Artist Talk, Blake Jamieson: “Using Social Media to Promote Art”

Blake Jamieson began his career in digital marketing, helping brands differentiate themselves using social media and content marketing. After 7 years, Blake decided it was time to make a change: Stop working towards someone else’s dream, and start pursuing his own.

Blake has been an artist his entire life, but it was not until early 2016 that he began painting full-time. During a trip to Barcelona early that year, Blake found that the rich street art scene heavily influenced him. Fortunately, his hostel was next to an art supply store, so he began spending his days cutting stencils on the rooftop, and spent nights painting on the streets. When he returned to the US, Blake knew that he had to keep painting, so he converted a barn stall into a painting studio at his house and got to work. Blake primarily paints portraits using stencils and spray paint, but is exploring other mediums. His favorite artists are Shepard Fairey and Andy Warhol for their art and their marketing abilities, and therefore, a viewer will see their influence in his own work.

Jamieson lives with his parents and sister on their farm in Marin County, CA. Jamieson comes from a family of creatives. At 19, Jamieson’s father worked as a photographer while attending UCLA. He photographed the likes of James Brown, Aretha Franklin and John Wooden.

“My dad was a photographer before I was born, and a lot of the pieces I’m doing are his old photographs that he took,” Jamieson said.

Blake is often commissioned to create pieces for celebrities including Howie Mandel, Lewis Howes and Gary Vaynerchuk as well as sports figures such as LA Chargers Jahleel Addae.

Jamieson’s pieces are created with stencils and spray paint on canvas (and most recently with epoxy), inspired by the street art he did while on vacation in Barcelona.