There are two kinds of Art- from guest artist Mike Maas

There are two kinds of art, art that pays the bills and the art that I do just for thrills.

There are two kinds of art, art that pays the bills and the art that I do just for thrills.  Local Prescott, Arizona artist Mike Maas shares this blog about making a living as an artist. Mike makes two different kinds of art, high brow art and low brow art. Enjoy this blog from Mike and be sure and check out his website!

What kind of art do you make?

When people find out I make my living as an artist, the first they they want to know is what kind of art I make.
I’m sure they’re also wondering “how in the world does this guy make a living doing art”
I make two kinds of art, art that pays the bills and the art that I do just for thrills.
The art that pays the bills includes graphic design, illustration and more recently I lucked into a career making large scale commercial fine art paintings, or couch paintings as I refer to them.
They’re the paintings you typically see in bank lobbies, hotel rooms and furniture stores.

I have an agent in LA…

I have an agent in LA who meets with the clients
and sells the art, all I have to do is make paintings using the references
and color palettes he sends me. Then I just roll ‘em up and send them to LA.  This is a job with limited creative freedom. but it allows me to paint for a living  and I work from home so I’m not complaining. Sometimes I even come across one of my paintings in Z Gallerie, Crate & Barrel or on a television commercial for vacuum cleaners.
Artists by nature are a restless breed and I’m no different,  even though I’m lucky enough to make a
living doing art, couch paintings aren’t anything I would do of my own accord.
When I make art I want complete freedom to make whatever I want with no thought of
“who’s gonna buy this!?”

Two kinds of art- High brow and Low brow

So, when I’m not making ethereal abstract paintings in this week’s trendiest colors, I like to make what is commonly referred to lowbrow art, it’s a reaction to the high brow art which hangs in classy galleries and fancy museums.
Believe it or not, this art does have an audience, albeit a financially challenged audience but I do get paintings and sculptures like these into galleries and on rare occasions, they actually sell!

Monster movies, punk rock, sugary cereals and more…

I’m a byproduct of monster movies, punk rock, the Catholic Church, comic books, sugary cereal,
toys and Saturday morning cartoons.  I rely on my few surviving brain cells to remember the skills
I’ve gleaned from 30+ years working in the commercial and fine art field to create art that is dark and humorous.
I was born and raised in the cloudy wet and cold state of Michigan. After receiving my degree in Graphic Design
from Kendall College of Art and Design and a brief yet miserable stint in Chicago, I left the wind chill factor of
the mid west for the extreme heat index of the desert southwest, and finally landed in Prescott, Arizona.

You can see Mike Maas’ work on his website greenfuzz.net and during the occasional Prescott Area Artist’s
Studio Tour usually the first weekend of October.

Jody Miller is a professional photographer specializing in Horse Photography, Equine Photography, and Equestrian photography.  Her work can be viewed online here in her gallery section, and she is also featured at these Arizona Galleries:  Arts Prescott Gallery CO-OWNER,   Dragonfly Arts in Cottonwood and Coops Coffee House at Talking Rock Ranch, Prescott Family Diner.  Jody is also participating in the Prescott Area Artists’ Studio Tour Oct.6, 7 and 8, 2017