Interview with Kelly D Williams

q) Name?

a)Kelly D Williams

q) Location?

a)United States

q) Contact info?

a)I hardly ever answer my telephone, but sometimes I check my electronic mail. You can e-mail me via my website, www.KellyDWilliams.com or www.ArtWontSaveYou.com.

q) How did you get started making art?

a)I think I've been drawing since I was very little. While sitting in Church, I would always ask my mom for a paper & pen, and just sit there and draw weird things.

q) How would you describe your art?

a)I'm not sure – maybe you could describe it better than me. Expressions and doctrines that I layer geometrically, and I like to draw my faces.

q) Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

a)From seclusion. The less I mind the art scene, the more I seem to paint. My inspiration comes from ideas I have floating around in my noggin.

q) What other artists inspire you?

a)I've always admired Mark Gonzales and Ed Templeton as artists. Because of my initial exposure to them through skateboarding, they were the ones that inspired me to make art into a career.

q) Where can someone purchase your works?

a)At the Kreativ Network Gallery Store – www.kreativnetwork.com or from any shows I exhibit in, or direct from my collection, too.

q) What is your main medium of choice?

a)I really like to paint on wood. I usually use acrylic paint, maybe come aerosol, and ink.

q) What are you working on now?

a)Right now I am working on a painting for a group exhibit in Los Angeles, a bunch of art/design for Analog Clothing, 2K by Gingham, and Foundation Skateboards, and just starting on a huge painting. My biggest one ever.

q) What advice could you give to someone who wants to be an artist?

a)If you really want to be an artist, be real. Don't do the thing where you commercialize your temporary infatuation with art. Paint what you want to paint. Stay off of drugs and don't become an alcoholic- but treat yourself to lots of desserts. Read a lot from the best books, offer help to people, and try to drink lots of water. That is the advice I would give; drink lots of water.

q) What are you doing when you are not creating art?

a)My wife and I have a new baby girl, Daphne. I like to be with her – other than that, I skateboard as much as I can, and am busy with music. Always listening to music.

q) What does music, in its entirety, mean to you?

a)Music is my drug, pretty much. I'm a geeky record collector. My goal is to have more music than anyone in the entire universe, but I have a long way to go. There is a lot of talk right now about the future of the music business, such as the mp3 versus the compact disc, issues with downloading trends, etc. I don't think that the word "business" should even be associated with music – look at the Radiohead album. Even 3 months after it was basically given away to the world for free download, it went on to sell (at top dollar) over 122,000 copies of the CD by the end of the first week that it was on shelves! People who love music will still buy records. Only having a folder of invisible digital files on your computer is like getting fed meals intravenously. If it became accepted to eat invisible food – that trend wouldn't last long. People want to own it. They want to unwrap it, have it, and eat it, and listen to it. Forget the major labels, independent record labels are still occasionally putting out some great music. And there are decades of music from the past to explore.

q) What does art, in its entirety, mean to you?

a)Art is about expression. It's a way to communicate either an idea or a sentiment. It should have no rules or regulations, and it will never end. Art is endless. So even when the vogue changes to something else, true creators will still want to create. That sounds dumb, but you know what I am trying to say.

q) Are there some web sites that you would like to recommend? Artists, art communities?

a)The Distrikt Collective is always something to follow, so check out www.distriktcollective.com and I occasionally write for a site called http://art.seshn.com and you seem to have some really good sites with alot of content. I kind of hate computers, so i dont know many others. Oh, and the Mannerist Zine site is www.the-mannerist.org.