Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ryan & Salina Ward. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Ryan & Salina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
When an opportunity arose to vend our first Monsterpalooza, we were so excited to showcase our work. Ryan had been working on bringing some of his ideas to life; Horror-themed Action figures, candles & decor. He had also been teaching me some of his techniques as I was preparing to showcase my first run of sculptures. Our first event was a hit! All of our pieces had sold out and we raced home after the show to make more art for the following day (A tradition that would carry on for many years). In retrospect, it was a bit scary taking a chance and putting ourselves out there, but we are so glad that we did because it has led us to a full-time career as creatives. Monsterpalooza quickly became one of our most cherished events and it has continuously inspired us to keep pushing ourselves.
Ryan & Salina , 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?
Little Shop of Gore FX is based in Los Angeles. Co-Owners Ryan and Salina Ward specialize in Makeup Effects, Props & Prosthetics.
Ryan “The Blood Guy” is life-long horror fan and professional Makeup FX Artist. Ryan specializes in Blood FX, Gore and Fabrication. Some of his work can be seen in Film & TV shows like Bones And All, Halloween (2018), Santa Clarita Diet, Westworld, AHS and more.
Salina is a self-taught Artist with a love for Pop-Culture and all things strange and unusual. Salina specializes in Graphic Design, Props, Sculpting & Painting.
Our Makeup FX Products & Services include: Makeup Effects, Prop Making, Product Design & Prototyping Services. You can view our FX website at littleshopofgorefx.com We also offer Horror-themed apparel & retail products designed by us via littleshopofgore.com
Ryan always says problem solving is 75% of our job, so we enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to get the client what they are looking for while working within their time-frame & budget.
What sets us a part from others is that we are truly passionate about the work that we do. Everything we create is a chance to showcase ourselves and give people an opportunity to get to know us through our art.
One of the biggest things we are most proud of is our adaptability. We work well in any situation and really shine when thinking on our feet to accomplish the task at hand.
As our industry is ever changing, we’re always experimenting and testing out new products & techniques. This allows us to stay at the top of our game to provide the very best for our clients.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When we first started out, our Instagram following was underwhelming to say the least! We spent a lot of time researching other accounts that we followed and pinpointing what kept us coming back to their pages. It came down to quality; great quality photos, straightforward captions and engagement. When we started focusing on the overall quality of our social media, we quickly saw an improvement. The best advice we can offer when it comes to posting, is to make sure you have good quality photos!
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
YouTube, Etsy & Pinterest can be great resources for inspiration. We love to put Mood Boards together on Pinterest for all of our projects, this helps others visualize our thoughts and tone. YouTube is gold when it comes to DIY’s, you can turn any hobby into a business after watching a few videos. There’s so much more content and resources available now than when we first started our journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: littleshopofgore.com
- Instagram: littleshopofgore
- Facebook: Little Shop of Gore
- Other: Littleshopofgorefx.com