Joshua, would you mind sharing how American Art Collector got its start?

"American Art Collector started in June of 2005. My publisher, Vincent Miller, is also the publisher of International Artist Magazine. He was upset over how artists working in Contemporary Realism had no magazine to show their work. And, of the ones who occassionally, did, it was all older work. He wanted to start a magazine that would preview shows instead of review them and allow collectors a chance to see brand new work each month, sometimes before it even hits the walls of the galleries. So, a concept was born."

One of the most amazing aspects of American Art Collector is the magazine's ability to emphasize artists that have strong characteristics in both craft and concept. What are your criteria for searching out artists for your magazine?

"In choosing the art for the magazine, I am constantly on the lookout for artists who have a fresh or highly personal take on the genre they happen to be working within. I love painting. It effects me emotionally every day. And, I am a very visual person. So, I look for work that strikes me in one of those ways. I love artists who are completely encapsulated by their vision, who live the work they create I guess. To me, that is what art is all about."

How do you see American Art Collector Magazine is making a vital impact on the art world community? Do you feel that AAC is bringing artists and galleries/ collectors closer together?

"In a way that no one has tried before, we have been successful by appealing directly to collectors. We are not a vanity magazine. We don't just write stories to make us happy. We want to help artists and galleries sell their work so you can go back in the studio and make more. We love the idea of collecting. We think its great that people can be so passionate about the art they want in their lives. So, we want to help them in their journeys. We want to point out the good things we see being created right now, at this very moment. So, yes, we are definitely bringing artists, galleries and collectors together in a way that has never been done before"

What do you feel that an artist could do to better prepare her/himself for gallery representation?

"just paint. Don't worry about the whole scene, or being a part of the scene, just doing it. Putting the work in. Galleries will tell you all the time that they don't look at walk-ins or they don't look at portfolios. But, if a portfolio full of quality work hits their desk, you better believe they will call the artist and get them in the gallery. Gallery owners are amazing because they know what their clients will buy. They know their market. Don't ever think that if a gallery owner turns you down, that it means your work is bad. All it means is that the gallery owner doesn't think your work will sell to his/her market. You just have to create a body of work and then present it in a professional manner to the galleries you feel most closely allign with your style or the kind of work you do. And don't worry about your subject matter appealing to people. If it appeals to you, then chances are that there is are people out there who will find it appealing as well. Humans aren't that different from one another."

How important do you feel it is for artists and collectors to get to know each other and stay within a close dialogue

"I don't know. I think it is nice for collectors to get to know artists but I don't think you should get in the way of your galleries selling your work. Let them do what they do best and you do what you do best, which is paint. It's nice to meet collectors at openings and such. And, don't sell to collectors directly. That does you no good at all. You need to find galleries who buy into you and will not just sell your work but will help you manage a career. So, don't go for the one and done quick sale and lose focus on the bigger picture."

What was the deciding factor to become editor of American Art Collector?

"It is literally my dream job. Like I said, I have always loved painting. I crave it. I can't get enough of it. When I was called to be the Editor of American Art Collector, I knew it was the job I had been looking for. And for it to be so successful so fast was also particularly rewarding. I also love how it is truly a national magazine. We are probably the only art magazine around that covers the entire country, from studios like yours to the people at the Grand Central Academy, to those LA Figure Academy people, to the Bridge Studio peeps in Utah, to Anthony Waichulis and his crew and everywhere in between, we cover all artists working in the realist tradition today"

Joshua, what led you down the path of Fine Arts? Is there a story you might want to share of how you were inspired to carve this path for yourself?

"My Masters is in the Art and Literature of William Blake. I received my Masters Degree from the University of North Wales in Bangor, UK, and studied Blake the entire time. I lived in this little dorm and would walk everyday to the University Library, this beautiful 19th century building on a hill, and there was something about being in this very spiritual but tiny mountain town and studying these grand, all-encompassing visions by Blake, that really did it for me. I've always loved poetry, much of my studying is in literature, but then to see Blake tie it together with the visual elements, really was important for my development. But, then I would go down to the Tate in London and just look at all those Pre-Raphelite paintings and really fell in love with that. And, then of course, the museums in London, and all of those 18th and 17th century paintings, I just soaked it all in. I could look at art all day. Hey, I do!"

What figure and or artist do you feel you are most inspired by?

"Right now, it's all about Wyeth. He floors me. Everything I think of about art I can find in a Wyeth quote. And, I don't think there has ever been an artist who writes so well about his own work. Look at Hoving's autobiography. Read what Wyeth says about his paintings. It will blow you away. They might as well be poems. They are poems, actually. He inspires me like Faulkner. He is like Faulkner, actually, talking about the people who ordinarily go unnoticed, the land, his own connection to the land, his feeling for the little part of the country where he spent his life. Its truly incredible. My favorite quote about art comes from Faulkner. It's from Requiem for A Nun. He says, The past isn't dead. It's not even past. and that is Wyeth as well. The ability to convey the whole history of a place, within one image. It's Wyeth talking about how he saw Christina's house not just as a house but as the whole history of New England, from her relatives who drowned at sea 200 years prior to the shells on the beach and the people who live in that area forgotten by time, It was all there for Wyeth, a living and breathing monument to the history of his Maine, all within that decrepit old house."

How do you develop or come up with an idea or concept behind a story?

"I try to find what is going on in a particular area or something that is interesting to a large group of people I'm always talking to people--gallery owners, dealers, artists, collectors-- and just asked what they like, what is going on in their area, etc. I do a lot of listening"

) Do you have any specific directions that you either are planning to take or are going to take with your magazine?

"more behind the scenes types of things, more studio visits, more new work from the best artists and galleries around the country. We also have a Western magazine, Western Art Collector. I am the Editor of that as well. It's been fun and interesting learning about the Western art market."

What important advice would you give to art students or young aspiring artists at the beginning of their career path?

"Hold on to what you believe. don't think you have to paint like someone else. We all do it. It's fine in the beginning, to temporarily adopt someone else's style. But, be ready to take it from there and come up with something you do because you enjoy doing it. If you are going to sit in your studio painting eight hours a day, it better be something you enjoy doing. If you are able to paint full-time as a career, you have it made. But, there is nothing at all wrong with doing something to make a living and doing something to call your own. I saw Martin Scorsese being interviewed and he said the same thing. He trades off; one film for the studio and then one for himself. The success of the first allows him more freedom for the latter. There is nothing wrong with this technique. We all do it. You do something for everyone else and then something for yourself. It's a trade off and how most artists live. We all need to surive, we all need to take care of basic necessities, so no one will ever fault you for trying to make a living.

Don't get too caught up in the scene or trying to play a role. The best thing you can do as an artist is being in your studio creating beautiful works of art for the rest of us mere mortals to enjoy. We like it when you do that. Don't worry about what other people are painting, or people painting like you or what the best galleries have. Just worry about doing what you can do and painting what it is that you have to say. Painting will never die. We will never tire of seeing an artist interpret his own environment, the land where he or she lives, the people in your life. Every single artist approaches the land, the figure, the environment, in a different way. This will never go out of style. How can anyone say that landscape painting is passe? how is that possible? People are still writing poems about the subject, they are still writing novels about the subject, making movies about it, so why should painting be any different. It's not. It will always have a place, always have a role in our daily life, even if that role is to remind us that there is something quiet and comforting that comes from a field of flowers, a row of trees just off the horizon, a single leaf floating on a silent river...."