Meet Cam Villar | Creative and Marketing Professional & Artist

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

Hi Cam, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
As a kid, I was always drawing, reading comic books, listening to music and drawing some more. I was heavily into science fiction, horror and hard rock. In my teens I drew some pictures for paying clients, and got into painting, graphic design and art history in college and felt I had found my calling. After being a musician and working in a record store for a few years, I decided I needed to get serious about a career. Painting seemed like a path to lifelong poverty, so I knew I needed to find a way to keep my creative instincts satisfied while having an “adult” job. Some friends recommended the Portfolio Center in Atlanta, so I enrolled in the Art Direction program. Advertising! I could see the creativity in that. So off I went.

I graduated and got hired by a New Orleans based ad agency, worked there as an art director for a while, split off and formed an interactive agency with the CEO, then went to two other agencies as Creative Director. Eventually I ended up on the client-side, working for just one brand for many years. Now I’m back looking for agency work. Advertising is still my ultimate passion.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Lessons I’ve learned along the way: 1. It’s ok to pay an entry fee to a get your art into a show when you’re just starting (to get recognition), but at some point every artist must say no, I will never pay to show my art.

2. It’s ok not to explain your art. Or even title it. For me, art is judged by the eye, not the intellect. Galleries and museums put together exhibits with themes and meanings, and they need your justification of why your piece fits into that theme. That’s often because they have to write pseudo-intellectual copy to explain the exhibit to the public. It’s all very un-artistic. Clifford Still said it best: “Explanations are for the comic strip.”

3. Never stop experimenting with new techniques and mediums. Watch videos. Buy non-art stuff and use it to make art.

4. You will create junk. Any creative will tell you that out of ten ad ideas, songs written, or paintings done, if you get one or two out of ten that you like, you’re really firing on all cylinders.

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.
Depends on the guest! For close friends I would take them to a nice Korean Barbecue one night, then maybe some local (to my house) restaurants. If there’s a concert, I like the Fox and the Tabernacle as memorable venues. I’d maybe take them to the High or the Aquarium, drive around and see Decatur, Midtown, and then head to the mountains and hike some waterfalls.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to artist and poet Allan Peterson, one of my mentors. And of course my wife and kids, who are as supportive as anyone could wish for.

Website: www.camvillarart.com

Instagram: camvillar.art

Linkedin: in/cam-villar

Twitter: Hate Twitter!

Facebook: Only for friends