Meet Shaun Rogers of iisaw Creative Arts in South Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaun Rogers.

Shaun, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My professional career as an artist started back in August 2016 when I was accepted into the 57th Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. I remember one afternoon when the mail arrived. I received a letter from the heard museum and was excited to open and see if I was accepted. I knew this was the acceptance letter I was waiting for because I was seeing others posting on social media that they got their letters and were to showcase for the upcoming Heard show. Of course, I could not open it without my family being present, so I waited on them to return home that evening. Once we had dinner, I brought out the mail to open and that’s when I read that I was accepted! The excitement I felt knowing the dedication I put into my art finally paid off!

Before the big show, I was able to enter a couple of my work in the juried competition under certain categories that were diverse arts and painting, which they judge that evening and reveal the winners on Friday during an invitation-only dinner for all artist that made the show.

Being that this was my first time in any art show, I was already prepared if I didn’t receive a ribbon for my work, which of course, I didn’t that night, but still thrilled that I was in one the most known native art shows in the world. To me, that was all that mattered at that moment, a dream of mine since I knew about the heard art market show in the ’90s and now here I am sharing a booth with some of the most talented Native American artists, most of them world-renown with art in museums and galleries.

When the day came to open up the show it was so nerve-racking, but I kept calm and enjoyed those two days of the show meeting collectors and admirers, and of course, the best part of the show was being next to the artist’s I had admired and the privilege to talk with, wishing I could buy their thousand dollar art pieces but when they saw my work it was humbling they bought prints I had of my paintings and illustrations.

Since then, I continued to apply for more shows as well as smaller venues around Arizona and New Mexico, building my business, making new friends, and meeting collectors along the way, plus learning new art skills and becoming a silversmith to add onto my many talents of a professional artist.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being new in the art industry, I had my ups and downs. Most of my struggles consisted of not having any business ethics or finding a place of business to have my paintings professionally photographed or where to get inventory on certain art supplies, re-prints and how to file my receipts for my business, etc. Those were some of the many struggles I had to go through during the start of my career.

So, to say if you go into business for yourself, those should be the focal point from the start. Thankfully as I continued with my art career, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some awesome people who were also artists and have been doing it for 20+ years. Give me some good business advice and places to contact for other business ventures. In a way, the art community I showcase my artwork is like a new family of ours, that I’m always humbled to see and have grown to love at each show I attend!

iisaw Creative Arts – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I call my business “iisaw Creative Arts,” and the word iisaw in Hopi is a coyote. I am a self-taught artist specializing in painting and silversmithing. I am the first generation in both art forms and my mediums I work with are Acrylic paints, charcoal, pastels, graphic illustration, silver, brass, and 14k gold.

My studio is located at home, and every day I spend most of my time there when the family leaves to work and school. Each day my inspiration changes and so I could be creating a painting or making jewelry one day and the concepts that come to mind mostly come about from both my cultures. From the stories told of the Hopi kachinas, the ceremonies performed on the Navajo reservation, as well as the dances that happen at the Hopi villages. These are some reasons why my work is traditional or have traditional designs incorporated into my paintings or silversmithing.

To hear customers talk highly about my work and commission a piece that is one of a kind and to there liking is my proudest moments, knowing my art makes others happy to wear or to place on their walls to admire shows my accomplishments as an artist and I continue to strive in making quality yet unique works of art.

What sets my work apart from others is my ability to create both my cultures within my work and sometimes combine Navajo and Hopi designs in my jewelry to create unique pieces. In a way, I did not know this until customers that were from either tribe told me about my artwork but loved what I had come up with and so that always stuck with me knowing I’m creating something unique!

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Waking up in the morning having coffee and pursuing my dream with a positive attitude and making a sale!

I feel that success starts with you and how your attitude is each morning when you wake up and how your day has ended. For me waking up and seeing my family each day helps me succeed in my career as an artist. I feel that when I go to work and lose time in my job and my family having to pull me away from the workbench or my canvas throughout the week means my day was very productive and focused. Believe me, there are a lot of those moments since I became an artist, and when I am finished with a project and it sells, lets me know I am successful in what I do.

When I create something, it’s from the heart, my imagination, and my tradition of being a Native American, which makes me create my art and designs. It starts with many sketches until I find the right design or pose that I feel should be used in either my paintings or in my jewelry. I guess you can say I’m very picky on how I want my art made and plus there are times I have to run an image by my lady and what she thinks because with our culture there are many things within Hopi and Navajo traditions that should not be drawn, painted and or created.

With each jewelry that is sold or a painting purchased, and having clients demanding more of the same image or piece of jewelry, I feel I have met my goal for the week or the month, and that’s what keeps my creative juices flowing with more ideas to create within the work I do. With dedication, I put into my achievements and starting out with this new adventure in my life. My family knows it will pay off in the end and so they are my reason for success!

Pricing:

• Art prints 11″x 17″ $25.00- 60.00
• Reprints of paintings stretched on quality canvas: $350.00-500.00
• Earrings $25-300
• Rings $50-400
• Bracelets $75-200
• Necklaces $100-500
• Bow Guard (Keto) $300-600

Contact Info:

• Address: 2206 E. Burgess Ln.
  Phoenix, AZ 85042
• Phone: 480-453-4242
• Email: iisawcreativearts@gmail.com
• Instagram: /iisaw_Creative_Arts
• Facebook: /iisaw Creative Arts

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