We had the good fortune of connecting with Noah Farmer and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Noah, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I believe everyone is born with a natural talent, gift or something that they can work to be good at. I just so happened to be born with an artistic talent. At a very young age I enjoyed drawing, creating my own comic books, painting, crafts and other forms of art. Over time, my talent got better. However, when I was a child I was influenced by a moment with my father to later pursue a creative career.
My mother and father got divorced when I was a child and I remember going to work with my Dad during the times I would visit him. I never minded going to work with my father as he was a Graphic Designer and the work envorniment was extremely creative. The offices were painted different colors, crazy graphics on the walls and furnished with unique furniture. I would draw, create buildings out of left over styrofoam board and even mastered cutting with an exacto knife. I loved observing my father as he worked thru various creative processes. I remember one time my father had to work late and I slept in the Dark Room. I remember waking up to loud music, Shout by Tears for Fears, I peaked around the corner from the Dark Room and saw my dad singing, dancing and smiling as he was building a Graphic Display. At that moment, observing my father in this energetic, happy state at work, I decided I wanted to be a Graphic Designer.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My signature painting style is Abstract Realism and I work with a minimal color pallet. My pallet usually consists of two main source colors and white. When I paint, I focus on and exaggerate the shapes of shadows, midtones and highlights of the subject.
I am most proud and excited about recently opening up my own online art shop where I sell originals and fine art prints of my work. It took a few years of planning in order for me to pursue opening up my own business. However, once my plan was in place it was fairly easy and fast to start and open.
Prior to opening my own business, I worked as a Graphic Designer for about 5 years. I gained a lot of professional knowledge and experience until a nationwide layoff within the company I was working for at the time. I utilized the time after to think of ways I could work for myself. During that time I focused on painting, gaining knowledge from personal research and networking, developing a more entrepreneurial mindset and creating a plan. I decided to go back into retail where I quickly excelled and worked my way up within 4 years. I utilized the 401k 6% match offered by the retailer I was working for and gave myself a goal to reach $10,000. I knew if I stayed with the company for 3 years I would be grandfathered in and be able to withdraw my 401k savings with a 20% fee. Once I reached my goal I decided to leave the company, cash out and use that money to open up my own business with no debt. This is not financial advice, this was a plan I created which worked for me as I knew I was not going to retire from retail. Threw this experience I have learned that having a plan, patience and strong work ethic is imperative. Currently, I am focused on building my business by creating more work to share with the world!
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a very active person and my best friend knows this about me so we would spend a lot of time checking out local Greenways, visiting Art Museums and eating local.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shoutout Artist, Elizabeth Ross who was my Paining Professor when I attended Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina. I never used oils prior to taking her Painting class as I was highly intimidated by them. Her teaching style, encouragement and mentorship enabled me to see pass that intimidation and actually fall in love with them. I also remember having a conversation with her regarding when I would find my “style”. She stated to me not to stress too much about it and that my style would find me. After a few years of painting freely and developing a body of work, I was able to identify my style as she stated. My style being Abstract Realism. I also would like to shoutout Kelly Keylon who manages the Atlanta Water Gardens located at 2165 Cheshire Bridge Rd in Atlanta, Georgia. With his support, we created a partnership where I am able to display some of my original oil paintings and Fine Art Prints for purchase in-store. The Atlanta Water Gardens is an extremely unique and creative store. I encourage all to pay it a visit!
Website: www.farmerfineart.shop
Instagram: @farmerfineart
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093088863845 (Farmer Fine Art)