We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Seth PITT a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Seth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’m self taught, didn’t go to art school and never really thought of myself as a visual artist until I was in my mid twenties when I realized it was the way I was spending most of my free time. This is an important part of my story to me because I grew up believing that I couldn’t draw or paint and that i wasn’t an artist. It wasn’t until i stopped trying make any particular kind of art and just made work that I related to, that i began to feel confident in my process.

I feel lucky that I could have faith in my early work (which was literally populated by stick men) and that I kept doing it for the joy of creating rather than being discouraged that i wasn’t technically skilled. For me it was really important to realize that technical ability has nothing to do with whether or not one should be making art. That stuff follows after but the most important thing to me has always been that i enjoy the process. Of course, you’re going to need some level of proficiency if you wish to make it a career but the first step to that is showing up to the studio. I know will never be able to do that with any sort of regularity unless simple enjoyment, play, curiosity and exploration are the main goals of creating.

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 like to deal with concepts that are far-reaching and relatable at the same time. A lot of the really important issues in our lives are things that we deal with all our lives regardless of our place in society, our upbringing or our age. Kids at 7 years old and folks at 50 have a lot in common when you get down to what they’re really seeking from this life or pondering from day to day. For this reason, i really like to walk the line between a children’s story and good book of poetry. Most of the really meaningful revelations that I’ve come to in my life are, at once, deeply profound, oddly silly, and simple. I put a lot of value in the belief that know matter how many years we add to our time here, we’re still imbued with childlike-wonder should we take the time to recognize it. I attempt to emulate this quality in my work and remind myself and others of that aspect of ourselves.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think that when you’re looking at a finished piece, it’s a sort of a mirage. It often seems like a person set out to make the piece before you and there’s a clear linear point from the idea to the finished piece. In reality, in most cases, there are countless hours of daydreaming, changing directions, editing the initial idea, and sometimes restarting completely. All this is in addition to and well beyond just the direct labor that it took to create the piece.

Additionally, any piece of work you see is the result of cumulative effort .There’s years of studying your own craft and the way you work best as you seek your own individual voice. There’s many hours of refining your taste so that you can work even semi-intuitively. I think it’s really most common that an artist is always in a constant state of learning. Trying to work with what you know well but also perpetually pushing the boundaries of what you do not.

A finished piece, generally hides this. It tells a decisive, concise story wherein the piece before you is actually a great amalgamation of continued effort, luck, hope and experimentation. Most of what you see is a small footnote of a myriad of things you do not.

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

I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to mine your own imagination, examine your values and follow your curiosities. To have time specifically set aside where my actual work is to peer inward and find what I’d like most to illuminate from what I’ve gathered from the world, is a true gift and a luxury we don’t all get that often. Sharing my work and connecting with those that it resonates with is a special thing, but the act of spending time with myself in a creative space is really valuable to all sorts of aspects of my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theartofseth.com/
• Instagram: @theartofseth (art page) @creatureofthomas (gallery page)