Meet Teal Korby | Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Teal Korby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Teal, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
There are two habits that help me succeed and they’re quite contradicting to one another: planning and breaking the plan. There’s a delicate balance to tread among the two. You have to plan things out in order to break the plan. Planning and breaking the plan help me succeed because I always have a vision in mind, but I allow for curiosity and trial and error to figure out how to get to that vision in mind. It’s a bit like a maze, but there are several ways to get to the end and it’s alright to break the plan to find another way.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I grew up with art; those 1000 pack of art supplies? Those were my Christmas and Birthday presents all the time! I eventually got into photography and studied for a BFA in that, and now I’ve gone back to my roots of traditional media and have been focusing my efforts in watercolor and ink. It was definitely challenging getting through school while working a full-time job (and at some points another job on top of that). It’s been even more challenging finding my way after school to figure out what I want to do and how I want to do it. I’ve been overcoming this challenge by trying things out and seeing what fits and what doesn’t; a big lesson is to embrace curiosity and like I mentioned earlier, make a plan and be ready to break the plan. Nowadays, I make art that could be described as minimal surrealism and I sell it in my Etsy shop and share it on Instagram; I also share my process and life on YouTube.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely take people to the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center or the High Museum; they’re both incredible and always provide great experiences. As far as food, I’d go for North River Tavern up in Sandy Springs and Tin Drum in Perimeter. Then, to top it off, go on a few hikes. Sweetwater is amazing, but there’s a bamboo forest in Sandy Springs that will blow your mind and is well worth the miles hiking to it.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A BIG shoutout goes to my partner in life Jazz, they always push me to do better and to take risks in order to improve upon myself. Another big shoutout goes to Georgia State University and the incredible professors that I had there, to name a few: Jill Frank, Conne Thalken, Nancy Floyd, and Wesley Terpstra; they’ve helped me develop a mindset and drive that will stick with me forever.

Website: www.tealkorby.com
Instagram: instagram.com/tealkorby
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teal-korby-gordon-407328b2
Twitter: www.twitter.com/tealkorby
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tealkorby
Youtube: www.youtube.com/tealkorby

Image Credits
Teal Korby