Interview Questions

v  What was you first memorable art experience and how is it relevant to what you are doing now?

Ø  I like this question but it’s also really hard.  I’ve been drawing a really long time I guess, since I was a kid.  As a kid I would draw the same things over again.  I had a way I drew dogs and essentially I drew the same dog but one would be brown, and one would have spots, and other things.  I also remember drawing a heron or something, a bird with one leg up.  I don’t know why but I really liked that.  Is an art experience different than those random things you draw as a kid?  That’s what stands out most to me, those two things I would draw.

v  Who is your favorite artist and why?

Ø  My favorite artist is Arthur Dove.  I found him by chance; for advanced painting we went to some gallery in D.C.  We went there for the Van Gogh exhibit and that was cool but then I was wandering around after and I found this one Arthur Dove piece and stared at it for a really long time.  Security changed shifts while I was standing there.  It was a sunrise in a series, an abstract piece.  I reminded me of a cave.  There were so many things to look at and I could probably go back to it now and find something new.  I think it was fun I didn’t get exactly what it was so it was bringing my own experiences.

v  What inspires you?  What are some of the sources, both within art and outside of art that you turn to?

Ø  I guess what inspires me is my own imagination and the things I think of to keep me entertained on long trips or if before bed I’ll just think of something.  That’s from within me.  Outside of me is the media, entertainment.  I am in love with animation and cartoons so I have kind of a bias against live action movies.  I really like you can do so much more in cartoons.  You can have all these uncanny things and it’ll look real in the context you see it in and you’ll really.  Looking back at the Quidditch scene in the first Harry Potter movie, that particular part isn’t believable to me anymore.  If it’s animated from start to finish then everything makes sense.  I appreciate animation cause it’s all drawn.  I love drawing.  It’s special.

v  What draws you to the medium and materials you work in? / How does your choice of medium(s) affect your work and contribute to its meaning?

Ø  I recently just got into watercolor over the summer and it first it was really frustrating but now I’m totally in love with it.  I really like how light it feels.  I remember my teacher always saying “your watercolors are so fresh” and I like fresh.  I guess I said light, I like things being light and floating.  I think watercolor really helps enhance that.

v  How is your art a response to the world you live in?

Ø  It’s kind of like a sanctuary.  It’s so peaceful and serene and full of wonder and amazing things.  It’s like a retreat, especially now.  I feel really freaked out and on edge and kinda neurotic and I’ll tell myself stop it.  After I feel like that I have to do something else and stop thinking about it so I’ll go watch an episode of a show I like and I’ll feel calm.

v  Is your work ultimately more about your process or about the final product?  Why do you feel that way?

Ø  It’s definitely about the final product.  I do like the process but I feel like I don’t like other people witnessing the process.  Sometimes having studio mates can be nerve-wracking cause I don’t want them to see it cause it’s not done yet.  I don’t want them to make comments, not until I’m satisfied with it.

v  What about making art intimidates you?

Ø  What people say.  I feel they’ll say what I do isn’t art.  That was my fear about hearing about my art.  It feels weird to have everyone doing things about feminism and doing things to figure out technique and people taking portraits to figure out the heart of the person and I’m just doin doodley doodles.

 

v  But it’s a different art.  Why do you make it?  You’re making an illustrated book, is that to try and bring that joy to other people?

Ø  I would like other people to have joy and sanctuary too and have a physical thing to reaffirm.  It’s fun to make art.  It’s all three of those things.  It feels weird to be the only person doing that in this group and not see it a lot in the art world, like in galleries.  I definitely recognize it as art and I’m sure other people will say that it’s art but it’s not in a gallery, it’s in its own little sphere.

v  But think about how more accessible that is though.

Ø  Yeah it definitely is and I like that.

v  If you could have your portrait done by anyone who would it be and why?

Ø  Maybe impressionists like Van Gogh or Mary Cassatt.  I like any impressionist.  They think about color and I really would just like to see my face in color color.  The lines are really nice too and I’m sure, or I hope, there’d be a fun background.