Shiva’s Muse ~ Matthew Gore

I met Matt back in 2001 at Wheaton College. We were both a part of the same theater company and we immediately became friends. I love Matt’s energy, his openness in the way that he loves those in his life, the way he knows how to get down & dance and the fact that he knows everything there is to know about music.

Matt has such a wonderful soul! It is an honor to be his friend.

What kind of artist are you?

Art Director/Graphic Designer & Photographer

How old are you?

28 years old

Education?

Almost a double major in art at Wheaton College, but mostly communication.  Chicago Portfolio School briefly for advertising and pushing myself really hard to learn more about design and photography in my spare time via books and other sources.  Currently, taking a class at the School of the Art Institute Chicago.

Why do you think art is important?

A lot of what I do is a function application of art…  people need to know where to have their eyes directed on a page, what’s important in a hierarchy of communication, what information to take in first, etc. It’s important because our attention needs to be directed thoughtfully to communicate effectively.  I also think it’s important because beautiful things are vital to our existence. Art has the ability to capture peoples’ imagination and replicate the experience of being captivated by a beautiful sunset or landscape or person. Art acts as inspiration and makes the less exciting or more awful parts of life more bearable or digestible. Or give us a means to explore or comment on those less exciting and awful parts.

What and Who inspires you?

My friends. Other artists & designers. My coworkers. Music. Cinema.  Trips to the museum. Browsing art books & magazines at the bookstore. The design i see in daily life (whether it be ads on the subway, street signs, a restaurant menu, etc). Flickr. buamai.com

What is your favorite medium to use in creating art?

Photography, for sure.

What are you currently working on?

Art direction-wise: Various work projects for my clients–SC Johnson, CDW, and a few others. Personally:  I’m working on a book with my friend Tereasa about collections – www.lostandfoundcollections.com

What has been the highlight so far, of your artistic career?

Seeing my work in print for the first time. For work, it was an ad for a Prismacolor art competition in an art magazine. For photography, it was seeing my pictures in the first book I contributed to, A Very Modest Cottage (www.averymodestcottage.com)

What if any, artistic mistakes have you made?

It’s very easy to stop before a piece is really truly complete. I’ve definitely been guilty of letting exhaustion get the best of me. I need to make sure I am more intentional about taking a break, and coming back to my work to see if there’s anything that I missed or that needs to be adjusted.

When did you realize that you had to do some kind of artistic endeavor for a living?

For me, the first step was realizing in college that I needed to stop trying to become my father (who I love dearly) just to get his approval (which I’m pretty sure I already had). So I went into theater and photography in college, then after working in I.T. for awhile out of school, I realized that I really wanted to get into advertising to use my creativity everyday as a career.

What is your favorite quote?

“You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” – Anne Lamott

Or maybe this one:
“Toni Morrison said, “The function of freedom is to free someone else,” and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad that you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh, well, what are you going to do?”
— Anne Lamott

Or anything, ever, said by Anne Lamott

Where can we find you?

Website: www.matthewgore.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mgore

Twitter: www.twitter.com/chgomatt82

Tumblr: http://chgomatt82.tumblr.com/ (<–woefully sparingly updated blog-ish-ness)

*All Photos in this post are courtesy of ©2010 Matthew Gore Photography. All rights reserved.

Thank you Matt for participating in the Shiva’s Muse series. I recommend that everyone explore Matt’s photography website. I also enjoy Matt on facebook. You never know what adventure he is up to next. What I enjoy most about Matt’s photography is how I just feel at home. I am not sure how to articulate that any better than that. I just look at his pictures and I feel at home.

Are you  Shiva’s Muse? Interested in being featured on Artistic Liberties? Check out the link and see if its something that interest you.

Wondering what other creative artist I like? Check out some of my resources. Artistic Resources and Intriguing Resources

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