GAINING PERSPECTIVE

About James Mulvania, the Artist & Entrepreneur behind Expressive Perspectives and Everscene Studio.

At first glance, ExpressivePerspectives.com appears to be an online marketplace with an interface similar to many others. With the exception of some samples from my personal comic book collection (more about that later), it’s not until a visitor begins to explore the site that it becomes clear that at its core, it’s also an art and design gallery used to display the works of James Mulvania. Yes, me… the guy who is writing the words you are now reading. Something else that isn’t obvious is that I also built the website you are viewing. No, I’m not bragging about how great the website is. It’s come a long way, but still needs a mountain of research and development to become the site I want it to be. Building it has been out of necessity to sell my products more efficiently, but it has also come to represent the culmination of my personal journey into the visual arts that often coincided with my employer funded professional responsibilities. Expressive Perspectives is more than the name of my store, it also sums up much of my past and provides clues to future creative pursuits.

It’s been a real challenge to grow as a web designer while concurrently developing my artistic ‘brand’. It’s a symbiotic relationship that has taken many turns over the years, and many turns were not by choice. I’ve had to rebuild my web presence several times from scratch just to allow current web browsers to display my artwork and products. If you stumbled upon this website by visiting EversceneStudio.com first, you had an opportunity to explore some of my older web work. I won’t go into the technical details here, but with the introduction of Web 3.0 there are many reasons to get excited about the future of the web and what it can be. That being said, there are still only 24 hours in the day to make it a reality.

My Everscene Studio site will continue to exist, but it will likely become less of a marketplace and put more emphasis on exploring new web technologies and building new creative and innovative products from the ground up. ‘Re-imagining expression and how to experience it’ has always been the studio’s catchline and I want the site to more fully reflect that assertion and emphasize the processes behind it. Virtually everything Everscene Studio has created was derived from making ‘Art For Art Sake’ first. Because of this, Everscene Originals is the core of the studio’s identity and represents the ‘art gallery works’ of yours truly, James Mulvania.

Artist’s Statement

My artwork of has been described as peaceful, calm, fresh, surreal, wild, weird and even musical. Many artists settle on a particular style and subject matter and stay with it, and as a result they are often applauded as having found their artistic identity. When people view my artwork they are likely to be left guessing as to what I will create next. Gallery curators typically prefer that artists pick a lane and stay there. In other words, they prefer to work with artists that can display multiple works that share similar subject matter and style. From a business perspective, that probably makes sense because art collectors often prefer to display their collections in one area of their home and maintain consistency. I respect the business model, but I would likely go insane if I forced myself to repeatedly create essentially the same artwork. No doubt doing so would vastly improve the speed of the creation process, but for me it’s more important to grow as an artist by creating whatever I feel like and push myself into new directions by adding new tools that allow my artwork to take on new dimensions. My approach is definitely not fast, and that’s another reason why I need to like what I am working on, rather than old subject matter that has become stale to me.

I feel that my creative diversity reflects an interest in exploring new ways to think about and create visual media. It is not important whether the medium is traditional or digital. Constantly using both mediums has shaped the way I conceptualize and complete a piece of work regardless of the tools I chose to use. Oddly enough, most of my artwork had a way of just revealing itself. I rarely start a piece with a predetermined appearance in mind. During the early design period perhaps subconscious decisions are being made, but as subject matter begins to form the process becomes more of a conscious effort that applies imagination and endless experimentation to bring paint and pixels to life.

What am I doing about the gallery curation dilemma mentioned above? Part of being a web designer means planning ahead. Even though I don’t tend to create multiple works that intentionally share similar subject matter and style (with the exception of a large image made up of separate canvases to begin with), my work often ends up falling into the genres of Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Extreme Sports. For example, If a collector is looking for ski art, they will have a variety of choices to select from. ExpressivePerspectives.com was organized to make finding art genres and subjects easy, regardless of product type. I don’t have control over gallery curators and their business practices, but my own practices go a long way to make them happy. For everybody else, just kick back and imagine how these works will look on your wall, or how a related lifestyle product derived from these works will highlight your sense of style!

Artist’s Bio

James Mulvania was born and raised in Spokane, WA and currently lives in the Spokane area. Several employers from across the country have benefited from his knowledge and experience including the United States Naval Reserve where he served for 11 years and two colleges where he taught for 7 years. James began painting and drawing at an early age, but it wasn’t until 2007 that he made his artwork public. James specializes in creating art that has traditional or digital origins and often integrates both.

As with most endeavors, something sparked James’s interest in visual art, and inspired him to create. Beginning at the age of nine, he began to collect comic books, but rarely read them. He considered his collection to be an investment that would hopefully pay off in the distant future. Aside from buying as many debut comics as he could afford, the other main driving force was likely the appeal of the cover art. In a sense, choosing a comic based on its number and visual appeal isn’t any different than visiting a fine art gallery and doing the same thing. He also remembers being inspired by the artwork displayed in magazines such as OMNI, Popular Science and other future-tech-oriented publications.

The other main ingredient that inspired many of his creations began even earlier. At the age of five, he began to snow ski. As his skill level improved, he eventually began to compete in races and freestyle events which required a significant amount of travel. The incredible scenery of the mountains had a major impact on the way he learned to appreciate nature. In direct relation to that was the inspirational photography found in ski and in other outdoor recreation and travel magazines which influenced the direction of his creative interests even more. Due to these sources of inspiration, he began to draw and paint at an early age, but didn’t pursue art as a serious interest until much later in life. The major turning point probably began while pursuing his Bachelor’s Degree at Eastern Washington University. His major was mostly business management related and had almost nothing to do with art in a direct sense. However, he felt that adding graphic design skills to his list of qualifications would impress potential employers. Ultimately, he ended up completing two majors. Along the way, he took several art and graphic design classes and upon graduation was awarded an internship with the United States Olympic Committee. To describe everything that came to pass after that would require more pages than anyone would care to read, but it can be summarized by saying that he’s designed more than his share of content for a countless number of clients and has taught design-intensive topics to thousands of students.