Today we’d like to introduce you to Neal Peterson.
Neal, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I love cities and Miami is no exception. It’s big, modern, diverse, and full of energy. Every city has its own unique character and this is what I tried to capture with my photo collage of Miami. Since 2015, I’ve been photographing cities around the world and composing the images into circular cityscapes that give an immediate impression of what that city feels like. When you dive-in for a closer look, you’ll find everything from architecture and sculptures to parks and graffiti.
One of my inspirations for this project came from Tibetan Buddhist Sand Mandalas, which act as a map of the cosmos and represents the belief that everything is connected. For my “Urban Mandalas”, pixels take the place of the sand show that all is one and one is all. To date, I’ve completed twenty cities including New York, Paris, Mexico City, Amsterdam, and Reykjavik. With the COVID-19 pandemic, my hope is that these mandalas will give a sense of community, both locally and globally, while giving everyone a chance to visit each city, albeit virtually, from the safety of their home.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s easy to romanticize the traveling artist, but there are a lot more obstacles than most people think. That’s not to say there aren’t moments of wandering a city with a camera and coffee, but when you’re looking at the final art, you never see the sore feet, jet lag, or bed bugs. Sometimes the old cliches really are the best advice: do what you love, focus on your strengths, work hard, and don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Or, as Charles Bukowski said: “Find what you love and let it kill you.”
We’d love to hear more about your art.
After I finish each mandala, I share them on my website and social media. Every city is available as a print, journal, or silk scarf.
What were you like growing up?
Wild. Curious. In the third grade, I told my crush that I wanted to be a graphic artist when I grew up. My dream was to design billboards—I guess, because the bigger the better? From there, I never stopped. I got into drawing, photography, graphic design and eventually went off to college to study art. Here I am today—no interest in designing ads for billboards anymore, but I’m still in it for the long haul.
Pricing:
- Notebooks: $18
- Silk Scarves: $58+
- Archival Prints: $200+
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.nealpeterson.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/nealpetersondotcom
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nealpetersondotcom
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