We were lucky to catch up with Sean Tyler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sean , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My first murals will always be a great milestone, but I think the most personal and meaningful work I’ve finished is my MFA thesis show, Dreamland. My thesis show was the culmination of three years of graduate school and four years of undergraduate education. I spend a lot of my time working with textiles and craft media, but for my thesis show I went back to my roots and did a series of paintings. What began as a series of self-portraits and domestic scenes grew into a larger conversation with myself on what I want out of my life, and how I can make my creative practice mentally and physically sustainable. This series of paintings explores different kinds of rest, rejuvenating sleep and desperately needed sleep shoved into the cracks of an overbooked schedule. This work documents my continuing journey to find balance between working, resting, and having a personal life. Being an artist means working evenings, weekends, and any other time, and I love it, but I have been guilty of sacrificing my mental and physical health. For me, doing what I love means I work every day of my life, and growing as a person and an artist has meant learning to be a human being first.

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 have known I wanted to be a professional artist since I was 10. I’ve been working towards it ever since. Like a lot of artists, I started out by showing work in group shows at my university gallery. After that I slowly started to apply to group shows in my hometown and began attending arts fairs and markets. I also teach, both workshops and college courses. I didn’t expect to love teaching as much as I do, but I had some great mentors who made me realize how meaningful it is to help people express themselves. I also get to talk about what I love all day. My art practice is varied, I love working with textile and fiber materials, book arts, and painting. I received my MA and MFA in painting, so it makes sense that painting brings me a good amount of my business. In graduate school I started working as a professional muralist. While I was at the University of Iowa, I did murals in four different Iowa towns. I love the opportunity to travel that comes with murals and making work that has such a wide audience. One of my favorite mural experiences was in summer of 2022, I did a mural on the side of a quilting store and got to incorporate sewing and quilting into my design. I also do private portrait commission and sell my work through galleries, gift shops, and at craft fairs.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Honestly, artists and creatives need to be paid for their time and skills if they’re going to thrive in a capitalist economy. The government doesn’t fund arts or cultural programs adequately. There should be more grants and funds available for public art projects, low-cost art classes, and free cultural events. Artists, performers, and writers should be paid for their time and expertise for arranging, performing, showing, and working at these programs. Public funding would help make the arts accessible to everyone. Right now, because there isn’t enough funding, performances and arts venues must charge their audience, and those fees make the arts inaccessible. If people had easy access to the arts, they would naturally enjoy and value them more. If people feel like art is something for them, then they are much more willing to invest in art for their homes and lives. People who have taken art classes will understand what it takes to perfect a craft, and they will understand why handmade items cost more than mass produced goods.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

It sounds so simple, but I love working with my hands and making things. It’s amazing to see a finished work, or series, and realize that it didn’t exist a few weeks ago. I also love the process of making; embroidery, book binding, and crochet are my job and my way of meditating. Even when I’m not working on a specific project, I’ll work on a blanket, or a cat bed, or wearable crochet project while my husband and I watch movies. Because I love the process of working, I also love experimenting with new tools and materials. That’s part of why I do so much mixed media work, I love seeing what each media can do, and what happens when they are combined. Right now, I’m experimenting with ways to combine my textile work and my work with hand bound books. It motivates me to know that my work is only getting better and more interesting the more time I invest.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.seantylerfineart.com
• Instagram: seantyler_Art
• Facebook: Sean Tyler Fine Art