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

Hi Mollie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

In elementary school I was asked to write a paper on what I wanted to be when I grew up. My paper proclaimed, “When I grow up I want to be a farmer, artist, choreographer, actress, and lawyer.” So, my career path became a process of elimination, rather than reaching towards one star.

Farmer: In 4H I raised bantam poultry and dwarf rabbits. My very favorite critter was a duckwing rooster named Sparky. He would come running when I called, and fly up and sit on my head. So much character. I watered and fed the animals, helped my mom build cages, and showed at events. Competitions were all day outdoor affairs in Phoenix, AZ — and came to an abrupt end when I developed heat sickness. Farming was out.

Lawyer: When I was quite young my mother told a neighbor, I was going to be the first woman president. I found this very upsetting. I did not want to be president. At the writing of the class essay, my understanding of lawyering was drawn from watching reruns of Perry Mason. I don’t know what snuffed this dream out — I think it withered in the shadow of my artistic strengths.

Art: Art came naturally. My mom was a fine and commercial artist, my father a cartoonist and photographer, and my aunts, grandmother, and great grandfather were photographers and  painters. Nothing but encouragement, joy, and support from family towards my artistic bent. I use my fine and commercial art skills practically every day.

Choreographer/actress:  My solution with the remaining performance choices was to combine them with art to become a multidisciplinary artist. Each discipline takes the lead at different points in my life. My current art project is a musical stage play about an artist. 

Mollie, 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 had great mentors throughout my impressionable youth. I asked my high school teacher if she thought a graphic design vocational ed class being offered was a good fit for me. Her advice was to take all the fine art classes I could at the time, then take commercial art in college. I followed her advice, and attended Colorado Institute of Art.

The curriculum for commercial art included life drawing, photography, illustration, as well as advertising design and production. It was a good fit for me. I landed my first job interview for a graphic artist position after graduation. My boss’s mother owned an art gallery, and she agreed to meet and offered advice.

The career that followed has continued to provide the opportunities to practice a range of art and commercial communication skills, while fulfilling passions, and earning a living.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist/creative in my case, is being able to have a career using both left brain and right brain — keeps me grounded. For me, spending too much time floating around in right-brainland impairs my speech production upon re-entry to the real world. I love the deep dives, but value the balance.

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

My view on NFTs is not fully-formed. I have found folks with a view feel very strongly about them. We’ve done some research internally and are somewhat beginner-level aware of the steps, risks, and costs. But, I do not see putting our toe in the water anytime soon. Not because I am opposed — I am open to curiosity-dabbling for entertainment, sort of like when you put a few coins in a slot machine in Vegas — but rather because we are tied up for a while with other projects. And if it is still a thing when we eventually come up for air, then we may revisit.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.molliekellogg.com and www.molliekelloggcreative.com 
• Instagram: @incognitowitch 
• Facebook: @Artwork.MollieKellogg and @IncognitoWitch 
• Linkedin: @molliekellogg 
• Youtube: @MollieKelloggCreative 
• Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/molliekellogg

Image Credits
Mollie Kellogg Creative, T. Collins Logan, David Oleary, Mike Chiricuzo