We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ryan Adams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ryan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I am fortunate enough to be making a full-time living from my creative work, although this wasn’t always the case. In 2008, when I was preparing to leave school, I had the exit interview with the Registrar, where the showed me what my monthly payments for student loans was going to look like. I felt like I had just bet my life on a 3-card-monty with the inevitable result. So, for 10 years prior to taking the leap, I worked in the stereotypical corporate environment. Fully equipped with cubicles and Monday morning meetings. The entire time I was in the office, I was spending as much time as possible in the studio and building a solid portfolio of murals and signs. When the loans were paid down to a comfortable amount, and when my wife had our second child towards the end of 2019, I used my family leave and took 6 weeks off. The reaction that received from some of the senior members of my company really solidified the fact that it was my time to go. So shortly thereafter, around February of 2020, I had my summer booked solid and quit my job. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Project after project fell through. I lucked out and had two interior office jobs stay on board and those helped me get through the first few months. As the world slowly opened back up, I was able to get back on track and have not looked back since.
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 had a pretty unconventional arts education in that my entrance in to this world was through writing graffiti. When I was a young kid, I had an after-school teacher show me the book, ‘Subway Art’ and my life was forever changed. Throughout my youth, I spent as much time looking for and studying any graffiti that I could find. When I was old enough to get outside and participate, it became an obsession. There’s a lengthy story between that point and when I first painted murals, but in short, some business owners saw my work and asked me to paint the walls and signage for their new location. It was the first time I was working alongside designers, architects and contractors, helping to create the visual identity for a space. It felt amazing. From there it was a snowball effect, this was prior to social media, so people would see the work, inquire about the artist and I’d hopefully have my next gig. Since I was already painting letters with spray paint, my friend and sign painter, Will Sears, asked me to help him on a lettering job. That is where I was introduced to traditional sign painting. It completely blew my mind, because after a decade of painting letters, I realized that there was still so much to learn. Let alone the use and control of the lettering brushes. Combining those two loves led me to my geometric ‘Gem’ style that I am most known for.
My current business, RyanWritesOnThings, LLC provides mural, signage and design services for companies of all sizes. With the experience that I have with hand-drawn lettering and installing large-scale pieces, I love that we are able to provide a variety of services that allow for the business to stand out and have a unique visual voice. Along with the years of experience, I have never shied away from pushing forward and developing new directions with my work. For example, a few years ago I wanted to learn how to paint photorealistic portraits with spray paint. I took a year to practice and try to crack the code. After some time, I feel like I landed in a great spot, and can now provide that service for others. I’m a perpetual student that is always looking for ways to improve and expand upon my abilities.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
The mission driving my creative journey is to always be improving and learning. This transcends my own personal practice and the business side of my work. For my own personal practice, I cherish and need time in the studio to experiment and execute new ideas. This space affords me a freedom to fail, try again, fail, try again and so on, until I nail it. With the business, I am always analyzing our practices to see if there are more efficient ways of working or better ways to make the experience for the client as easy and seamless as possible.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect to being an artist is to have a vision in your mind, work through the difficulties of bringing it to fruition, and finally getting to that point where you complete it and it reaches your expectations. The final step is one of the most addicting things I’ve ever experienced.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.RyanWritesOnThings.com
- Instagram: @Ryanwritesonthings
Image Credits
Ryan Portrait – Photographer = Kait Toto Large Gem Theater – Photographer = Dave Clough ‘I Love You’ Mural in Hardhat – Photographer = Bred Hampton