We were lucky to catch up with Sadie May recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Sadie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I was blessed with the most supportive parents imaginable. My mom and I are still extremely close, going to concerts, festivals and all sorts of events together. My dad is a huge inspiration for my work as well. They both come from the generation of Deadheads that spent a portion of the 90’s going to as many Grateful Dead shows as they could. Even from an early age I was exposed to the more psychedelic areas of live music and the art that coincides with Jam band and bluegrass shows.
Growing up they were outwardly excited about my art and always made sure that I had as many tools accessable to me as possible. I was never told that being an artist wasn’t a real job or that it was something to minimize, and as I’ve started to embrace this path as a career I’ve had nothing but support from all of my family.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m an artist who specializes in band posters and merchandise. I create art that is primarily used to be the visual counterpart to live music events. This means that I generally am commissioned by the band, their management, or a venue to design something that is not only eye catching, but also describes the music and is legible for the consumer.
I like to say that I’m an artist who designs, since my focus is on illustrative imagery, rather than design heavy prints. Most of my work features the natural world, animals and foliage, as well as the human form. I’m incredibly inspired by artists such as Alphonse Mucha and Rick Griffin blending the psychedelic rock art vibe to traditional Art Nouveau subjects and layouts.
I work primarily on my iPad pro, using the program Procreate, drawing my images with an apple pencil stylus. This is the process that I started doing in 2017, and from 2012 until then I was working entirely with traditional materials such as copics and micron pens.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
When I was younger I wanted to “change the world with my art”. I grew into my adolescence and beyond, understanding that in a traditional mindset this wasn’t going to happen. As I grew into my young adulthood and started experiencing the collective experience that one does at live music I understood that I could change the world by being a part of that experience. My art serves as a reminder to the live music experience, or as something to invite you to join in on an upcoming experience.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Right now having a creative career greatly enhances my life in a number of ways, but most importantly, it allows me to reasonably start home with my newborn son, Cillian, I had a particularly difficult pregnancy which would have made a “normal” job extremely difficult to maintain. Now that my son is 2 months old we spend our days together, and I can experience his infancy while still generating an income and maintaining ny creative muscles.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sadiemaysart.com
- Instagram: @sadiemaysartanddesign
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SadieMaysArtandDesign?mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Other: Facebook group https://m.facebook.com/groups/2603357993151947/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT