Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Stone.
Hi Erik, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Our lives can be complex and that makes it interesting. Many of us set our sights in one direction. We have one focus, one interest. My interests are many. But I strive to do my best in whatever road I take. I want to inspire others to do their best too. I have a good work ethic. I’m rather a perfectionist with myself. But that can be a trap. If we strive to make everything perfect we will never be satisfied with the results of our efforts.
Why is my life complex? I have too many interests which leaves me wondering which is the best path to take. What am I interested in? Coming from a creative family I have been influenced to love music and artistic things. Having done a lots of exploring in nature I have grown to love animal life and plant life too. Having lost our father when I was 8 years old, me and my siblings learned many practical skills and how to work hard.
This brings me to my life today. I love music, so I play piano and other instruments. I’ve come to know many musicians as well. I love arts and crafts. Currently I draw pencil portraits for others but have learned many other artsy crafts. I also have a photography business. I take photos for prints or I do photo restoration. I’m also pretty skilled in technology and computers. I know quite a bit about gardening and plants too.
So where do I go from here? I often combine skills to find my path.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Few roads are smooth, straight, or easy. When traveling literal curvy roads through mountains takes being aware and reactive to the constant changes in order to stay safe. However the journey is beautiful and stimulating. Life is similar. The hard work and stones in the road give us endurance. We become creative in resolving problems that come up.
As mentioned earlier, my dad passed when i was 8. Was it hard? Yes. But the family rallied together and we found new ways to do things with our new circumstances.
As an adult I struggled with the exact road to take with so many varied interests. So I tried different things and chose the direction that worked.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What do I do? Creatively I do the following: Color pencil portraits; play the piano; photography; writing
What do I specialize in and known for? Many mention that they love my beautiful photos. I also specialize in taking an old and often damaged photo and restoring it. I also get a good reaction to my drawings. I specialize in capturing a person’s face and drawing it with color pencils. People think they are painted. Some like the way I can figure out how to play a song quickly by ear. With my writing I get good comments on my poetry.
What am I most proud of? I don’t want to be too into myself. But I am proud of my artwork and photography. At the same time I realize that others have great talent that is often greater than mine.
What sets me apart from others? I work at being unique. Many put out good work but it is rather generic. For instance, I see many beautiful sunset pictures that look rather identical to 1000 other ones I have seen. I use my art and photography in support of musicians I know.
Any big plans?
My plans are to expand my photography business. I am widening out in different ways with photography. I have a company logo, business PayPal, business webpage, t-shirts with my logo and several social media photo pages. I visit photo booths at street fairs and photo sections at the county fair and talk to the photographers there. I’ve done some photo editing for musicians as well a profile design for their pages. I take photos of live performances of musical bands and musicians and send those to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://erikstone.wixsite.com/etchedinstonephoto
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erik.cody.stone/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/etchedinstonephotography
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/erik-cody-stone-2bb2908a
- Twitter: https://x.com/Etched_Stone
- Other: https://500px.com/p/ErikStone1?view=photos
