Illustrate Omaha | collecting creatives

Location: Omaha
Education: Associates at Metropolitan Community College
Employment: SkyVu pictures
Website: http://www.michaelkingery.com/

Biography: I grew up drawing in Lincoln Nebraska, wherein my parents would buy rolls of newsprint from the Journal Star for me to roll out on the dining room table and draw on. I didn’t think about pursuing a career in art however until late middle school/early high school, when I found out about the field of concept design. After graduating from Lincoln Southeast I started up classes at Metro where I completed my Associates two years later. As of March of this year I have been employed at SkyVu pictures as a concept designer – a blessing I can’t begin to approach with logic.

How did you realize you wanted to be a Concept Designer?
When I grew up nobody ever specified what fields of art there were that I could enter. I drew dinosaurs like every normal art cursed boy and built stuff with legos, but it never dawned on me for a comically long period of time that people got paid to design and create elements in TV, video games and movies. I was always more of an illustrator then fine artist so I had to find my own way in many of those regards. I took a few classes at ITFP (information technology focus program) through LPS, and made the decision that blowing off most of my normal class work to draw on the backs of assignments was more valuable a use of my time than worrying about my parents freaking out at every report card.

How would you describe your style or approach to your work?
My style is usually dictated by what I am tasked with creating. When presented with something to design you will almost always have a general aesthetic ‘brush’ that you must paint in, but the lines must all come together with the intention of realizing what this concept must do in its environment. In terms of artistic style I suppose I have one – I have been told I do, but I never think about it. The line weight and shadow over form is what I am ultimately striving to convey, and it is very rarely that I paint out a full composition. I enjoy my work when I create something new that looks compelling, interesting and cool, and if you have done your job right the rendering of it is second in importance in my opinion.

Where do you draw inspiration for your work?
The pure answer is that I shouldn’t because I am always striving to keep things unique and different from what has gone on before. However this is of course impossible and impractical. Since I focus my art on industrial design a childhood filled with legos helps, but so does being interested in the subject content. When I walk by construction equipment I am usually looking at how joints are powered and how rust is landing on metal. Back when I watched TV, Modern marvels on the history channel among other things kept me thinking about past, present and future design directions and now that I am more aware of my artistic surroundings I really enjoy the work of some fellow artists as well as online communities I frequent.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
I don’t think I have an overlying thought or quote that has helped me come this far. As Iain McCaig says loosely you must be ready to kill your babies. Never become so attached to a design element that you make it an immovable foundation stone.

What is your best way to break out of a creative rut?
I have a really frustrating cycle of creativity where I will work more freely in certain medias and systems. For the same reason that I drew through all school, when I have the freedom of home I will almost never draw. Luckily I get bounced around allot within the structure of work but my best advice to keeping everything regular is to take up the daily sketch group (DSG) at conceptart.org.

The DSG focuses on randomly generated and simple topics that open and close to the public over the course of a day. Similarly if you want a more specific and rewarding experience, conceptart.org has an activities page that hosts content specific challenges over weeklong stretches. There is something there for almost anybody and the critique you get from other artists at the end of each round is invaluable!

Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Education: Creighton University, 2003: B.A.,
English – Creative Writing/Co-Major (Minor),
Graphic Design (according to my transcript, anyway)
Employment: Owner and Sole Proprietor of MeasureCutCut Studio
& Program Specialist for ServeNebraska.
Websites: measurecutcut.com & share-a-chair.com

Peter Cales takes woodworking to new heights with work that is functional and beautiful. You can’t help but enjoy the interesting combination of pattern and unique forms. Peter isn’t constrained by his medium and it shows! We hope you enjoy the Artist Spotlight of Peter Cales!

I live and work in Omaha as a furniture designer and artist. Depending on when this is published, I may or may not be married to Niz Proskocil, who is a freelance writer. We have a dog named Hazel. The three of us live in a tree house in Benson. My main creative interests are in chair design and fabrication, and relational aesthetics. I have an ongoing project called Share-a-Chair. Share-a-Chair attempts to use furniture and other objects as vehicles to explore rituals of exchange, consumption, sharing, giving, and, ultimately, developing relationships among individuals.

How did you realize you wanted to be an artist and woodworker?
My dad has been a hobbyist woodworker since before I was born, so I grew up around his shop. I used to watch him do projects sometimes, but never did much with it myself. While I was in college I took a lot of art classes, but none of the mediums really caught on. One summer I worked on a couple projects with my dad and became interested in it again. I finished my English degree at Creighton, and then started working part-time for Littleton Alston, a bronze sculptor. Within a year of graduating, I realized I was finding a lot more fulfillment in the dusty, unventilated and poorly lit space Littleton had provided me with as a shop than I had been sitting in the comfort of my apartment trying to edit and write short stories.

How would you describe your style or approach to your work?
Usually when someone asks me to describe my design process or approach I say it’s “organic”. That’s a pretty loaded term, and in the sense of architecture and design, it’s a misnomer. What I mean to say is that I sort of let my process unfold. For most of the pieces I’ve done, I’ve just started with a simple sketch, if even that. Most of the time I just picture a finished piece in my mind and then I build until the thing I’ve made matches the image in my mind. I’ve never used a professional design program like CAD or anything, and wouldn’t even know how if I had to. In that sense, it’s probably not surprising that I don’t do a lot of larger commercial jobs. I prefer to make one-of-a-kind pieces. When I work with clients, I really enjoy building a relationship with them as I’m designing and building a piece. I want them to have an opportunity to develop a strong understanding of who I am, and I want to have the same opportunity with them because when I hand over a piece to someone, I feel like I’m handing over part of myself.

How do you find the right balance between function and form in your chairs?
A good illustration of this is a double chair I made called “Conflict Resolution”. People sometimes refer to this as a “courting” chair – an old style that invited a couple to exchange romantic gestures during the courting period of their relationship. My version was inspired by a couple I knew that seemed to be having communication problems. The idea behind it, therefore, was to create something that would force two people to share an uncomfortably close proximity to one another and work out their conflict. So in that sense, the discomfort was the most important function provided by the chair. I can (and have) made very simple, comfortable chairs that are just chairs, but they usually aren’t as fun for me.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
I’ve received lots of great advice, mostly from my family and friends, I’m sure. I guess the thing that sticks with me most is that there’s no replacement for hard work. I know most of the successes I’ve had are the result of working hard and staying dedicated to something more so than having a lot of natural talent. You can have connections, natural gifts and all sorts of other extraneous attributes, but hard work trumps all of those things. Accordingly, it’s my goal to work harder than everyone else. Similarly, I think I’ve learned from a lot of people that cleverness isn’t a substitute for creativity or innovation.

What is your best way to break out of a creative rut?
The work I do is more significant to me than to just repeat processes or follow a prescribed plans, so I don’t fall into creative ruts very often. When I do, I like to challenge myself by asking questions like, “What else can this do?” or “What else can I make this out of?” If I continue to ask myself those kinds of questions as a designer, I’ll continue to push myself to learn new things and be more innovative.

Interested in learning more about Peter Cales? Check out his 5 in 5 video at Silicon Prairie News.

When looking for Omaha creatives to spotlight, we seek out people who are unique, impact the community, and do great work. Princess Lasertron is no exception. Her designs are interesting, imaginative and make her work standout among the rest. If you haven’t visited her website it is definitely worth checking out. It is so full of life and interesting imagery that I find myself visiting it for creative inspiration! We hope you enjoy the spotlight of Megan Hunt aka Princess Lasertron!

Location: Omaha
Education: B.A. German; Intercultural Communication
from Dana College in Blair, NE.
Employment: owner and founder of Princess Lasertron!
Website: http://princesslasertron.com/

Biography: My name is Princess Lasertron and I am a bridal designer, blogger, and best friend. I love to make things and I work full-time creating floral accessories for brides like bouquets and hairpieces, designing dresses for fabulous people, and sharing inspiration and craft ideas with my customers through my website. I live in Omaha and I devote much of my time to supporting Omaha’s creative and entrepreneurial community.

How did you realize you wanted to be an artist?
As I look back over my life and think about who I am and what I believe, I can see that following my passion to become a designer was the “natural” path for me. I’m impulsive, entrepreneurial, I tend to have an alpha-type personality, and I grew up MAKING STUFF throughout my entire childhood and adulthood. From the time I was in high school, I never saw myself being happy in a corporate job or sitting behind a desk, so I never prepared for that kind of life. I applied for all of the college scholarships I could, chose the school that gave me the most money, and studied what was most fun for me–German and Intercultural Communication–because I had amazing relationships with the professors, the programs offered me outstanding leadership opportunities, and I was able to travel quite a bit. All the while, I planned to work in an artistic field and a few years before graduation, I already had a double life as a student/businesswoman.

How would you describe your style or approach to your work?
I feel like I have really seized the opportunity as a self-employed designer to play by my own rules. I generally stay awake until I’m tired, and wake up when I’m not, which has led to a mostly nocturnal schedule. I like to work alone in silence in my big, windowed home studio and reach out to my customers online. I also love scheduling late-night meetings with other creative minds where we just laugh and share our ideas and work through our struggles. I just love my job because I make it work for me.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Nothing is more important than transparency in business–Be honest with yourself about what you want to do and what works for you. You don’t have to say yes to everyone.

And, always write a thank-you note.

What is your best way to break out of a creative rut?
My friend Steve Gordon says that when we’re in a creative rut, the problem isn’t lack of inspiration–it’s lack of MOTIVATION. So when I feel like I have hit a block, I look for motivation by talking to my friends about the projects they are working on and readings blogs and magazines to see what new ideas people are talking about. Sometimes all I need to do is sit down at Border’s with a stack of magazines and a hot chocolate, and within ten minutes I am itching to get out the door and get back to the studio.

Who in your life has inspired you to do the work that you do?
All of my success and happiness is because I have a wonderful mother. I can’t ever show her enough appreciation, but she never asks for any credit. My mother is an extremely creative person who opened me up to dozens of techniques and always encouraged me to try new things with different materials. To show her I appreciate her, I put my dishes in the dishwasher when I go visit.

Location: Omaha
Born: Omaha
Education: Associate’s from Metro, Bachelor’s from UNO
Employment: Freelance
Website: www.simplematters.etsy.com

I have had the great pleasure of working with Catie White on several projects. She is an excellent designer with an endless supply of creativity. Catie is a recent graduate from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor’s in Studio Art with a concentration in Graphic Design. She is currently a freelance designer in Omaha. Check out Catie’s Etsy Store, SimpleMatters, where she showcases some of her interesting work.

Catie has joined Illustrate Omaha to bring you more information about Omaha’s Creative Community. Stay tuned to see what she will bring to the table! I am happy to spotlight Catie White and welcome her to Illustrate Omaha. Enjoy the interview!

How did you realize you wanted to be a designer?
Catie: I always loved painting and drawing and once I got to the college level I noticed a theme of almost always including type in my work. I didn’t see myself making a career in “Art” so I researched graphic design and I think it was functional nature that drew me in the most.

Tony: Yeah, unfortunately that whole “starving artist thing“ is a big turnoff for many.

How would you describe your style or approach to design?
Catie: Trial and error usually.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Catie: “What don’t you need?” Not sure which teacher said it but I remembered the message. It’s great for design and for life.

Tony: I agree, “keep it simple stupid” is always ringing through my ears.

What is your best way to break out of a creative rut?
Catie: I like to take a break and just do something else, anything else. If it’s a bigger rut than that I get into other artistic areas, write something, draw, etc.

Tony: Yeah, I am the same. I go chill at Starbucks with a venti frappuchino and draw.

Where do you draw inspiration for your work?
Catie: I love looking at history books and museums, great designers and illustrators, movies, postcards…really anything