ARTIST INTERVIEW: Nathan Beard

By clubartrepreneur

MEET ARTREPRENEUR: NATHAN BEARD

St. Petersburg-based artist Nathan Beard employs a variety of processes to achieve complex, multilayered paintings, drawings, and collages inspired by the human conception and experiences of Space-Time. He draws influence from the density and variety of Floridian flora, as well as chaos theory and fractal geometry.

The Colorado State University graduate is represented by ARTicles Art Gallery and in Japan by agent Noriko Kuehn. Nathan also serves as a Curatorial Assistant at Dunedin Fine Art Center, as Preparator for Scarfone/Hartley Gallery (University of Tampa), and as Independent Art Installer for private businesses and residences throughout Tampa Bay.

CA: What Does the word Artrepreneur mean to you?

NB: This word reminds me that an artist’s career is very much like their work in that it is an extension of their personal energy and vision, and that the only limit to its sustainability and growth is the passion with which it is pursued. It also reminds me of how fortunate and grateful I am to be able to make a living and contribute to my family’s welfare and future through the arts, as an artist, curator, and installer.

CA: What is some of the best business advice you have been given in this creative industry?

NB: I just received some of the best advice of my career the other day from one of our most esteemed regional artists, Leslie Neumann, who in return received it from Art Biz coach, Alyson Stanfield. In talking about the insecurity and difficulties of trying to make a living in the arts, and of feeling stretched thin financially and temporally, we shared a mutual dissatisfaction of the phrase “Work Smarter, not Harder”. She encouraged me instead to adopt a mindset and practice of “Working on my business, rather than working in the business”.

CA: When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue your passion to the fullest?

NB: I moved to Florida to pursue a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science, with hopes of researching invasive species, specifically wild pigs. But when my wife was pregnant and while I was a stay-at-home dad after our daughter was born, I realized that although I was fascinated by science and nature, I could not operate within its parameters and that I am more interested in asking questions than I am in proving the answers. After I redirected my focus, I told my wife that I would begin marketing my work, ready-or-not, on February 3, 2013 and I haven’t looked back since and am extremely thankful for my family and community for supporting me at every turn.

CA: What advice would you share with aspiring Artrepreneur’s?

NB: The advice above is great and I would also echo that one must show up to participate, bring your best attitude with you, be willing to walk through doors when they open and to remember to thank those that opened them for you. My career has unfolded thus far in unexpected ways and I have had to constantly lay personal expectations and fears aside so that it can grow organically.