Exploring Rurban Art – Steve Mack
Posted on | June 15, 2009 | No Comments
Can artists be cutting edge in the countryside? Absolutely.
The third artist in The Rurban Fringe’s limited online series is Steve Mack, a freelance illustrator living the rurban life in Saskatchewan, Canada.
While a man of few words, Steve lets his artwork speak volumes and challenges the notion of rural art as picturesque or amateurish. In fact, Steve’s work can be found internationally, and demonstrates that artists can be both creative and commercially successful, regardless of location.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your work.
My name is Steve Mack and I am a freelance illustrator for mainly juvenile products … like greeting cards and children’s books. I work with major companies such as Target, Hallmark, Nickelodeon, and Scholastic. I live and work from my home studio in the Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, just outside of Regina.
How would you define your art? What are the influences on your work?
It’s hard to define my illustrations as I think I borrow from a lot of things that have influenced me over time. I grew up in the 80s when kids ephemera had a lot of colour and was very bold and fun, but my work has a retro flavour of 1950s illustration. I am very influenced by illustrators like Jim Flora, Mary Blair, Alice and Martin Provenson and others of that time period.
Living in a rurban area, how do you promote yourself and your work? What is the local response to your art?
I have an agent in New York that does all the promotion for me now and she’s great. She has expanded my reach well into the children’s publishing world and image licensing. Locally, I remain anonymous! Which tends to suit me just fine as I am pretty reclusive and just enjoy working on my projects in solitude on my farm.
The internet has allowed me to work for companies from all over the US and Canada without having to leave my farm.
That’s a good life, as far as I am concerned!
Is there a plight of rural artists? Do you see any perceived challenges or opportunities as opposed to working in an urban area or as an urban artist?
I don’t think where one lives now has much of an advantage or disadvantage with the internet and ways to communicate in an instant.
I feel I am on an equal playing field as much as an illustrator based in New York or any other major city.
Do you have any suggestions as to how rural and rurban communities can support a thriving local arts & cultural scene?
I’m not sure if I have a good answer for this one, as I pretty much work virtually. My focus isn’t to grow locally, but globally.
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To find out more about Steve and view samples of his work, visit his Illustration Farm website www.illustrationfarm.com.
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Tags: arts and culture > freelance illustrator > rural > rurban > Steve Mack
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