Creative Interview : Nate Williams

Over to the sunny shore of Buenos Aires to find out more about Nate and his creative life. He's an illustrator with a love for hand lettering and silk-screen printing. He values creativity, curiosity, inspiration, play, discovery and imperfection. I've never interviewed anyone from here so I'm delighted that he said yes!! A big huge thanks once again.

Describe yourself in five words and how would your friends describe you (in five)!!
Let me ask my wife ... she says curious, fun, smart, nice, extroverted .. okay she obviously wants me to do something :) probably wash our dog ...
I would say curious, optimistic, easy going, moody, distracted

Intersect

Can you reflect on how this year has been for you – and anything new on the boil for 2013 Positive stuff would be having a new son, having time to work on personal projects, enjoying the family, traveling, some great illustration jobs ... the only really negative thing I can think of is I injured my back boxing and had to take 6 months off from exercise which normally is a huge part of my life and keeps me sane .. but luckily I am starting up again .. just in time for South America's summer.

I created a tool to find patterns in my moods and it surprisingly work very well .. so I am pretty happy about that http://www.proconist.com 2013

I am looking forward to painting more and creating lots of personal work. I just started http://www.creactivists.com which has been really fun to see some kids ideas so far and hope to see more people involved.

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What do you love most about what you do and is there a down side
I love making art .. everything involved .. thinking of concepts, the process (play and discovery), connecting with people that appreciate art, etc The downside is what most freelancers struggle with which is instability and worrying about if you will have enough work in the future to pay your bills.

What's your town/area like for supporting creatives
Buenos Aires is extremely inspirational . It's a very artistic city with tons of stuff going on and lots of creative people doing interesting things .. I grew up in the US so it's always more interesting to be in a foreign land .. sometimes I get homesick .. but most of the time I enjoy it ... apart from the crazy south american politics and inflation.

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What’s your ideal working day like
I really like my typical days when I have time to work on my personal projects :) I usually grab a coffee or breakfast with my wife in the morning, brainstorm ideas/projects or review ideas I had then go to the studio to work on them ..

I like switching between mediums .. from wood working, to painting, to drawing, to exercising, to drinking a coffee, to programming something on the computer, to reading and back to painting.. I really like doing personal work because it takes you down a very exploratory path ... that is when I feel happiest.

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What do you do if you ever get a creative block
I do something else that doesn't involved creating .. exercise is good or I use some brainstorming techniques such as http://www.n8w.com/wp/1937 http://www.n8w.com/wp/3242

Brainstorming

Wordplay

Who influences you creatively
I love naive art .. or art made by people who don't have a formal art background or don't even consider themselves artist.

Have you ever had or do you have a PLAN B
Not really .. I think everything is always metamorphosing but ideally I would love to be involved with art and technology in some type of capacity.

Where’s your own favourite place to work and why
Costa Rica .. it's pure and feels like the closest place to earth http://www.n8w.com/wp/4051 it makes you looking at everything in perspective and not to get caught up in the rat race and enjoy the basics .. food, weather, nature, people, love, sex, music, etc

Costa Rica by Nate

Messy or tidy worker - haha Messy all the way

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Would you like to learn anything new and what would it be
Yes I have been learning about cryptology and really like learning about the history of it .. I would love to learn more about history and nature

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Who do you think I should interview next
I think an interview from a stranger walking down the street would be interesting .. someone random .. a group of old people and ask them if they have advice for young people, what do they remember most about life? regrets, etc

Thanks so much for that Nate - I'm off to find out more about cryptology and perhaps I will just grab a stranger and interview them! LOL!

Nate Williams : Illustration and Hand Lettering
website:  http://www.n8w.com

twitter:   @n8w