When I set out on this project, one of the few parameters I created for myself was to keep the range of artists I documented broad, both in terms of the type of art and the background of the artists. My interest lies in artists and their studio practice in general, not in a specific medium or visual style or place in an artist's career. So, throughout this project, you can expect to see a wide range of subject matter, which I also hope keeps things interesting for you, the viewer. Today’s post is a good example of that since the style is so vastly different from Moving Castle Pottery.
Smart Shark Designs
This next artist is serving up an explosion of color and striking designs. Smart Shark Designs is run by Martin Sanchez, who was kind enough to have me into his studio garage, or "sturage," as he affectionately calls it, earlier this year.
I discovered Martin's work on Instagram, where it immediately grabbed my eye. His use of vibrant colors and bold designs are incredibly eye-catching and playful (I mean, just look at that T-Rex painting). I'm also a sucker for midcentury modern inspired art, which lots of his designs give a nice nod to.
Martin's level of production is extremely impressive. His studio walls, along with every nook and cranny, were filled with work of all sorts. While I was there he showed me a handful of pieces that he had started or just finished that day alone. He paints on all sorts of surfaces, does digital illustrations, and he's even made some pieces of furniture and now sculpture! If you follow his Instagram, you will constantly see new and exciting work from him.
Martin is an incredibly kind person and I’m so glad I had a chance to spend part of a morning with him, talking story and hearing about his life. One of my favorite parts of this project so far is hearing how people got into their chosen medium and their passion for what they do. His drive to create was extremely inspiring and made me step up my game a bit, so thank you, Martin!
If you would like to see more of Martin’s work or want to purchase anything, you can head to his website. You should also give him a follow on Instagram to keep tabs on what he is working on!
I also want to say that I am still fine-tuning what I want these images to be and what exactly I want to document with each session. After each session so far, I have taken time to self-critique and make notes of what I want to do differently with the next artist. I see this blog as a way to be transparent about the artistic process and thus would like to share some of those self-critiques from time to time. For this shoot specifically, I wish I would have grabbed more broad studio shots, along with details of objects around his studio. I feel as though I missed an opportunity to really tell the story of this colorful, unique studio space. I’m happy with the portraits I got, but do wish I would have also documented the space better.
The next post of this series is another big shift in style/genre and I am so excited to share those images! My goal is to at least get these out every other week, so be sure to check back two weeks from now to see those, or sign up for updates using the form below!