Exploring AI: My Journey as a 1% User

Discovering the Intersection of Art and AI

I grew up during a time when you had to choose between the arts and sciences. I refused to pick just one. Early on, I was drawn to mainframes, with my mother being a keypunch operator, and art, since my father was an unrealized artist. I’ve always incorporated both fields into my life. My career has taken me through the Silicon Valley rollercoaster of startups, many of which are now household names. My area of focus has always revolved around emerging tech and storytelling.

AI felt less like a disruption when it arrived and more like a long-awaited arrival—something I’d prepared for decades prior.

Daily AI - A Partner in Creation

Every day, I turn to AI to bring my visions to life. Whether it's refining a photograph that didn’t quite work or generating a new mythical image, AI has become my creative partner. To me, art is merely another medium. My daily practice sets my approach apart and solidifies my place in that top 1%. This status doesn’t come from being special; it comes from constantly experimenting and pushing boundaries.

The process is rarely linear. Sometimes, I start with a hand-drawn sketch. Other times, it’s a photograph I shot at the wrong time of day, with the silhouette too dark or a subject slightly blurred. I feed that imperfection into an AI model—not to erase it, but to reinterpret it.

I rely on tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, DALL·E, Sora, and Pika. Each has its strengths and quirks, much like collaborators with wildly different personalities. I never stop at the first result. Some images take numerous iterations, a dozen mashups, and hand-painting over exported frames before they feel finished. AI is fast, and I appreciate that—I do not need to be.

PiP Art Gallery Example: Animals at Work

In a recent series titled “Animals at Work,” I imagined animals inhabiting human professions: a lioness as a judge, an owl as a professor, and a raven editing a manuscript by candlelight. Each animal serves as both a character and a question: What does it mean to be seen this way?

The Future of AI in Art

I believe we’re just scratching the surface of what's possible with AI. It doesn’t diminish human creativity; rather, it removes friction. It eradicates the hesitation of where to start and where to go next. The challenge lies in the flexibility required—it's rare when an image comes out close to what I initially imagined. If you can let go of replicating the perfect image, AI will surprise you. Today, anyone could create images from their dreams.

The question isn’t whether AI will take over art. The real question is: who will get to explore it? Who has access to this expanded canvas?

PiP Art Gallery: A Platform for Innovation

PiP isn’t just a gallery. It’s a blueprint for what’s possible when technology meets intuition. In the future, we’ll invite women from around the world to join me in sharing their visions. For now, PiP serves as my proving ground—a place to explore the limits of AI. This is all just the prologue.

Creative Process Snapshot

• Favorite Tools: DALL·E, Midjourney, Sora, Pika

• Average Iterations per Final Image: 15–30

• Typical Starting Points: Hand-drawn sketches, old photographs, dreams, historical prompts

• Prompts: myth, memories, texture, tension, resolve, color, emotion

  
  

AI Usage Benchmark Comparison

If any part of this story sparked something in you—curiosity, resonance, or simply a reminder that you're not alone on this path—know that PiP Art Gallery was built for that spark. This is just the beginning. I invite you to explore the gallery, join the conversation, or simply sit with the images a little longer. Creativity is a shared space, and there's room here for your voice too.

🌐 Visit our Pinterest📌 Follow along, stay curious, and keep imagining.

Paula Phelan,

PiP Art Gallery Founder