We recently connected with Raf Simpson and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Raf thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you have an agent or someone (or a team) that helps you secure opportunities and compensation for your creative work? How did you meet you, why did you decide to work with them, why do you think they decided to work with you?
Signing with an agent was something very special for me. It was the commitment to the relationship that helped me focus in on output. I love to do art and to paint but without accountability and that relationship that pushes you to be the best you can, sometimes you fall short. I have fully enjoyed having an agent guiding me through the process and helping me understanding where I should be spending my time and energy / output. Courtney lets me paint and she gets to worry about the details of the “business” of art.
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.
I do large abstract paintings on canvas. I typically paint with acrylic, oil, pencil, charcoal and some wax. I am proud that I started my career later in life. I started painting at 35 and feel like I didn’t let my age get in the way of starting something new. So many people wish they had tried things and never do because they feel Iike their time has passed. I believe that without the life experience and things I’ve been exposed to like art, architecture, culture, music and people I wouldn’t be the artist I am today at all. I would have been a much shallower version of myself as an artist had I begun earlier. I want my clients to enjoy my work. The most important thing to me is that the art hangs on their walls. I paint with interiors in mind so I really want to see my clients actually hang the work. A lot of the artwork that I personally like wouldn’t necessarily read well in my home. I feel like a lot of people are looking for art that is understated but interesting and doesn’t overwhelm their space. It is simple, thoughtful, and interesting. I got into painting because of my wife. When we were first together, she taught all about architecture and design. She is a furniture designer by trade and we would spend our free time searching all over the US for rare mid century modern finds. I’m not talking about the overblown hype that is happening today with mid century modern but real authentic pieces. Over some time, we began collecting from all over the world and selling to amazing designers, developers and architecture firms. Eventually, we found ourselves at the famous flea market in Paris at St-Ouen. Once you get passed the random stuff on the edges of the market, you find yourself in a world of design treasaures and amazing architectural pieces. In that market, I saw some amazing abstract art from up and coming artists. It was in that moment that inside of me, I really wanted to paint. She saw that spark and helped me realize it. When I paint I think about architecture, furniture, and interior deisgn. I approach it from that lens. Where would I want to hang this piece…. What type of house or building. I think of the furnishings, the supporting art, sculptures etc. Thats where I find my inspiration.
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 thought NFTs were the future. The underlying technology allowed creatives to monetize their art in perpetuity. For me that was really interesting. If you could tie physical art + digital art on the smart contract together, your estate could be rewarded for years after you were gone. I think about all of these artists who blew up after death. If their art was tied to a NFT, their estates would still be reaping royalty rewards from every transaction that happened on a go forward basis. On top of that, the communities on discord were really interesting. People are still very passionate about NFTs. I want there to be a resurgence but not of all of these “rug pulls.” Everyone jumped into NFTs for the quick cash grab. Project owners and buyers a like. They got into it for a quick financial transaction rather than the true underlying value of their utility. For most of the projects, there really wasn’t any utility and the actual art was below average. The market crashed and a lot of people have a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to NFTs. I don’t have such a fatalistic view of them.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Unlike most traditional professions, people don’t don’t just come up to you and tell you how much they love your work. When you sit behind a desk all day and do some amazing things, solve a lot of problems and be creatively minded when needed, you don’t get that instant feedback. My friend Robi Das is like an artist with a spreadsheet. We were building a hotel together in the Caribbean and I would watch him do some very technical financial modeling and it was art to me. It was amazing. For him, he doesn’t get to hang that spreadsheet in a beautiful gallery and have people tell him how amazing it is or how it makes them feel. I think that’s what’s the most rewarding part of being an artist – having people feel good and tell you how their art makes them feel and being able to get that feedback. For a lot of other people who do amazing things, they never get that appreciation of their craft.
Contact Info:
- Website: Rafsimpson.com
- Instagram: @theminimalman