Monday, July 31, 2017

Day 179: Katia Lifshin


Sunday, July 30, 2017

Day 178: Jennie Norris

Artist Statement:
I was raised in an artistic family where art was ever present and highly encouraged. I started drawing at a very young age and through years of practice and study it has grown into an undeniable passion. I have worked as a professional Graphic Designer since 2009.

A reflection of my experiences and life adventures I generally use only my own photo reference to complete my work. Spending as much time as I can outdoors with nature, traveling to my favorite scenic spots, I gather reference and inspiration in an effort to communicate my love and excitement for nature in hopes of inspiring others.

Beginning in 2009 I have exhibited in numerous group and solo shows all over Arizona. During my years as a professional artist I have garnered numerous awards and have had my works added to private collections all over Arizona. In 2010 my work was included in North Light Books, Strokes of Genius: The Best of Drawing. In 2016 my work was included in North Light Books, Art Journey Animals: A Collection of Inspiring Contemporary Masterworks.

I have resided in Tucson, Arizona since 1976 and consider the desert my home. The beauty of the Southwest‘s flora, fauna, architecture & culture is ever present in my detailed drawings. After volunteering at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum’s Raptor Free Flight for 3 years, raptors and birds of all species have begun to work their way into my art more prominently. Honing my drawing skills strictly working in graphite for many years I have recently begun experimenting with new mediums and styles as a way to grow as an artist and explore new artistic landscapes and spiritual callings.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Day 177:Laura Korch Bailey


My mode of communication is objects. Drawing from my memory, my
work alludes to a sense of the uncanny that mark a complex boundary
that both draws us in and repels. My clay objects reminisce and float
within a sense of longing for memories of a childhood line between
self and other. I relate my amorphous objects to historical and
contemporary still life paintings. I showcase an oil painting of an object
and the object nearby, and their various features, to itself. This reality
creates an echo from the painting to the object. I practice in both
directions, sometimes the object is made first, followed by the painting
of the object. Other times I create a painting and select the
components of the sculptural object. In both instances the object and
painting enforce an environment. They are shown together as a
finished whole. Plant biology and human anatomy influence my color
palette, and surfaces. I’ve lived around many bodies of water and in
rural areas cultivating gardens and learning about plants, their
reproduction, and renewal. My perceptions of these experiences and
object shapes inform the history and transformation of my work. To
further my investigation on objects I look for answers and 
understanding through the following concepts: correlationism, object-oriented
philosophy, panexperientialism, metaphorism, and alien phenomenology.

Website:

Instagram: 
troutceramics

Facebook:
Trout Ceramics

Laura Korch Bailey

Pollen-Detail

Pollen

Microbial Landscape-detial

Microbial Landscape

Still Life Duality detail

Still Life Duality

Object Study I



.Object Study II

Symbiotic Efflorescence

ASU Grant Street Studios

Friday, July 28, 2017

Day 176 George Penaloza

 Artist Statement. I approach my clay artwork with a childlike sense of exploration and lighthearted wonder. I don’t set out to produce art on any particular subject. However, my passion for drawing even as a young boy, has led me to become a perpetual sketcher. Some of these sketches leap spontaneously off the paper, and begin to take new forms My work is rooted in humor, at times even borders on absurd. I am a strong believer that humor can elicit and foster deep cultural exploration. Many of my pieces provide a twist on every-day images or practices; some are likely to defy the boundaries of what is possible. I draw my inspiration from the geographical landscape in which I grew up, the Sonoran Desert, and my Mexican- American cultural context and history. My pieces are not intentional; they are fueled by my mood. Therefore, they tend to change and evolve over time. Working with paper clay allows my playful imagination to flow until almost the very last possible moment- the final firing. I take great pleasure in the smiles, and positive dispositions, that my work seems to evoke on others. Besides my infectious tendency to “twist” the elements that are around me, my art is steeped in pop culture, and inspired by TV shows, cartoons and comics. I have also been highly influenced by mentor, Hirotsune Tashima who pushed me to achieve beyond my own limitations. He has also helped me broaden my understanding of my own creative process. My art work tends to be very detailed; therefore a sudden glimpse into the unexpected is likely to occur. It is evident that I take humor and aesthetics serious.









Thursday, July 27, 2017

Day 175:Komala Rohde

Komala is a jewelry artist and teacher.
Her international career encompasses 2 decades of teaching energy work and reading to students in Europe, Japan as well as in the United States.
Sitting at the workbench and creating jewelry is a meditation for her.
Komala is certified both as Metal Clay artist and teacher. She is a member of the PMC guild. Komala loves working with both silver and base metals like Bronze, Copper and Steel.
Pioneering the contemporary medium of the rare metal Niobium through anodizing and finishing with cold connections i.e. chain mail is another passion of hers.
She also is an accomplished bead weaver.
Her work can be seen in the Gallery at the Sedona Arts Center among other places.
Komala is part of the faculty at the Sedona Arts Center teaching Beading, Chainmail and Metal Clay Classes.
Komala lives in Sedona, Arizona since 1995.
Facebook: Komala Rohde-Sedona's Jewel






Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Day 174:: Sue Chenoweth



Sue Chenoweth's installations and paintings are investigations of memory, myth, and place explored through historical narrative, architectural as well as the physical and biological sciences. Through her exploratory research and travel, she often paints "pre-memories" of adventures before she experiences them, investigating the similarities between the 'pre-memory' and the 'actual experience.'

The subject matter following her research investigates a wide variety of subjects,  whether it is swimming with great white sharks or exploring the sub-basements of estate houses of the gilded age, her work always traces back to a universal understanding of the human experience. Through these encounters Chenoweth captures the archetypes of the common man and delves into the everyday experience of being human.  By combining seemingly disparate subject matter, Chenoweth comes up with unique connections often overlooked.

suechenoweth.com


FADES THE LANDSCAPE FROM OUR VIEW I,

FADES THE LANDSCAPE FROM OUR VIEW II,

FADES THE LANDSCAPE III FROM OUR VIEW

FADES THE LANDSCAPE FROM OUR VIEW IIII

The next image in the group is called FADES THE LANDSCAPE FROM OUR VIEW IIIII but is not shown. Each of these is hung separate 3' behind the other until the last image is all of them seen together. FADES THE LANDSCAPE FROM OUR VIEW

Series FADES OUR LANDSCAPE FROM OUR VIEW, 2016,Chalk paint, acrylic, graphite and Letroset on clear Mylar, approx. 3' x 4'

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Day 173: Olivier Dubois-Cherrier


It’s Only A Matter Of Time
Statement by Olivier Dubois-Cherrier 

As a person I am very sensitive to my environment. When I say environment I am encompassing everything such as: landscape, organization of the urban spaces, size of the city, architecture of buildings, fluidity of traffic, relationship between people in terms of kindness, selfishness, and so on. As an artist I feel a heightened sensitivity and I know that my overall mood and mental health will depend on these environmental conditions.

Like Cy Twombly, when I make a piece of art I strive to conjure moments of genesis and creative hedonism that exist before ideas attain full expression as conventional images or language. I want very much for my work to take advantage of the instinctual impulses that lie beneath rational thought. However, because my genuine gestures need to be fed with meanings, my philosophical vision of the world helps me to better understand human nature and thus become more tolerant within myself. When I heard Gilles Deleuze state in an interview given in 1988, “If one is not ashamed to be a human being, then he doesn’t make art”, I understood better why it was so difficult for me to find the boundaries between my idealistic visions of human presence on this earth and the reality of our everyday life.

The title, It’s Only a Matter of Time, came to me after reading various books about the concept of time. Albert Einstein deconstructed the linear concept of time to be divided in regular and rigid sequences with his Relativity of Time theory. Bachelard also wrote in his The Intuition of The Moment “Time is nothing if nothing happens. (…) Eternity before the creation makes no sense, nothingness cannot be measured and thus I believe time should be related to any individual.” And lastly I feel very inspired by the gypsy proverb “After tomorrow, tomorrow will be yesterday” that expresses this unique time, variously modified; but always looking the same. The idea of time becomes confused with the intrinsic times of the nature and of the Cosmos. “The wise Gypsy wants the time that wants him. He wants the past that was and the future that will be, because he knows he cannot do anything about time given that it is the time which can everything about him” writes Michel Onfray in his Cosmos.

There is an ambiguous relationship between humans and time because of their inability to accept their own finiteness. In our contemporary world, the demand of performance coupled with the concept of time contributes to the denial of ripening, and aging and maintains the dramatic taboo we have about decay and death.

The pieces titled Esthetics of Decay numbers 1 through 6 are composed of pieces of wood coming from a Saguaro found in a dumpster on private property. Integrating still decaying natural matter with a more stable manmade composite block shows how beautiful and peaceful the acceptance of the limited lifespan of things could be.

The two furniture pieces filled with living and dead organisms, and mixed with concrete and clay are entitled Preservation Cabinet #1 and #2. The hoarding in these two pieces is more or less random and suggests various human intentions about the complexity of selecting what one should preserve and eventually repair while our contemporary way of living destroys the most sensitive and fragile species. With this body of work I want to investigate our best sensibilities when we are not pressed by modern necessities or greed. My intention is to illustrate the inconsistencies of our various politics and actions regarding preservation.

Ambivalent Coexistence (numbers 1 to 4) are made of living cacti bought in commercial places, and that I have more or less incarcerated within steles of concreteletting their roots grow into a block of soil and I offer them the possibility to be exposed to the outside light they need to survive. These sculptures intend to show through living organisms the effects of the perverse systems we create. It can be considered as much a critique of psychological attitudes as it is a metaphor about sociological and political systems. If the plants survive, their organic properties will be irreversibly modified. At stake in these artworks is a fight between narcissistic oppression and resilience.

And finally the paintings, The Origins, Our Contemporaneity and Rebirth are studies for the project that inspired my choice of Arizona to study and work in the near future. This work will address the alteration of our environment with the natural forces through time, as well as the effects of human presence.

My desire to become a land artist is for me the best way to resist the noise of the world and the nihilistic standardized white spaces offered by our contemporary art scene. The post-modernist theorists, scientists, intellectuals and artists have expended great deal of energy in deconstructing the various systems that make our actual civilization. We have reduced everything into such small parts (ideas, theories, matter…) around us that we have great difficulties today to see life in a poetic way. I want to initiate a kind of controversial step toward Arrière-Garde a term coined by Kenneth Frampton in his essay Towards a Critical Regionalism and suggest ways to drive mankind in a less nihilistic direction.



Like the situationnistes (Guy Debord) I am hard at work developing artistic practices to counter the effects of spectacle.



Ambivalent Coexistence #1,2,3 

Esthetic of Decay #1-5

Preservation Cabinet 1


Preservation Cabinet #1 detail


Preservation Display

Seeking an Island in Me

Sentinel #1

Monday, July 24, 2017

Day 172: Skye Lucking (Interview between Skye Lucking and Shelley Whiting)


Skye Lucking agreed to do an interview. But she wanted to interview me as well.

Give it a Try

Full Time Sunshine

Cowboy on a diet

Fat Tuesday

We Fell




My interview with Skye Lucking

1.     How has your family’s skydiving business influence your art? I’ve never skydived. What is the experience? Especially from a young age? You say your art is the experience of viewing below. What types of things do you see from looking from above?
·         I joke I was 'raised by a wild pack of skydivers' but that isn't too far from the truth. The sport attracts people of very different minds - from wandering hippies, to college students, to members of the military. You can only fit so many people into a plane at once - so there was a lot of sitting around, talking, and playing games like Trivial Pursuit. This mix of people in my early life (plus playing with new kids every weekend) opened up my mind in what might have been a cloistered existence in rural Oklahoma.
·         In terms of my visual vocabulary – the bright color palettes of the parachutes both inflated and floating softly down against the blue sky or bunched up in various forms of packing on the floor did much to foster my love of the bright and whimsical colors that they usually came in. Rarely will you see a mono-tone or muted parachute! Also, jumping out of the planes myself (strapped to the chest of my father on tandem jumps) allowed me to see the expansive Oklahoma farmscape – with its various colors of crops and shiny ponds – influences the combination of the geometric with the botanical.

2.     You studied under Miguel Angel Giovanetti. How does it feel being an art pupil? How has his artwork influenced your own?
o   When we moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina – we knew we’d be there only a short and wondrous time. I looked for opportunities to expand my art portfolio and skill as soon as we arrived. I looked for calls for artists in the city and this search lead me to my very first show for Radio Palermo – a beautiful building in Palermo, Buenos Aires – a very hip neighborhood. The art program there was run by Miguel’s wife – and this lead me to the opportunity to study with him along with several other artists. It was Miguel who told me I needed move from ink on paper to pain on canvas. This was a transformation shift and I’m so glad he pushed me in that direction.
o   Miguel hated some of the elements of the work I’d created. He said it needed space and there should be no checkerboards or ‘black holes’. It was hard to take the criticism, honestly, but I knew that I was there to learn. So, I was glad to listen to him and change my style based on his instruction. That isn’t to say that I’ve adhered to his advice since then – but it was a great exercise at the time!


3.     How has your art evolved throughout the years? Were you always an artist? When did you start taking art seriously?
o   One of the most attractive aspects of being an artist is the evolution of your style and skill set. Before moving to Buenos Aires, I was exclusively creating in sketchbooks. Now I’ve stacks of canvas I’m ready to work on. As simple as it sounds – the discovery of a simple compass,  straight-edge, and embroidery rings were a total game changer. I was always frustrated by the oddly shaped circle or inexact box. Suddenly I could make cleaner designs and perfect circles and this gave me a freedom and confidence. It was one of those ‘why didn’t I think of this earlier’ kind of moments!


4.     How long have you been showing your artwork in Arizona? What was your first show here? What has been your most successful show? I noticed we both showed at the Central Library. How do you feel about the general public viewing your artwork?
o   I’ve just been in Arizona for a short time, about 5 years I think. I had most sales from exhibiting at Pita Jungle. However, the curator stopped texting me to show after I declined his request to play “Words with Friends” which I thought kind of ridiculous. I’d say the show I was most proud of was for Burton Barr library because it was my first (and only so far) solo show. They do such a wonderful job in hanging the work and the space is so beautiful.
5.     What are your favorite places to show your art in the valley?
·      At the moment almost all of my art is hanging at F.A.B.R.I.C - FASHION AND BUSINESS RESOURCE INNOVATION CENTER in Tempe. The women who have created this new fashion incubator in Arizona are truly inspiration and amazing. They helped me with the creation of my first custom bow tie and now my work is hanging all over their building. Every time I see a snapshot of a class or the lobby and my work is hanging there, I’m so proud and happy! 
6.     What impression do you want the viewer to have from your artwork? What do you want others to remember from your work?
o   I’m a very happy person. I’ve gotten so lucky in life that it kind of boggles my mind sometimes (and makes me look over my shoulder). I want people to see that happiness in my work. However, I’d want them to also take a piece of that happiness with them after having viewed it. I’d like my artwork to brighten peoples day – literally and figuratively.
7.     What social causes do you advocate? What do you have passionate opinions about?
o   I was a Peace Corps volunteer from 2004-2006 and have never really stopped looking for places to make a positive change. Currently, I’m the president of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Phoenix and we’re working toward education reform in Arizona, which is sorely needed. Also, after several years of being a vegetarian – I’ve done my best to be a vegan as a way to lessen the suffering of animals and degradation of the environment and my own health. 
Also - I've been trying to create more politically inspired artwork in my own style. I recently did a series of 'Notable Women' for the 'Nasty Women - Phoenix Unite' show. 
8.     Your art is full of vibrant and lively color. Also. your art is very joyous. Do you have favorite colors? Why do you pick this color scheme? Sometimes you combine black and white and also color? Why do you do this?
o   I’m always drawn to the rainbow spectrum. As a child and even now I just get giddy at the site of a rainbow. It’s so random and so beautiful and always a gift. I’m trying to work in other palettes now just to add variety to my portfolio, but I’m drawn to ROYGBIV all the time. Aside from that, I really enjoy the shimmer of metallic paints.
9.     What art genres categorize your work?
o   I call my work geometric abstract. However, I think modern, contemporary, mid-century, and pop could be applied to certain pieces I’ve worked on.
10.  What is your artistic process? How do you start a piece and how do you finish it? What is your studio practice? What is your studio like? How often do you do art in a week?
o   I’m hoping to start a piece right after I finish these questions – so it’s a perfect question for the time. I usually start by getting all of my tools ready: embroidery rings (for large circles), stencils, straight edge, and Faber-Castell markets. Then I draw an outline on the canvas (be it big or small) and once I finish the outline, I start to paint it. I’ll give myself bonus points if I can set up my Canon to capture a time-lapse.
11.  Your artworks have fascinating titles. What is the reason for this? Do you title the pieces before or after your artwork?
o   Thank you! If I’m drawing or painting I’m almost certainly listening to something. This can be a podcast, audiobook, or Intelligence Squared US debate. Many of my paintings take their names directly from something in the content that I was listening to, either a chapter title, quote, or idea. 
12.  What types of literature or art history do you read to get ideas? What inspires you?
o   I love science fiction – both reading it and writing it. However, I’m not sure if that influences my art. More than anything I’ve turned to authors who write books encouraging artists and entrepreneurs to create and be confident. Elizabeth Gilbert (Big Magic) and Jen Sincero (You are a Bad Ass) are two recently that help me keep plugging away at what can be a daunting adventure.
13.  How important is social media for an artist now at days?
o   I’m right in the middle of trying to figure this out. I’m constantly struggling to balance the time I’m spending creating vs. posting about my creation. I have some serious internal struggle with the idea of creating an artist’s ‘persona’ versus being an authentic self – and when or if those two things merge for better or worse. I think social media is important for artists. The question is just how important is it.

 14.  Is there something you haven't tried yet that you want to?
o   I’d love to do a mural either indoor or outdoor. It is one of my goals for 2017 – but I’ve not yet been able to make it happen. My last resort will be just to paint our wall in the back yard!
15.  What are some of your favorite artists in Arizona? What do you think of the Arizona scene in general?
o   I will keep this list to 3 or I’d spend all day! Some of my favorite artists include:
v Mary Lucking (my sister-in-law) for her amazing and thoughtful public art works which incorporate the history of spaces along with beautiful cut metal and other media sculptures. It’s amazing. (www.marylucking.com)
v Ashley Macias: She’s got a mix of bright color, abstract mixes of human and animal forms that I find fascinating. I hope to have one of her pieces on day! (facebook.com/ispeakashley)

v Janel Garza: I love the clean lines of her work and futuristic shapes of her sculpture. Also, she chooses her color palettes really well and I always learn something from every piece she shares. (GeniusLociJewelry.com)


Before Time 3

Before Time 11

Apotheosis exhibit 2014



Eye of God 1 2015


Butterfly Wings and Angelic Messengers 4

Her Interview with Me

1.      You grew up among a family of artists and writers that also have strong religious roots in the Mormon faith. You mention this as an element in your most recent exhibit at Burton Barr – “Before Time”. In what other ways has this part of your life affected the way you work and your subject matter?

My late mom was a Mormon history buff who spent ten years writing a book. She would take trips to BYU to research for her book.  She had articles in LDS magazines. I was proud of her writing. I wasn’t a big Mormon back then. Thought it kind of boring. Now I realize the connections to Mormonism were some of the most fascinating things about my mom.
There are three creative people in my family of 6 siblings: myself – an artist, my twin sister - a writer, and my brother - a muralist. The three of us are the ones that are active in the church. I think spirituality makes you vulnerable and that vulnerability connects you to an imaginative side. You find your faith and enlightenment in something that isn’t tangible.
The religious part of my painting started on a whim. LDS paintings are typically very conservative, i.e. a semi-naturalistic picture of Jesus with a light behind him. I grew up with that all my life. My art has always been more outsider or abstract, and my style not for everyone. So, the idea of actually doing LDS art as part of my career was never seen to me as a possibility. My brother who went to RISD talked about a Mormon classmate named Jeff Larsen. He said Jeff did a performance piece where he dressed up in a yeti outfit on stage and recited the LDS children’s song “Once there was a snowman.” I was impressed that he didn’t let conservative artistic traditions hold him back from how he chose to express his faith. So, I began to think about how to paint spirit babies. I did some paintings of some old men as spirit babies in pajamas. I thought of spirit babies as old men full of wisdom. It was fun and goofy. My brother called me and encouraged it, saying “That’s definitely not the usual LDS art.” I wouldn’t say I’m a Jack Mormon. But I was never the Molly Mormon go-to girl. I was not happy-go-lucky, nor ready to be a missionary.

2.      You are posting about an Arizona artist every single day for 365 days. What has that process been like for you? What have you learned from the interviews you’ve had with these artists?

I have a friend Ione Lewis who started a Central Arts District Blog. I was hanging out with her while she was writing up her blog, and was inspired through her to do a blog myself.I had been going to First Fridays for a year and the same ten artists were rotating in the same five galleries. I thought “There have got to be more Arizona artists out there.”  I thought about the 365-day format because it’s a large number but on a daily basis easy to absorb. I did a lot of research. I looked up all I could about vendor artists and artists who stand outside Revolver Records. I researched different scenes like Yuma and Tucson. Also different types such as glass and ceramic artists. Looked up graduate students. I emailed a million artists on Facebook asking them if they wanted to be on my blog. I really love helping out emerging artists the most, but also enjoy including seasoned artists.
I feel that I’m more aware of the Arizona art scene in general. I realize the artists are showing everywhere now. I also try to make it to shows by the artists on the blog. It’s nice to meet them in person.
The photography scene is the most provocative and some of the most cutting-edge stuff on my blog.

3.       If all of your artistic dreams were realized – what would that look like? You mentioned you’d like to do installation art. Do you have a concept in mind for what that would look like?

I would love the opportunity to work bigger, I stopped doing large works because of storage problems years ago.
It’s funny I started a painting series a month ago. When I started I decided to do it as an installation series. I didn’t listen. seventy five percent into the series I realized that my intuition was right.
I have this I idea of canvas cut outs of these tall pleurant figures around a room with thousands of little paintings in the middle of the room. 
At ASU Sandy Winters came to visit. I looked at her installation work and it was very amazing. Would love to do something larger than life.

4.      You mention you spend five to six days a week at Warehouse 1005, an art studio and gallery in the Phoenix art district. What has that experience been like?

Warehouse 1005 is an art therapy studio. I have bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. I have been going to Art Awakenings and the Warehouse for five to six years. My self-confidence has increased and the diagnoses define me less.  For years I felt like I always had this load on me and it would never go away. When I entered the program I started painting about my mental illness. I never liked painting about the darker side of me. Also, I never liked being too introspective in my work. I don’t think I was excited about revealing the unglamorous sides of me. But when I did a feeling definitely showed up in my work that hadn’t before. All the pain made my work richer. I still paint about the topics but less obviously.  Confronting those arenas of my life made me more self-accepting and overall a more well-rounded person.

5.      How long have you been showing your artwork in Arizona? What was your first show here?

I’ve been showing my art in Arizona since I was 19. My first show was in The Paper Heart which was a great place for emerging artists in Phoenix at the time. I showed for two to three years. I really wasn’t prepared for all the hard work that I would have to do to get my work out there. I was naïve thinking things were going to happen to me really fast. 
I stopped showing my art for five years because my thoughts were too fast and I couldn’t concentrate. I was later put on the right medications again and my focus was back. The experience has taught me never to take my art for granted.

6, What impression do you want the viewer to have from your artwork? What do you want others to remember from your work?

With the current work I’m doing I’m hoping have a connection to spirituality and to a perspective that is uniquely my own. One viewer at the show said “I didn’t even read your artist statement but I knew it was spiritual.”  I know my LDS perspective might weird some people out. One person even said “Don’t give me no Book of Mormon.” That is far from the point. I am actually conflicted about my spirituality. I would even admit I don’t fully have a testimony yet.  So my artwork is me trying to question and still connect to the spiritual on some level.

What social causes do you advocate? What do you have passionate opinions about?

I’m not extremely political. Feminist, but not an extreme. I do try to keep my positions on issues moderate, despite having an extremely conservative upbringing. I am that way. My mom was extremely black-and-white in her way of thinking. She would say “It’s bad. It’s a sin. Case closed.” Though I do tend to have mostly Christian friends, I recognize there is value outside of that bubble. Some artistic people aren’t Christian and have intellectually sound opinions.

8.     What art genres categorize your work?

Probably outsider art. I’ve had my art called that negatively. In art school I found it insulting. Now I realize the best artists are from that genre. I remember seeing the art of Adolf Wolfli when I was 20. I was a pop artist at the time so my work was far from that at the time. But I saw an artist who created his own cosmology and artistic language. You know there is a hidden artistic language in his work. He has layers of musical notes and swirls. Yet it doesn’t matter because its intensity and different cosmology draw the viewer in.

9.     What is your artistic process? How do you start a piece and how do you finish it? What is your studio like?

Each series lends its own kind of figures. I have questions like: “How do I dress them?”, “What art period do they come from?”, and “What do their anatomies look like?”  I generally use a reference. For the “Before Time” series I printed pictures of Renaissance sculptures. I sketch but generally distort the figure in some way. A lot of this is because I started out studying caricatures when I was seventeen. I don’t see things realistically. They always come out looking cartoony and unreal. Once I have the figures sketched out I imagine some sort of backdrop. With the “Before Time” series I thought of some Roman buildings and some open organic form in the background.
I start a figure in terms of layers. I look at the sketch and paint the shape of the body and the face. With the hundred figure project, it was 100 or so of these types of figures lined up.  With a close up of a face, it’s the shape of a head. I layer first in black, then blue, then red. The layering makes it more sculptural and gives it some history. I then do some line marking. I scribble some dark red, dark yellow blacks, yellow blacks and some neon dark reds. I then proceed to do the eyes.  The eyes are really important as they show the soul of the figures. I do the mouth and the lips. After the eyes and the lips I call it a day and then do the flesh tone the next day. It’s not usually obvious but I do add neon pink and neon red in my colors. It helps brighten the skin tones. I usually do most of the blending of the skin tones with big brushes but usually my fingers. With the Before Time series I did hundred so of the figures. One painting took me a month. Very detailed work. Every figure had their own personality and soul. I finished the painting think almost of a spaceship on top. One person even commented “Beam me up.”

10.What’s your current studio practice? What is your studio like? How often do you do art in a week?

I paint right now upstairs at Warehouse 1005.  I rent a little space. I no longer do art therapy there. I graduated from the program.  It’s affordable. The table I paint on is full of paint. So is the floor.  I paint five to six days a week I usually start painting at 10 am and go home around 2 pm. I think that’s as far as my attention span can go.
The night time, in general, is when my creative juices start working. Between twelve am to three am I usually binge on some TV show and sketch all night.