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

Taj, appreciate you joining us today. Too often the media represents innovation as something magical that only high-flying tech billionaires and upstarts engage in – but the truth is almost every business owner has to regularly innovate in small and big ways in order for their businesses to survive and thrive. Can you share a story that highlights something innovative you’ve done over the course of your career?

In the summer of 2016 I decided to leave my full time position in design and production working with a local sign company. I’d built up enough freelance illustration and design work over the years and it was time to get out on my own. Just a few days later everything changed, my dominant hand was caught between a rock and a very hard place in an accident on a job site. I had to rethink the way I could create artwork, I needed to train my non-dominant hand to do what I’d been able to do before. Starting with large abstract canvases I learned to make marks over again. In order to get my representational chops back I create an original drawing on paper every day, currently on day #1862 and don’t plan on stopping.

Taj, 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?

I began my career working as a fashion illustrator working on some high end, and sometimes not so much, fashion brands. I’d just graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute and could draw really fast, it worked out well for me. Over the next decade and a half I worked on commercial illustration, children’s books, corporate branding and signage production. Afrter my accident in 2016 I had to take time to rebuild myself and figure out what I was going to do next. My daily drawing series is documented on my instagram and has become one of my main focuses and a central driver in my business. I love creating unique artworks to fit my clients spaces, I’m truly honored when my work finds a home.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I think NFT are a net negative for the world and industry as a whole. The storage methods used to house NFTs are unbelievably damaging to our environment. Artists are always looking for ways to sell work, and the amount of scams that target artists are vast. The crypto space is filled with scammers; combine that with being marketed as “a way to enable artists” and the number of stories about artists getting screwed is staggering.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist are the conversations I get to have. I am free to paint what I want to paint, I love it when someone sees something I didn’t in my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: tajmakesart.com
• Instagram: @zombietaj
• Facebook: facebook.com/blindmouseart
• Other: smalterart.com

Image Credits
All images are created by Taj