Conversations with Aaron Marner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Marner

Hi Aaron, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My professional art career began 15 years ago when I moved to Los Angeles. Having my first show in North Hollywood at a local hookah lounge. Leaving a year later back to my hometown of Phoenix, deciding to also leave the corporate world working in bars and restaurants to allow myself the time and space to create more. Being introduced to my first shows at local bars, downtown art shows, galleries and restaurants. It was not until covid hit five years ago, that I decided pursing being a full-time professional artist and making that dream a reality.

Growing up involved in art from an early age from taking summer sculpture classes, playing musical instruments, drawing, having a love for comic books, and street art helped shape the evolution of my creative work now.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road was not easy. I think being self-taught and getting into the craft later in life ultimately came with challenges. Feeling as if I was playing catch up in my adult years, I worked longer hours, made substantially less money and made major lifestyle changes. Facing homelessness, navigating contracts, less than savvy business moves were all teaching tools to improvement. Fighting for more opportunity as an artist and for your work to be seen. has always been a challenge. While having up and down success I learned how to put the passion I had for creativity and tell a story with it at the same time, I learned the value of narrative with art and connecting that with my experiences and that of those around me. Storytelling to me is such an important element of art. Networking, marketing and finding new ways to be creative and evolve through your work. Not being afraid to display work socially but also not being afraid to display yourself and who you are. I feel that without an audience knowing who you are as person it creates a false sense of creatively. Knowing who you are and not being afraid to present your true self is vastly important to art.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My art is a combination of abstract portrait/figurative work, often with texture, street art, pop art and graffiti elements. Nature landscape and pattern work also play a big part in what I create. Recently getting more involved in fashion, creating my own one-off pieces of clothing, modeling for Avangard brands exploring screen printing and expressing influential ideas about fashion have become more prevalent. Having more opportunities to dive into photography in the last has been a huge part of what I am currently creating. Shooting portrait work, black and white photography, self-portrait, fashion, editorial and event photography are some of the things expressed in my photo work. Growing up loving interior design I also have had the opportunity to assist interior staging projects on large concept homes. I think my well-rounded approach to art not just as a painter as in the past now working in multi- faceted fields of art separates me from a lot of artists but also is relatable to a lot of artists. Most creatives have other creative passions, and I think by showing mine it inspires others to pursue theirs. I think the past year working on projects for Barbie, creating work for my third museum show, and being honored Grand Mashal of Palm Springs for Gay Pride as an artist were all highlights for me. I think the greater success was doing this while getting out of an abusive relationship, dealing with homelessness, losing family and friends while adapting to new social environments that weren’t as accepting to the ones I’ve experienced in the past.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I think I found my voice during covid. Making the decision then to become a full-time artist during that time when the world was dealing with something so horrible was probably the best decision I made. I learned to lean more on my compassionate side. I began to explore the humanity of people through my art. I learned how to work with less while creating more. How to navigate disaster and turn it into triumph.

Pricing:

• Pricing your work should be logical but when work as the ability to optimize full earning potential capitalize on it. Artists do not and should not have to struggle financially.
• Pricing should reflect experience of work
• Pricing should allow the average person to obtain some form of your work
• Pricing should be based on feel of value to work
• Never under sell yourself. Obtain more creative rights to your work while working with others and not limiting fields of where you display, show or present work. Spread it out to optimize the ability to make more money.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Aaronallenart.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaronallen1313
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AaronAllen13

Image Credits
photo credit: Aaronallenartstudio