend that I was so hungry, that I should just paint a big juicy steak, because I’d want to bite right into it, like the various rubber duckies I had been painting. She laughed and encouraged it. I thought I’d do it as a joke, a one-off painting. That first steak painting ended up changing everything. My peers and professors made me realize I had made a breakthrough, that food had more meaning for me and therefore the work was elevated to a new level. I returned home to Philadelphia with a thesis portfolio of raw meat paintings and a hunger for local food I missed. While I painted various subjects over the years, food has become my main studio focus. A chance meeting with Tenaya Darlington, known as “Madame Fromage”, helped me create a new series for a small exhibit I had coming up. She became a dear friend and my initial cheese mentor. Each cheese I painted added to my education. Painting artisan cheese for a subject suddenly made more sense. The texture of the subject and nuances of the colors were a perfect match for my personal painting process. I hoped to paint maybe 25 small paintings, which I approached as “cheese portraits”. Each painting, it seems, comes with a story. As I post a new portrait up on my website, I do some research about the cheese and there is always a story that would capture my imagination. I felt like my art was an homage to another artist and therefore I had the responsibility to share their story, help support that maker that I rely on. I feel like I was a typical American, with nearly no knowledge of this world of artisanal cheese. I felt like my work could help at least in a tiny way, to expand it for myself, and hopefully others. The initial surprise for me was that there was a cheese community, and when they discovered my work, it kinda went viral. They became so supportive, and now I feel like we have a symbiotic relationship. While I enjoy painting other food subjects, cheese seems to have become what I am most known for. I feel very honored any time someone considers me part of the cheese world.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My big break began with meeting Tenaya who is naturally gifted at communication and education and therefore a social media natural! She kept getting requests for more information about me and my work on her social media. Back then I was resistant to it and she convinced me to at least join Instagram. When I finally joined, it made a huge difference. I had enjoyed a lot of press for years, but the growing use of instagram and followers piling up for me made it possible to reach so much more of the community. Generally art lovers and food lovers alike, but so much of the cheese community has found me there. Today it’s scary how much it impacts my studio income. I’m certain it makes it possible for me to live as a full-time artist, that still teaches some on the side. My advice is to be as genuine as possible. One’s social media is much more relatable if it’s your true voice; an extension of your personality. I myself find heavy-handed “influencer” tricks and trends to be the quickest way to lose my interest.

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 can’t claim to fully understand NFT’s and I am inherantly suspicious of such trends. At my age I’ve seen so many like it that just disappear. Honestly, they don’t relate to me because I believe as we grow more dependent on digital media throughout our daily routines, including entertainment and education, the value for actual tactile physical work grows. While I fully endorse artists to diversify their studio portfolio in order to be accessible to various budgets an audience often has, I cannot see the value of something that anyone can simply make into a screenshot. To me, it seems like a scam.

Contact Info:

• Website: mikegeno.com
• Instagram: @ mikegenostudio

Image Credits
“Mike Geno in studio” photo by Will Figg all painting images credit Mike Geno. Image titles (if you want them): 1: “Jack’s Blue” 2: “Baron Bigod” 3: “Montgomery Cheddar Wedges” 4: “Asher Blue” 5: “Island Roll” 6: “Sourdough” 7: “Rainbow Jello” 8: Smores Cake”