We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stuart Loughridge. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stuart below.

Stuart, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

By learning the craft I think of the countless of hours and days that I have spent making a piece and having it not work out, for a number of reasons. This is the nature of investigating new mediums and trying new things. My finances are humbled by these errors, yet I keep at it. To investigate the craft often means sacrificing something, whether that be a trip with friends, an evening out, groceries, etc. Don’t let the sacrificial alter get dusty.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up immersed in the arts and crafts of painting, print making, shop recipes and framing. I was drawing like so many of the other kids, I just never stopped. I grew up working in a frame shop – the hand-crafted kind of frame shop (not the factory stuff) – and in turn I enjoy working in my own shop, creating substrates, frames and putting together complete pieces of art. There’s not many artists that create pieces of art from the very start to the very end. In this context I have a great admiration for the work of Max Kuehne and Mike Lynch. The most prized possessions of my body of work are my sketchbooks and the tiny watercolors. These are creations without any pecuniary intentions, just the love of the moment and the inspiration found within the slow act of creation. These sketchbooks are priceless documentations of my travels, and they are also the seeds for my studio creations.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There are many. One that I would like to share is “Debt, The First Five Thousand Years,” By David Graeber (2011).
This book reminded me of the value of merit and ways to think beyond the pecuniary. I’ve always been a community based artist, and these thoughts fit well into that form of communism.

I also read William Blake for inspiration and insight. If there is anyone who has guided my business in a philosophical and practical way, it is William Blake.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The reward I find to be most satisfactory is not working for anyone. I knew at an early age that working for others was not the place I wanted to be. It was a gut feeling back then, a resistance, and that feeling guided me into this career. Painting and print making was my . I live my life according to my work and community. I am able to control the time in my little life. My days are wonderous chains of events, rarely the same from one to the next. It’s terribly addicting, I could never go back. But then again, I would never recommend becoming an artist to anyone.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stuartloughridge.com
• Instagram: @stuartloughridge
• Facebook: stuartloughridge

Image Credits
All images are pieces of artwork created by Stuart Loughridge