Today we’d like to introduce you to Seth and Jill Minkin.
Armed with a BFA from Skidmore and an MFA from Tufts, Seth’s art career has spanned 25 years and he has literally created and sold hundreds of oil on canvas original works.
Primarily known for his large, bold and dynamic oil on canvas paintings that are as detailed as they are whimsical, and as inspiring as they are inspired, his career has focused on celebrating the beauty, form and rhythm of everyday concepts and objects in both literal and abstract form.
Seth spent his early years living in a small, quaint coastal town just outside of Boston and derives much inspiration for his work from nautical themes, but with a modern interpretation that gives them a fresh, contemporary edge.
His travels and experiences in life have also given him much to draw from, both in terms of imagery and emotion. Seth’s works appear in many significant private and corporate collections around the world.
Having lived in 3 countries on 3 continents for at least 5 years each before the age of 20, Jill draws from a vast landscape of personal experience, along with a 20+ year career in strategy, sales and consulting spanning the financial services, wealth management, real estate and venture capital industries.
In 2016, Jill left the corporate world behind in favor of the creative, officially joining forces with Seth, as his business partner and creative collaborator.
Her unique and unconventional approach to life, combined with her passion for learning and discovering new things, not only allow Jill to see the possible in the impossible, but to take the steps necessary to bring them to life. Not content with average or ordinary or what is status quo, Jill is constantly tinkering, questioning, and having fun playing with theories, ideas and solutions, all in the interest of finding new ways to evolve or execute big ideas.
Together, Seth and Jill are the dynamic duo behind Seth B Minkin and are dedicated to pushing the envelope in art and life. Together, they’ve lived, they’ve loved, they’ve traveled, and they’ve conspired to create a selection of fun and fresh fine art products for home + body, all inspired by Seth’s art and designed by Jill, in their South Boston studio.
The Minkins’ ultimate goal is to make the world a more inspired and inspiring place by creating beautiful, high-quality accessories that people love and, most importantly, love to live with and wear every day.
Has it been a smooth road?
Being part of the creative world has its own set of challenges, and being a small business within that world has yet even more. However, it’s a privilege for us to do what we do every day, so the benefits far outweigh the hard days, even though there are many for sure.
We are a two-man band, and a lot of what we do, we figure out how to do on our own, so there have been many long days of trial and error on our part over the years. However, that’s part of the fun for us. Being in a position to create and think about bringing new ideas to life every day, both in terms of creating art and running an art business, is a simultaneously fruitful and humbling experience.
You don’t always succeed when you do something for the first time, so you have to have the integrity and grit to honor the process and keep going, trusting that you will either end up with tangible results or a lesson (or, hopefully, both!). But, it’s the ability to push through those moments of extreme truth and humility that truly help you to stay true to your vision and, often times, that’s exactly when the magic happens or a major discovery is made.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Seth B Minkin Fine Art – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I have been making art and collaborating with other creative makers for over 25 years. As a kid, I would draw canyon wars, create armies of stick figures, and obsessively doodle on the back of restaurant placemats. I would often sequester myself in a room and draw for hours, filling entire wastebaskets with the drawings I felt didn’t make the cut.
To this day, I feel a special sense of purpose when I’m working and I strongly believe that art is most successful when we tap into the more spontaneous, less inhibited, adventurous nature of our youthful beginnings.
Over the years, my work has been profoundly shaped and defined by a broad range of projects along with many commissions and collaborations, not to mention the amazing people behind them. My clients tend to be brilliant, accomplished people who have a high degree of creative vision themselves, and they are eager to be a part the process to create very specific works for their enjoyment, making the commission process a highly interactive exchange in which the client plays an important role.
In the case of each past commission, the works that were created were either subjects that I may not have broached on my own or, in other cases, they were very grand, ambitious and elaborate works. The creation of these pieces, along with the rest of the body of my work, has helped to refine my process, build my endurance and has inspired me to think even bigger, and to keep pushing ahead and exploring the possibilities.
Most of all, however, I continue to be inspired by the process of collaborating with those who value my work and place importance on what I do.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Boston has really grown up a lot over the past decade. I lived here through grad school and then left in 1996 and spent time in Miami, Manhattan, San Francisco and Chicago before settling back here. The two most striking changes that have happened in the past, say 4-6 years, have been the amazing amount of development going on throughout the city and the fantastic culinary scene that has emerged.
We have so many fantastic options now, ranging from the very highest end cuisine to street food and everything in between. Boston also has an amazing distillery and craft beer scene that has really come into its own over the past few years. It’s a really exciting time to live here and we couldn’t be more proud to call Boston home.
Contact Info:
- Address: 840 Summer Street #205
South Boston MA 02127 - Website: www.sethbminkin.com
- Phone: 844-4-sbm-art
- Email: info@sethbminkin.com
- Instagram: @sethbminkin
- Facebook: @sethbminkin
- Twitter: @sethbminkin
Image Credit:
Studio Photographs by Sam Moody Photography
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
