I’m excited to bring you a new feature, Artsy Chatter, in which I chat a bit with creatives to find out more about how they live, work and balance it all together. You might recognize this month’s Featured Artist, Christy Kinard but did you know she is married to an equally talented artist, whose work you saw here yesterday, Jon Davenport? So much creative energy in one family! Two career families are tough to manage and two artists building a family and a life together is no different. I knew there had to be some lessons to learn from them, not just for artists but for husbands, wives, partners and families. So I asked them both to answer the same set of questions, knowing each would give us their own unique perspective on being a part of a creative couple.
We’ll hear from Christy tomorrow. Today, we chat with Jon!
artsy | Christy is from the American South, Jon, you’re from the UK. How have your backgrounds influenced your own work and has each of your backgrounds influenced the other’s work?
he said | Working in as grand and bustling a city as London gave me a great appreciation of the Visual Arts – From ‘crazy’ installations at the Tate Modern and the Saatchi Gallery to high end boutique design shops as well as all the ground breaking advertising agencies. But it wasn’t really til I met Christy and moved to the south where I found that good art is created, purchased and appreciated by a much larger section of the community. She has made a hugely successful career out of it and that has really spurred me on. In terms of creative influence, I just love that how, she embraces her whirl of creative chaos, where great textures and colours come together in the most perfect of storms.
artsy | Do you share a studio or work separately?
he said | A bit of each, we have our own workspaces in our basement (away from the kids!) but there tends to be a bit of encroachment on my part when certain paints, brushes and extra bench space are needed, when a show is coming together or things are getting a bit hectic.
artsy | Do you talk about your work together, give each other artistic advice of any kind?
he said | Yes she is my first port of call when it comes to any issues I have or problems that seem unsolvable, She has such a good eye when it comes to art, she should probably run her own gallery.
artsy | Being an artist especially in the internet age, is often an around the clock job. How do you balance your work and home life?
he said | Definitely around the clock, sometimes I’m painting at 6 in the morning or late at night, (I don’t try to make a habit of it though!) just so I can fit in going to the supermarket or fitting in 15 minutes playtime with the kids or another urgent errand. But I feel that helps with the creative process, I think as long as you can embrace the creative urge when it strikes, you’re not really losing out. Plus 9-5 jobs arent all they’re cracked up to be!
artsy | Every marriage is a balance of gifts and personality, each partner bringing with them their own strengths and imperfections. Are there certain areas where you each excel and others in which you find yourself helping each other out?
he said | I’m hands down the best cook, particularly skilful at building brilliant lego robots and have a very comfortable shoulder to cry on when things get too much. My problems luckily lie where Christy’s skills begin, she’s a wonderfully loving mother, she makes sure the kids and the house run like clockwork, bills get paid on time, and she’s the toughest negotiator, I’ve ever met, great for getting deals and taking down some jobs worth in customer service. But we both share the dirty nappies duty, no one deserves to do that on their own!
artsy | You have three young ( and adorable! ) sons. Have any of them shown an artistic inclination? If one of your sons told you he wanted to become an artist, what advice would you give?
he said | They all seem very talented in their different ways, William has an unbounded imagination, James is amazing with the letters and numbers, but Charlie is the one with drawing skills, he can draw a perfect circle and even create surprisingly accurate faces of people at 2 years old. I think my advice would be to embrace what you love doing, if that turns to be art, the do you best to pursue it. Life is too short to be stuck in a career you don’t love.
artsy | What do you see as the most important characteristic for two creative people in partnership to cultivate?
he said | Four words. Talk to each other! Communication is the key whether you’re happy, sad or even stressed up to the eyeballs. Being creative comes with lots of peaks as well as plenty of troughs, so just be there, communicate and have lots of empathy for you’re partner.
Thank so much, Jon for chatting with me! We’ll hear what wife Christy had to say tomorrow.. To see more of Jon Davenport‘s work, please check out his website and be sure to follow him on social media!
All images via the artist’s website.
