We had the good fortune of connecting with Ken Crost and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ken, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
I’ve been involved in the creative process for many years, from being an actor, theatre producer, and playwright after studying at Second City in Chicago for 2 years, to award winning photographer, and digital/AI artist. I think one gets to a point where giving up just doesn’t make any sense. To become successful requires many different elements, such as talent, perseverance, the ability to market oneself, and lastly, not giving up. Giving up is easy but it is also negates who you are. And if you are a very creative person, giving up ultimately means quitting on yourself. Although I have had many moments in my long life where the idea of giving up on my creative endeavors crossed my mind, in the end it never made sense, no matter how difficult it became.

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Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As someone who was born with hyperphantasia, my mind has always been a constant running show of extraordinary images, which are often very filmic in nature. I was interested in photography at a very young age and when the digital photography age emerged in the 1990s, I jumped on board as soon as possible. The move to digital photography soon lead me to digital art. Using Photoshop for my creations, I would create abstract artworks based on photographs I had taken. With Photoshop and my camera as my creation tools I was able to express the imagery that ran in my mind. I continued down this path of digital art trying to persistently move my art in ever more interesting ways.

Then in 2022 an explosion of technology occurred that would not only change the world but my creative focus. The new technology known as AI generative art hit and at first I was very skeptical as I saw nothing in that process that spoke to the way my mind works. However, I was contacted by the wonderful poet Uzomah Ugwu, who was curating an art show, The Art of the Poem, at the Pocket Star Gallery in Athens, Greece. She wanted me to submit artwork to the show that would reflect the poem, “a child’s harmony.” I had never done anything like this before, but wanted to see if it was possible to achieve art that would work with the poem.

I had been experimenting with the new artificial intelligence art creation tools, so it seemed like the Art of the Poem was an excellent opportunity to test the abilities of this new method of creating art. At the time, I was using a website, Playform.io, and it was definitely up to the task of creating the art I wanted for the Art of the Poem show. I submitted three artworks to Uzomah, and she replied confirming that the artwork would be in the show. That artwork can now be seen on my website.

I was now convinced that this new method of creating art was something that deserved additional exploration and in January of 2023, Uzomah contacted me again about doing another show, The Nature of Solitude, at the Pocket Star Gallery. This show would consist of her writing a number of poems that I would then use to create the art for the show.

For this second show I decided to move to a new AI tool, Playground.com. It was much more than an AI art generator, but a piece of excellent software that I could use to manipulate the images until I got the look and feel I wanted. The artwork, of course, still needed additional work with other software tools. It took a few weeks to get the artwork completed and the show opened online on April 10th, 2023. That show is now on my website.

I am very excited about the possibilities that AI art offers. It works perfectly with my hyperphantasia and my philosophy toward art and life – an expansive view of the world. I never want to be stuck doing the same thing over and over again. While some people see the world through a telephoto lens, my view is more very wide angle. It encompasses much. And each artwork I create has as its foundation one of my photographs or other image I created.

As my digital/AI art began to evolve, I decide that with most of the artwork on my website I would write very short stories reflecting each artwork. As my website has grown, I’ve really become enamored with the art/writing relationship. I attempt to create interesting settings and characters for each artwork. I will be adding additional art/writing works in the near future.

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If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Dear Max, looking forward to seeing you soon. Here is a list of some of the things we could do while you are visiting Denver:

Museum of Contemporary Art, one of my favorite museums
Denver Art Museum, another of my favorites
The Still Museum filled with Still’s amazing abstract expressionist work
Drive up to Vail for lunch at Pepi’s. Excellent food.
Hike at Roxborough State Park
Lunch along the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder
Hike at Chautauqua Park in Boulder
Drive up to Mount Blue Sky
Dinner at Atelier Restaurant
Bike along the Platte River bikeway in Littleton
See the galleries along the Santa Fe Art District
Catch a play at the DCPA or one of the many smaller theatres
Dinner at El Noa Noa in the Santa Fe Art District

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Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First I want to acknowledge the Second City training school which helped me understand who I was as a creative person and gave me the confidence as an actor to go out and start auditioning for plays in Chicago. To the creative people I worked with at Pary Productions in Chicago who really gave me the next push as an actor and producer. Anne Winter, film maker and writer, for two years of collaborative writing that helped me understand the process of committed writing. The wonderfully creative writers at No Name Playwrights and Write Angle Productions for helping me to develop my playwrighting skills. Al Brooks who ran the Changing Scene Theatre in Denver for many years for opening his theatre to me and the playwrights I worked with. The galleries Artist on Santa Fe, Kanon Collective, and Next Gallery for helping me get started with my digital art adventure. And recently I read a biography of Camille Pissarro which detailed his life as a creative person. He strong belief in the creative process opened my eyes to an aspect of myself that was ignored for most of my life.
And lastly and most importantly, my wife Marueen who has supported me for many years through the ups and downs of living a creative life. I don’t think I could have done this without her.

Website: https://www.kencrost.com

Instagram: kencrost

Twitter: @kencrost

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