We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Timothy Hooper. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Timothy below.
Timothy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
Back around 2000, I quit my job and decided to be an artist full-time. I was young enough then that I wasn’t thinking about health insurance or retirement. As long as I had a roof over my head, food to eat and art supplies, I felt as if I was a success. However, I had unresolved student loans, a mortgage, home repairs, and auto repairs while being self-employed at a business that I knew virtually nothing about. I was naturally a creative person and on my way to becoming an okay painter, but I was very much unprepared to be self-employed. It is funny, but this topic is actually something that my wife and I talk about fairly frequently. As I look back, I would have been better off taking my time and learning more about the business of the art world. I should have tried to meet other people who were doing what I was trying to do and learned from them. Also, debt was a real burden. I am so thankful I have resolved those issues since those days.
Timothy, 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 am a visual artist from Nashville, TN. I am primarily a painter and sometimes an illustrator. I was always creative and interested in art as far back as I can remember. However, much of my artistic career has been a series of trying things to see what works.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
It is probably overly simplistic to say, but the most rewarding thing for me as an artist is the joy of making the work. I have been through many challenges in my artistic career, but the best decision that I ever made was to give up art fairs. For the better part of twenty years I exhibited my art, almost exclusively, at art fairs around the country. This was primarily how I made my living. For me, this path was extremely difficult on many levels specifically the amount of inventory I would need to create to make multiple fairs profitable. I began to feel like a one-person factory creating paintings strictly for the purpose of selling them, or at least hoping to sell them. So, I decided to quit the art fair business and just make art for myself. If I found an audience, that would be great, but if not I would make something that I enjoyed.
How did you build your audience on social media?
There are a lot of artists who are far better at social media than me, but I am an artist of the internet age which has helped me find my audience. I have had a website since 1998 when I was just starting out. Of course, the social media stuff came later. I have a small but loyal following on various social media platforms.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mrhooperart.com
- Instagram: @mrhooperart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MrHooperArt?mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Twitter: @mrhooperart
Image Credits
1) Paradise Acrylic paint on wood 30″ x 30″ 2) Fine Acrylic paint on canvas 20″ X 20″ 3) King Crow Acrylic paint on wood 24″ X 24″ 4) 83 Crow Acrylic paint on wood 20″ X 20″ 5) 16 Crows Acrylic on canvas 40″ X 40″ 6) Blind Date Acrylic paint on canvas 12″ X 12″