We recently connected with Nick Weber and have shared our conversation below.

Nick, appreciate you 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 first started painting in college, and when I graduated, I had to supplement my income from painting sales with jobs as a chef in Palo Alto CA and then eventually as a landscaper when I moved out to the Hamptons… as my portrait commissions became more plentiful, I was able to switch to painting full-time. I don’t think it’s a process that I could’ve really sped up, because it took time to hone my craft to the point where I was able to deliver a portrait commission that people would be excited about, and then it was through word-of-mouth and connections that my clients found me, and in retrospect that all actually happened fairly quickly

Nick, 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’m a painter, who makes a living in part from portrait commissions, and also through painting sales from my studio or via the various galleries that show my work… my earliest painting series to gain recognition was called ‘Night Paintings’ and was a collection of night landscapes where I captured the dramatic lighting of street lights or full moon skies, the show was at a Chelsea Gallery in 2001. Since then I have become known for figurative work and abstract ‘consciousness’ paintings, Showing at Glenn Horowitz, Harper’s in NYC, Tripoli Gallery, Grenning Gallery, Eric Firestone, Gambit Works, and Lucore.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think society can do a much better job of easing the financial burden on artists, musicians, creatives. This could be done with making more grant money accessible and by offering tax credits to people who are actively pursuing these types of careers, who make less than 100k per year, or something like that. A little would go a long way! Would be beneficial that if someone can show that they are engaged in this type of life mission, through a simple application process, that society would honor the contribution financially, with the assumption that all of us who are in the arts make life and culture richer for all those around us. Seems that in Europe there is more recognition of the gift that artists give, and more of an attempt by society to help

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have found that Instagram was a great place, and still is a pretty good place to show work, see the work of others, and connect via comments or DMs. I have met at least a dozen other artists by seeing their work and reaching out, or vice versa on Instagram, and many of these chats have led to studio visits and actual real life friendships. The algorithm has changed for the worse, and now a post has a much shorter life cycle, but the platform remains a good way to see what’s going on out there and make beautiful connections with like minded kindred spirits. Most devoted artists understand what goes into doing it, and if we see something that touches us will not hesitate to let someone know we appreciate their work; encouragement can be very precious and sustaining when it comes from another artist with genuine sincerity

Contact Info:

• Website: nickweberstudio.com
• Instagram: nickweber
• Facebook: nick weber