Evolving As An Artist - Guest Blogger Christine Kaminski

Christine Kaminski   May 13, 2020  

Our panelists from left to right: Lisa Gruber-Gebby, Sue Nelson and Karen Jewell-Kett.

April’s CDPUG virtual meeting brought together an introspective panel discussing the topic Evolving as an Artist. We were especially lucky to begin with a live performance of David Bowie’s song Changes by Mikey Silas of Apostle Jones. Each panelist has gone through different types of changes. Lisa Gruber-Gebby, of Orange Wall Creative, a print graphic designer, recognized the new directions design was taking and adopted the web early. Karen Jewell-Kett, of FirstHand Studio, retired after a 35 year graphic design career and wanted to start her own studio. Initially she assumed she’d work as a freelance graphic designer, but after careful reflection, decided she was over design work. She decided to explore her own creative goals and needs with painting and found a different way of being an artist. Sue Nelson had obtained her undergraduate degree at 40, has worked in outplacement, career advising and HR consulting. Now as an entrepreneur Sue helps mid-life professionals with their own evolutions through the Job Search Center. Lisa Griffis of Rescue Your Photos was unable to attend due to a family emergency. 

Thank you all ladies for sharing your journeys and advice!
A big thanks also to Spike Radway for moderating the discussion, Henry Lee for moderating the chat area, Mikey Silas for his musical introduction and Sarah Coggins for video editing the panel discussion.

Since our virtual meetings can be recorded, I won’t be recapping, but I encourage you to be open to new possibilities, especially in these current times where our world is going through many sudden shifts – in how we work, interact and live our daily lives.

Please click on the link below to view the video. We have also compiled any links our speakers mentioned below:

Evolving as an Artist Video 

Karen Jewell-Kett
PDF with many awesome resources

Sue Nelson 
Book – Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes by William Bridges

Mikey Silas and Apostle Jones

I’ll continue on with some musing. I was curious how many members got to wondering about how their career or art might be ready to evolve. Or maybe it’s something you’ve been pondering for a while now. 

As artists, by our very nature we are always evolving and learning. We are adaptable and innovative thinkers. We’re not afraid to embrace new information or seek new ways to accomplish things.

Members at virtual meeting.

There might be small changes to make, such as challenging yourself to do something out of your comfort zone – adding more orange to your work, working large or oversized illustrations instead of your usual size, or even trying some new typefaces. Perhaps you’re wanting to make some larger changes – you tend to paint still lifes and have always wanted to try adding a few figures. Maybe you’re a photographer and you want to work with more video. It could even be a major evolution. If you’ve been doing photography or graphic design for an employer, maybe you’ve been thinking of venturing out into your own business. Or maybe you’ve done packaging design and want to move to web design.

Have you had any thoughts or ideas on your own artistic evolution you’d like to share?

CDPUG Blog, Meeting Reviews, Monthly Programming

About Christine Kaminski

A graphic designer & illustrator helping people find creative solutions to their communications needs. Experienced in branding and promotions using print and digital media.