Interview with Artist Derrick Kearney
K.W. McCabe: First, I just want to thank you for your willingness to discuss your artistic procress. Will you please introduce yourself and your art, and your name?
Derrick Kearney: Howdy! My name is Derrick R. Kearney. I am currently residing in Jacksonville, Florida. I have been honored to share my talents with art lovers around the world for the past few years visually bringing creative artistic expression to life.
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K.W. : How did you get started? What inspired you to pursue this career?
Derrick Kearney: I remember myself as being a creative person from a young age. I would write short stories and scenes to act out. Music was in many ways for me the driving force in my life. I grew up playing the tuba, singing in choirs, and doing some DJing as I got older. For a while I settled into adult life working in corporate news as a media editor. I was content with simply appreciating art while visiting a gallery. Things started to change for me in the spring of 2016. I was moving some items around my old bedroom at my mom’s house in Palatka, Florida. There was an open can of purple acrylic house paint that knocked over onto two crates of vinyl records. After the initial shock, I cleaned up what I could from the and set those records aside. I needed some time and space to heal from traumatic experiences. Things began to click when I began transmuting my pain into power through fluid abstract paintings. So I returned to that stack of paint damaged vinyls to see how many could be repurposed as surfaces for my creative journey. I started sharing my creativity with the world around me in 2019. I have come to realize since then that I have been in many ways a folk artist for much of my life, and that has led me towards a continued experience of gratitude for the ability to experience spiritual discovery with each creation.
K.W. McCabe: Can you walk us through your typical design and artistic process? How do you approach starting a new piece of art?
Derrick Kearney: My fluid art process walks the tightrope between science and patience. First the science, in that I am mixing up many different colors of paint. I am looking for a fluid consistency that allows them to flow for me like warm honey. My experiments with different techniques guide the spirit of each painting session. Once the surface is covered, patience comes in waiting for everything to happen. It can take up to a week for the painting to dry enough to simply move, and can be a full month before the painting has fully cured so that it can be sealed. A lot can happen between the tutorial video that you see and offering a finished product. When creating I will line up enough surfaces to do a few paintings each session. I will put on some music and get my mind right before starting. I see each time I create as my personal time of prayer.
door to the family Baptist church, but have expanded my view over the years to include learning about other beliefs such as Taoism, Rastafarianism, and Indigenous Ceremonies. I do take some influence from other creatives. Old to me masters such as Dali, Munich, Van Gough, and Pollock. But also some folks like Jim Carrey and George W Bush, who have found a second life for themselves as visual artists after whatever happened in their life before. These people for our society can be considered gifts from God. I’m inspired a good bit by what is happening in the world around us. The political strife, social injustice, and economic struggle that is faced by many that I share this existence with has become a major influence in my creativity, especially for the folk artwork. I feel as if there is a story that God wants for me to tell about these issues using my artwork. And lastly here I will just say music has been one of the biggest inspirations for me. While other five year olds were singing along to Sesame Street I was singing along to Prince. My girlfriend now describes my taste as “Funk N Punk” with a range that runs between classical and EDM. For me songs are how God speaks to us. It’s why birds sing. Music sets the mood for everything that I make and it would be difficult to imagine painting without it.
K.W.: What are some common challenges you face? How do you overcome these challenges?
Derrick Kearney: These days a challenge we all have is keeping the content monster happy. Make sure that it is well-fed with the correct posts at the correct times. The internet is an ever-changing world,
K.W.: Who or what are your biggest influences?mHow do you stay inspired and creative?
Derrick Kearney: I draw inspiration and find influence for my creativity in many places. First off would be to just say God and then point outside at nature. The rising and setting of the sun, phases of the moon, the peaceful power of rain during a storm, our plant and animal friends that share this planet with us humans. I’m the type who will go to a park and hug a random tree, as that is to me like giving God a hug. While saying God I could point to Spirituality. I grew up next especially with the new trendy buzzword of Generative AI. So now we are expected to manage both our social media profiles and our actual lives within human society. At times wearing multiple hats has been a challenge. We artists are both our own biggest cheerleaders and worst critics. My biggest challenge is the person that I face in the mirror,myself. Each morning I use affirmations to remind myself that I am a kind-hearted human being. Remind me of the love that surrounds each day and that I am an amazing expression of energy.
K.W.: What is your favorite artwork you’ve created and why?
Derrick Kearney: So I don’t have children. But from what I have heard from those with a lot of children and grandchildren is that you don’t really get to pick a favorite but instead recognize them all as the favorite… At least that’s how I feel about my vinyls since there’s so many of them… it’s like how my grandmother calls all of us grandkids her favorite (even though I clearly am)… I have one large 48×48 bloom called Neptune that I made on my 45th birthday. I paused during the process to take a video call from her that day. So maybe that’s a favorite… April Showers is this 48×48 flip cup… Violet Storm is one of my earlier acrylic pours on canvas from the pandemic… Dance With Mom was something I made back in 2019 during a time of just real transformation in my life. It was a postmortem mother’s day gift taken from a reference photo from a now divorced wedding years before. At Last by Etta James was playing in the background… I have a few paintings that on the back I simply wrote Glow Beach since I used blacklight paint on them. Some are oil while others acrylic… Yeah, how can I pick just one?
K.W.: Are there any upcoming projects you’re excited about? What are your goals for the future?
Derrick Kearney: I am excited to have opportunities to share my artwork again. It’s actually been a bit as I took some time to get resettled in Jacksonville and take care of myself a bit. Right now I am working to get some pieces together and return to the art festival circuit. There are a lot of great shows that take place all over the area. Loading up a van to travel the southeast. Of course the big goal is to put together my own solo gallery show.
K.W. McCabe: Can you give your website where people can contact your and any other information you want people to have in order to reach you.
Derrick Kearney: Sure of course! Here are some links for my contact information.
● Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socialartguide
● Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSocialArtGuide
● Youtube: https://youtube.com/@drocktheallmightyone
● Other: https://linktr.ee/drock77
● Website: https://thesocialartguide.com/
