ART & CULTURE • INTERVIEWS • PRINT

Interview w/ Artist Shaine Schroeder

August 5, 2013
Jon Berrien
Latest posts by Jon Berrien (see all)

Name: Shaine Schroeder

City/State: Los Angeles, CA

Website: www.shaineschroeder.com

 Artist Shaine Shroeder has been captivating the art world, with colorful creations that intrigue and entice at first glance.  Originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Shaine now resides and works out of his warehouse in South Central LA. GroundSounds had a chance to catch up with Shaine and pick his brain, check out our exclusive interview below. 


Can you tell us a little bit about your work? What mediums do you work with?

I enjoy people watching quite a bit and fashioning short stories about strangers that I see walking about, minding their business from day to day. I had a very strange upbringing, so normal people put me at ease, and these characters and my stories for them often spill into my stuff and things. My work was once called schizophrenic. Some people would be pissed about that, but I thought it was a very apt description. I use the equivalent of an artist’s junk drawer in my work. Whatever happens to be around that day. I used to be fond of strictly acrylics, but now my work is a veritable shit show of mixed media.

What is art to you?

Hard work at whatever you love. You guys are doing it here, obviously. There is nothing sexier in the world than seeing self-made, self-taught workhorses doing what they love to do. I have a very high affection for individuals who left something, someone, or someday behind and just went for it, no matter how long they had to struggle or how many non-believers they lost along the way. There are always a million excuses not to do something. Get off your ass. Sweat some blood. 

How does creating art make you feel? 

It depends on the day and if a hangover is involved. Most times it fills me with whimsy to know that I’ve made it this long without a nine to five. I don’t frown upon day jobs though, and I wouldn’t have made it this far had it not been for the support of certain individuals, but it feels nice. Pulling something from the ether and being able to convey it to others exactly how you imagined it makes you feel like the first time you heard Wu-Tang, or 98 degrees, depending upon your preference. I still get goose bumps after I slay a dragon on canvas.

What inspires you to create art?

Music, travel, life experiences, and money. Don’t bullshit yourself. Money is a very big factor when you make this a career. It’s not the prime motivator, but it forces you to recognize that if you stay out all night and then watch Netflix for twelve hours the next day, you can almost certainly kiss groceries for the month goodbye. Bills light the fire under the nuts and squash laziness like nothing I’ve seen before. I’m also inspired by gigantic red circles on a white canvas, or completely pitch black pieces, that include a good, lengthy story. If you spend millions on something like that, you deserve whatever you have coming. The old adage “A fool and his money are soon separated” didn’t come about for nothing. It was from the snake oil artists who were better at telling stories about how much angst they had in their lives, than they were at creating something from scratch. 

How did you decide to become an artist?

I’d had what seemed like a never-ending string of menial jobs for the better part of a decade. I worked in fast food, landscaping, construction, and credit card collections, amongst others, over 30 jobs. I couldn’t hack it. I was bored within a week. I’m a realist, though. I know society says jobs aren’t meant to be fun. But a vast majority of society says two people of the same sex who are deeply in love can’t make it official. Society is full of shit. You get to a breaking point and you realize nobody knows what happens posthumously, probably nothing. So why not do what you love and get paid for it.

What’s been your greatest artistic success?

I got to work for one of my heroes indirectly on a music video.  They never ended up using it, which is understandable because the entire ordeal was in disarray from Jump Street. I was to paint a time-lapse mural of a certain former lead guitarist of a certain American rock band who certainly still wears a top hat. To be chosen for such a project, no matter if it made the cut or not, was absolutely surreal.

Can you tell us little bit about your training and influences?

I started drawing Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters out of boredom as a kid and never stopped. Drawing was always a comfort blanket for me when the parents would fight, or shit would be weird at school, etc., so forth. Cliché’ as that sounds it was true, and still is. I went to school a bit for it, but stopped after a few months when I realized it was too slow and I hadn’t learned anything I didn’t already know. I’m influenced by far too many to list, both in music and fine art. I did, however, recently find out that a major influence of mine knows my name and of my work, which immediately made me go from six to midnight. I’m on the radar. 

What is your creative process like?

I usually light a few candles, take a warm bath while listening to Streisand, have a shave, and hop to. Recently the process has shifted; I lay down random shapes and slowly start to pull things I see from what’s already there. That’s a very personal question. Shame on you. 

Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?

Social media has reinvented the wheel for struggling artists. There are literally no excuses these days. I do countless shows and approach anyone about getting one. I think I draw a bit of a different crowd, given that I don’t discriminate venues. To this day I have no qualms with setting up a show at a coffee shop, hotel lobby, restaurant, or bar. I’ve had gallery shows, which I love as well. But the venues I pursue are so much more intimate. You don’t constantly feel like you’re going to break something very expensive.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

Don’t be lazy. That’s a goddamn travesty. To hide your candle under a bushel, and waste talent is the saddest thing. If you’re not good at something, get better. Everyone sucks at eyes and hands. So work on eyes and hands. Do it until your eyes bleed. Everyone gets lazy, myself included. It hindered and stifled me for a very long time. But putting out great product feels a hell of a lot better than watching television and eating fried snacks. And if you’d like to know anything else about this thing we call life, listen in live every Sunday or subscribe on iTunes to our roundtable of nonsense at www.andmightiadd.com. Thanks, GroundSounds. Hugs, not thugs.

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