Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Sabel
Hi Joseph, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I always enjoyed drawing and painting as a young child. I used to draw pictures of my brothers’ favorite musicians in charcoal pencils or draw the X-Men characters from their comics. Later in my teenage years and early 20’s I always continued my drawing and painting and was influenced by street art and tattoos. While serving in the United States Navy I drew a lot of my inspiration from studying books about art from the base library. I guess throughout my whole life I always had an attraction towards art and the processes of making things that are beautiful as well as thought provoking. It wasn’t until my last year in the Navy where I was stationed in Great Lakes, Chicago where I truly started to take my artistic endeavors seriously. While studying the works of Edward Hopper I was also studying the city around me and feeling an urge to paint the different people and places I saw. Once being honorably discharged from my service my future wife and I decided to move to Montana where I received my BFA. During that time, I stumbled into a whole bunch of other mediums to work with. From printmaking focusing in lithography, to working in ceramics I started to realize there was a lot of other things to explore and work with while making the art I wanted to make. After graduating my wife and I moved to the St. Louis area in Collinsville IL to be closer to family because during our 5-year time period in Montana we started a beautiful family and wanted our children to grow up around their cousins. So here we are 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?
Being an artist while being a family man and having moved to a new area has been anything but smooth. It’s not just being a dad, but also being a recovering alcoholic didn’t help either. With so many struggles going on with yourself and the world it is incredibly easy to lose yourself in what you think is best for you and your family while being blind to what you are blessed with in the present. That was my biggest struggle, recognizing my blessings. I have been blessed with a loving wife and 3 beautiful children, family and friends that support me both close and afar. I’m also blessed with my good health and the motivation to raise my children in a loving, healthy and creative environment.
Once getting through my struggles with alcohol and being able to direct my energy in a positive way for my family and my practice the big challenge has been being an artist in a new community and finding connections to help and guide me through situations and decisions pertaining to my art practice.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I consider myself a multi medium artist. My main focus for the last couple years has been in pottery. But I also find myself painting and drawing whenever I feel the need to jump into those mediums.
My paintings primarily focus on the world around me. I’m a true believer in the Regionalist and Expressionist style and feel that one of the best ways your audience can relate to your paintings is through the depiction of the everyday and personal world around us.
As for my pottery practice that is where I work more abstractly. I enjoy playing with new and unique forms while making my work as utilitarian as possible. I want to create an environment of exploration out of a cup, bowl, or vase!! I feel that this medium is more playful for me and gives me more freedom in the process of making and shaping my work which is what I truly enjoy about it.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Determination. I’ve constantly been determined to make art with whatever is available to me. You put me on a desert island, and I’ll find mud to play in and make forms out of it or will make sculptures out of rocks and twigs and draw pictures in the sand.
Pricing:
- cups/mugs- $30- $70 depending on size and process
- vases- – $80 – $200 depending on size and process
- paintings- between $100 – $1000 depending on size
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jmspotsandpaintings.com/
- Instagram: @josephsabel25art
