Our experience in Texas was beyond our expectations. What a thriving and thrilling art community. Art is Moving is moving on and we cannot wait to see what Oklahoma's Art Scene is all about!!
In June AIM is moving along and we are continuing our virtual interview series called I am an Artist to Oklahoma
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Art is Moving first began this art investigation called I am an Artist in October of 2009 with the intention to virtually travel to all of the fifty States and beyond. Thus far we have gathered an amazing selection of interviews from artist's in the States of Washington,Oregon,Nevada,Idaho,Utah,New Mexico,Colorado, and Texas.
We are making a call out to all Oklahoma Artists! Art is Moving would love to hear about your vision and inspiration. Please e-mail us at artismoving@gmail.com if you are interested in being part of this project.
May 28, 2010
May 23, 2010
The ARTcart Strikes Again
Our civil discourse continues to expand. Here are some pics of the ARTcart at "Culturefest in Oakland hosted by the Koreatown Northgate Community Benefit District on May 16,2010.
Our latest edition -The Mobile ARTcart at Oakland's Layover Lounge. The Mobile ARTcart is more akin to guerrilla art. Lauren and I swoop into unexpected public spaces and facilitate art making. We are both armed with two ARTcart backpacks filled to the brim with art supplies. We set up in an available space and invite folks to engage, connect, and to make art for free. Look for us in and around Oakland and San Francisco over the next couple months.
Civil discourse is engagement in conversation intended to enhance understanding. Done well, it can drive to insight that is actionable in the context of furthering individual dignity and improving society.http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Transwiki:Civil_discourse
We have seen at the ARTcart when people make art together societal boundaries of alienation begin to dissolve. While creating strangers strike up conversations and they begin to see and connect with each other on a universal level. I personally feel that through the realization of our interconnectedness, we have the potential to become individually empowered. For me empowerment leads to compassion and empathy within society as whole.
Our greatest hope is that we all can change the world for the better one ART work at time. Happy Creating!!Namaste-lisa
If you interested in starting an ARTcart in your community? Let us know.
artismoving@gmail.com
May 19, 2010
I am an Artist: Christian Millet
I became an artist because of my necessity to express myself to others and involve my surroundings in my personal life.
Through the years this concept has matured in different ways, painting, writing or promoting has become not only a way of life, but a way to release my own demons, ideas that I can’t necessarily express during a conversation.
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.
There’s a relation in each artwork, a straight connection between reality and my inner self; I am selfish. (Self-Centered)
In general what I try to represent is the many windows of my multifaceted character and the connection between those worlds. I am firm believer that everybody has more than one face, my artwork is a constant search of that belief and representations of it.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?
I tend to use multimedia, each media and their differences can easily tell a story, if you follow the strokes of the oil into the texture of the acrylic you can see the transitions of the idea itself.
On the other hand I consider myself an experimental artist more than anything else. The canvas is my playground.
4. How does your country of origin (Peru) influence your aesthetic?
You can identify my origin in some of my paintings, particularly observing the black outlines, shown in almost all of my work. Beyond my influences from Paul Klee, Joan Miro and Jose Tola; the elaboration of the black lines creates and define the object as individuals inside of the composition.
5. How has living in Texas for the last 6 years influenced your work?
The people influence my art more than the location itself, my ability and comprehension has grown, manifesting my interpretation in different ways. My conception has changed, evolving in a chain of reactions.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?
I want to believe that it is to project a concept and make it part of the entire population.
7. Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art (believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?
Yes, I have.
In present times, art is almost luxury, not affordable for many and with that a lack of appreciation comes aboard.
8. As an artist how do you deal with rejection?
The same way that I deal with coffee, depends how it is served.
I am constantly asking the general public their opinion, not necessarily for their knowledge of art; instead I am looking for some feedback to create sales without prostituting myself as an artist.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
Being exposed, not admired, being part of a community of interest and developing that interest into something else.
10. What does art mean to you?Art is a lifestyle.
Check out Christian's Blog: http://bocadeserpiente.wordpress.com/
May 18, 2010
I am an Artist: Holli Bonacquisti
1. Why are you an artist?
Being an artist was never a choice. I was born an artist. My entire being is art!
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.
My artwork portrays the beauty found in all life through the use of representing the connections between humans, nature, color, light, and form. One of my paintings called Duality transforms oil paint on canvas into a colorful and enchanting picture of the human connection we have to each other. While another one of my paintings, Melody of Wind uses movement of form to capture the connection we experience with nature. To learn more please visit my website at www.illoh.com.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?
I enjoy using oil paint, prismacolors, pencils, acrylic paint and mixed mediums. Each medium brings their own qualities to the table. For example oil paint allows the artist to manipulate it in ways that acrylic paint can’t reach when it comes to mixing and smooth the colors. While acrylic paint dries faster and is great for crisp lines. So it just depends on the feel I am expressing for a particular piece on which medium I use.
4. What does the female figure symbolize for you?
The female form is repeated throughout many of my paintings. She stands for strength and love through experiencing the various stages of life. The series of paintings called Evolution of Self portrays the female figure coming into maturity and learning to use her mind and ideas to create a beautiful world.
5. Your work seems very organic. Can you speak to this? Do you plan out your work before you create it?
When creating a piece of art, the formation takes place first in the mind. For weeks and weeks, the art will consume all thought. All of a sudden, I will have to sketch out the painting and use whatever utensil that I find at that exact moment like a pencil, pen, or highlighter onto a post it, sketch book, or napkin. Finally, I will play with the paints to make the dream into a reality.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?
The role of an artist is to capture the uncalculated life as we experience it. Austin, Texas has so many talented artists and such a great history which all come together to create an amazing art loving society!
7.Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art (believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?
I believe that art is in the eyes of the beholder and art will affect one person differently than another. One person may be moved by the Mona Lisa, while another is touched by Monet's Water Lilies. Now to say that art is not of value would be the same as saying the soul is not of value. I would laugh if I met such a person and probably would sketch their portrait.
8. As an artist how do you deal with rejection?
On this artistic journey, many people have crossed my path all with their own criticisms both positively and negatively. The purpose of my art is for others to be able to experience the art and feel connected through their own way. I do not allow myself to feel rejected. Instead, I see an opportunity for growth and a new challenge.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
I am living as an artist and will continue throughout my life. My goal is to be able to continue to have a positive impact on the world and bring happiness to those that experience the art.
10. What does art mean to you?
Art is Life and Life is Art
Check out Holli's Website to see more of her work: http://www.illoh.com/
May 17, 2010
I am an Artist: Will Dawg
1. Why are you an artist?
I’m not sure why I’m an artist. Like many other artists it started for me as a young child. I would watch Bob Ross on Saturday Mornings with my grandfather. He was amazed at what Bob could do in 30 minutes time with paints and a brush. My tastes in art have become a bit more refined than that over the years but I think there may have been a bit of wanting to please the people that cared for me. You know, like how most kids want to be kind and will bring their mom a dandelion from the yard just to see them smile. It was something relative to that feeling you get when they do show appreciation and affection. I just wanted that feeling. As I got older and art progressed I stopped longing for that feeling from others and realized that when I made art or even drew a picture that I was pleased with that feeling was self generated. There’s nothing wrong with a little self nurturing I say.
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.
As an illustrator my work varies depending on the needs of clients. My personal work is often times just evoked from spontaneity. I’ll see an image or get a feeling about something. Sometimes it’s just colors that flash through my head for periods of time. Then it’s up to me to try to decipher what it means and translate it into something visual. A lot of times as I’m working out the line drawings I sort of evolve a pretentious story to help develop what supporting imagery and or compositions might be beneficial to the piece. Then again sometimes it’s just a random group of images compiled together and I let the viewer dictate the story to themselves. I’m not entirely opposed to the idea of people misreading my art. I think it helps sometimes to hear alternative opinions of what the viewers are looking at. It opens creative possibilities for the next piece that I probably wouldn’t have thought of myself. Another reason my work is not so concept based spanning entire works is that from one painting session to the next my mood and ideas will have changed. I like to be fluid with the ebb and flow of my inspirations. I don’t want to pigeon hole myself for the sake of conception. Some artists are great at maintaining themes and concepts. That’s just not my thing really.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?
Well. I’m actually well versed in most of the traditional media. I like water based media the most simply because it’s easy to clean. Plus with the advancement of water media over the years there’s really not much that can’t be duplicated in terms of effects or techniques that oil based media can produce. The replication process is sometimes painstaking to perfect but given enough practice it can be achieved. That’s just my take on it though. Don’t get me wrong. I do own a good amount of oil paints and turps and all that goes with it but since I left school they’ve been collecting a lot of dust. Sorry oil paints!
4. What is the inspiration for your work?
I’ve got lots of inspirations for my work but one of the biggest ones I would say is the work of other artists. I’ve noticed this sort of infinite loop in creativity. When I look at other artists works and dream of possessing the creativity or technical abilities as they have and strive to attain it, I sit back and think to myself..well…even those individuals whom I deify have artists that they look up to as well. As you slowly progress and build upon your skill level you never really look back much at the other artists who hold you in the same regard. So to some degree you do achieve that level. The only problem is that you seldom know who it is that thinks of you the same way. It’s not a problem per se but if artists were informed of the fact that other emerging artists hold them in that regard they would intuitively see that they have indeed progressed. It took me a long time to figure that out, believe me.
5. How do you come up with your compositions?
Sometimes I just let compositions come forth by their own will. Sometimes I disregard composition all together and just go with what I like. I know composition does play a big role in the effectiveness of conveying messages but sometimes the lack of composition is the message. But, when I’m trying to stick within the guidelines of convention I will often follow the order of importance. I’ll sometimes make a numbered list. 1 being the most important aspect of the piece then 2 and sub sequential numbers being of lesser importance. Then base the size of the components on that list. In illustration (for clients) compositions just can’t be ignored. So I usually create a list based on the importance of the components for them. Then once all that is ironed out I check to see if any component or combination of them might lead to a logical layout based on the classic geometries that have been employed since the beginning of art studies.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?
That’s a tough question to answer because of the paradox nature of the question. I mean…everything worth -while that is enjoyed from everyday life is ultimately a spawn of the creative process of an artist. Yet, artists are treated with such little regard as though our role is a trivial commodity. As an example…just browse C-list for any given state and see what people are willing to pay an artist for their works versus the quality of work they expect in return. That statement doesn’t only apply to C-list…it’s a widespread problem so I use it with the intent of a blanket statement. People neglect to realize that everything they own, use, want and adorn has stemmed from the conceptual ideas of an artist of some form or another. Take for example the clothes you’re wearing right now. Before they were made they were a design on paper. So is the car you drive, the TV you watch every night, the movies they display, the table you eat your dinner on, the house in which you live…and so on. Our role is vital to the appeal of the masses and individuals. But it’s very seldom looked at that way by every day people. I mean…did you ever once look at an ordinary object and think “I wonder how the designer came up with the concept for this?” No…probably not. It’s just not something we do in our everyday lives. We just take things for granted because they already exist and we no longer need to think about it. I think that mentality has carried itself across the expanses of other creative needs as well and has become an infliction within the creative fields. People don’t ever see what goes on behind the scenes in the creation process therefore they have no idea how complicated it can be or how much skill is required to produce the required results. I think that is probably one of the biggest fundamental knowledge gaps between artist and art buyer and is what warrants the low paying offers and consequently the resentment. As far as Texas goes, I’m probably not the best man to answer that question. I’ve been here only about 4 years. I assumed Dallas being a well established city would be on the forefront of the art scene in Texas but so far it seems years behind comparatively. But that’s my only frame of reference. I know Austin is booming in the arts and has been for a long time. It just seems strange to me that Dallas wouldn’t want to mimic that and give its satellite city a little friendly competition but it doesn’t seem to be the way things are at all. Maybe I just need to get out more to notice something to the contrary.
7.Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art (believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?
All the time. Just look at C-list posts.
I’ve learned that harping on others there isn’t the thing to do. It never changes the dynamic. I’ve seen people post up entire rants and bash others for the ridiculous offers being made. Sure I get angry at the offers. They are in fact ridiculous as previously stated but little and loud anonymous complaints via a post go unheard and unheeded. Case and point: here’s a C-list post I found just today.
gigs-daed7-1726671754@craigslist.org
The ad reads: we are building a recording studio and would like the outer panels of the sound booth painted with hip hop flavor. I will buy the supplies and smoke you out for your time. Thanks
Hm….so if I have this straight, you want me to come and decorate your recording studio (probably in your Ma’s basement, an assumption based on the method of payment). You’ll buy the paint and in return you’ll pay me in weed.
Nice…and classy too.
This is the sort of thing that is just way too insulting for even quasi-professionals to have to sift through this sort of nonsense in hopes of finding a plausible gig. It’s aggravating to say the least.
I know there’s a ton more venues out there to find opportunities but since that is where I found your post and am replying to it I’ll stick within that framework. I don’t think that was the intention when the idea of C-list was concocted but that’s definitely what it has become. I’m not sure that there is a way to get it back streamlined with a more professional dynamic to it since A). It’s available to any and everyone. And B). Some of the talent on there is sub- par too. I think it would be really cool if something to the effect was implemented where registered users can be locally rated by clients ONLY who have used and paid for artist services. There could be a sub category rating by local registered users who would rate others based on their work portfolios but the secondary rating would be a supplemental rate system more or less based on popularity. That way you could at least get an idea via other local users and past patrons of the artist about whom you could possibly be dealing with. With some sort of checks and balances instated it might be a little easier to keep posters like the above mentioned just off the list. It’s not a flawless idea by any stretch but at least a step forward I would hope.
8. As an artist how do you deal with rejection?
I’ve learned to take rejection quite well over the years. I’m my own worst critic and nobody can say anything about my work that I haven’t already internalized that isn’t probably true. I’m not really concerned with the opinions of others anyways. They are just that…opinions. Everyone’s entitled to them I guess. Besides…taking on a little rejection without resentments can cause you to be a better artists if you use the crits constructively. Everyone sucks at art early in their endeavors anyways. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, did Da Vinci come shooting out the birth canal with a bunch of masterpieces tucked under his arms? No…he had to work at it. And, I’m sure there was a whole time period where he was learning the ropes when he probably got rejected and wasn’t thrilled about his own abilities. There’s nothing wrong with staying humble about the fact that someone rejects your work but you shouldn’t let it eat away at your self-worth. Just keep moving along and ride the wave so to speak.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
I don’t have many goals as an artist. To me that statement is a loaded question. What I mean by that is if you have a goal as an artist that means you’re using the creative process to further some agenda. I want to work at Walt Disney or someday I want to be famous or I want to (fill in the blank). I’m not saying that goals are bad to have. They definitely prompt focus. But I’ve found that once the goal is achieved the dream often dies. That job at Disney isn’t as fun as you thought it would be or all the fame has demanded so much creative pressure to produce more and better paintings, etc. For me, art is just something I like doing. I’m dedicated to the craft, not the potential benefits of using it as a career catapult. I would surely take them if they came along, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not something I strive for. I mean, you see this all the time especially in the music industry. One minute your song is #1 on the charts..the next you can’t even get a signed contract. I know there’s a bunch of factors involved but one of the fundamental reasons I see this happening is that while artists are coming up they are more in tuned with what’s current and fashionable. As they reach a certain level they lose sight of the trends because they feel they have arrived. Meanwhile the dynamic of the industry changes beneath them and they can’t seem to keep track or adapt to those changes because they lost their focus by not being humble about their success. The same thing happens in the art world too and I think it’s the same fundamental problems that are to blame-swollen egos and loss of focus. When you’re dedicated to the craft and not necessarily concerned with the outcome of its pursuit then it’s much easier to stay sharp and be able to change and evolve creatively. Would I like to be rich from art? Yeah. Would I like to be famous, without a doubt but am I concerned about whether or not either of those two scenarios plays out…not really. I’ll still be an artist no matter what. To stay creative indefinitely, I guess that’s my real goal.
10. What does art mean to you?
What does art mean? Well, close your eyes for just a second. While they’re closed, imagine living all your life like that, as if you were blind. How important is art now? Every day we walk around with blinders on. We’re stuck in our daily lives, going to work, getting dresses…routine, autopilot motions. Theirs is so much stuff that happens that is just ignored. Everyday moments, simple things. The way the light shines through your windows in the mornings, A newly unfurled fiddle head of a fern, the glistening of dew on the grass, a kind interaction between two total strangers in the parking lot at Walmart. Everyday moments and things which are just so poetic by virtue but dismissed without thought. All these little things which bring absolute intrinsic beauty to your life that you would only miss if it were gone. I think that’s what artists are really trying to tap into. The moments in between the automated daily responses to show the world that so much is flashing by without even a glimpse of recognition. To sort of jostle you awake for even a second to say “HEY!!! Here I am, and here’s my painting of this seemingly ordinary event or thing which did actually take place here on Earth that nobody seemed to notice but me. WAKE UP and take notice of your own everyday ordinary moments and notice just how beautiful they really are!!” But much like the thing or the event, the paintings also go unnoticed. We’re not just image makers and painters. We’re literal dream weavers. We’re shaping the realities around us and making possible a better, future reality one stroke, idea, concept, color blend, pencil line, etc at a time. We can create the most awe inspiring artwork to elevate the spirit or just the opposite. I mean…just look at all the talent and creativity that goes into making violent video games and movies. We’re not perfect beings by any stretch or better than anyone else who is not an artist. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that without art and the work of artists this world would be a very mundane and miserable place to live. Don’t you agree?
See more of Will's work here: http://www.magicrhynocreative.com/
May 14, 2010
Dear Artist,
I am the first to admit that I do not handle rejection letters in the most mature fashion. My gut reaction involves curse words and whining. It HURTS! What can I say, I don't enjoy the feeling. It is difficult not to feel like I wasted my time, energy, and money just to receive an impersonal single white piece of paper that simply says, no.
Alas, I usually come around to the conclusion that, "This is what I signed up for." And that rejection is just part of the process.
Moving forward and making new art is usually the best answer. Art comes from life anyway, so why not add a dose of rejection into the mix? I have done just that in one of my most recent artworks. Since my art concept revolves around the idea that everything matters and everything is connected I thought rejection letters from strangers was a perfect material to use. What a crazy idea. Sending letters to strangers that you know will crush them. What a connection to share with someone you will never meet.
I decided to sew some rejection letters I had been collecting and draw my emotion out on to them.
It felt good and wrong all at the same time. But, I believe that honesty is always the best policy and this is truly what a rejection letter makes me feel. I think many people out there can relate.
How do you deal with rejection?
May 13, 2010
I am an Artist: Kurtz of Frausun
1. Why are you an artist?
If I didn't compose music, I would go mad. It's the only thing that calms the storm inside me.
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.
I made a stringed instrument out of human bones and I carry that message to my music. The human body is an instrument with vibrations, strings, dead zones. I desire to transform, in the name of Alchemy, the vulgar and mundane into the Divine. For example, the sound of a screeching car tire can be turned into a looping, ambient beat for a song about premature death. It takes everything to a higher level of magickal consciousness.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?
Because real Magick is about subtlety. In one of my songs, Anthem for Ragnorak, the opening beat is Morse Code for O-D-I-N. It spells his name before he battles to the death. If I simply chanted "ODIN" over and over, everyone would understand and it would therefore drain the music of its magickal quality. In another song I'm composing, 200Hz, I take the "sound" of ultrasound and mix it with screaming slaughtered piglets with crying babies as the score to a work about the Pied Piper. Rats can hear at 200Hz, so I've placed sounds at the frequency in the song to drive them crazy.
4. What is the role of Goth in your work ?
I love the Goth community. It's more understanding, open-minded and free spirited than anything I've found...especially compared to those winy little "Vamps" or the cowardly simpletons, the Emo's.
5. Could you speak about how the work of the musical group Dead Can Dance influences your creative process?
I'm listening to them right now as I compose this email. There is an other-worldy element to their work that is so powerful. You just know their never going to sell out the massive stadiums. What they're doing is genuine, a homemade kind of music, porch music that has the raw quality of the mountain or desert people. It was also one of the bands that kept me going during a particularly difficult period where I contemplated suicide after a personal tragedy. During the depths of my lowest time, I listened to their organic music and it helped me rise above my suffering.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?
The artists of today are not ready for what is needed in society. We need art to be revolutionary, violent, pregnant...It's become a commodity where American Idol determines what's acceptable and the bottom of the musical barrel shows up to dance like marinates in black face. We need another "punk revolution," but we're too lazy pressing "Like" on Facebook.
7.Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art (believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?
The only people I have met like that have usually accused my paintings or music of not being of an artistic value. Their reactions run from indifference to death threats.
8. How do you personally deal with rejection?
I thrive on it. I was kicked out of art school because my style wasn't accepted by the professors and I've been rejected by every record company I've ever sent my work to. Clubs have banned me because of my style of music. Which, since they are all a part of the system that doesn't want to challenge the status quo or create anything daring, I take as a lovely compliment.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
I don't give a damn about fame or wealth. I want to have my art be a vehicle for my own salvation and sanity.
10. What does art mean to you?
Pb->Au
Check out the artist on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/frausun
May 12, 2010
I am an Artist: Louis Eastman
1. Why are you an artist? ------------- I am an artist by nature. If I am left alone long enough I will draw or think about drawings, all day.
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.-------The concept behind my work is a sort of improvisational form. I love to start with nothing in mind and just let it flow. Art for art sake.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?--------I mostly work in acrylic if painting, and pencil/ ink when sketching. I use these mediums mainly because its what I can get my hands on,and I have always used them.
4. Tell us about your creative process. ----like all people my creative process goes in waves, But, I get my inspiration by the people in my life and images i fall in love with at first sight.
5. How does your work in design influence your art? ---- I try and make my art look as clean as possible, which makes me think of a finished design.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?------ Our role in society, is to not let visual arts be ignored. Make one person look up from there iphone for one second and look at the painting on the wall and appreciate it.
7.Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art (believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?---Not one personal experience, but I do hang my work at coffee shops and when I go in and see all the people glued to their laptops. I wish they would be looking around a bit more. Never really came across "anti-art" (but it sounds lame).
8. As an artist how do you deal with rejection? ---- I don't really mind it, I do what I would like to see,and If I please my own eyes, I put it out there.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist? ---My goal as an artist is to get as big as I can. I want people to recognize my style all over the world, One paintin,One t-shirt, One interview at a time.
10. What does art mean to you?-- everything
May 10, 2010
I am a heARTist: Mother Henna
As an artist and as an collaborator I love the Internet! It is such a portal for our expanded creativity and connection. Kara Chipoletti Jones (Mother Henna) e-mailed us about a month ago and she said "Just stumbled upon your Art Is Moving site and FB page today and looooove it! Wondering if you are actively looking to interview artists?"
Of course AIM is all about the YES!!! Below is her interview. Thank you Mother/Kara for the amazing work you are doing in the world.
1. Tell us your story.
While I have always been an artist, making art and writing since I could use crayons, my real moment of choosing to be a practicing heARTist came after the death of my son Dakota. A couple months after his death, I had a few of my grief writings published and was invited to read them and say a few words at a public event. After the event was over, an 80-something year old woman approached me and my husband. She put her hands on our hands and with tears in her eyes, said, "My baby died the same way over 50 years ago, and I was never allowed to say his name out loud." In that moment, I became a practicing heARTist who decided to advocate and give voice to my own experience, and the experiences of other mothers like me, for the rest of my life. It was simply unacceptable that this woman had spent 50 years in the closet, silenced. No one would ever do that to me. And if I could help it, no one would do that to any other parent like me. If my stories and art served as models for how to speak out, speak up, and just generally teach others how to use creativity during grief experience, then I was on-board for the long-haul. It's been over a decade now since Dakota's death, and here I am.
All my work is now about grief and creativity. I did a speaking event in mid-April to a room full of bereaved families of all ages. Grandmothers were there supporting granddaughters who were learning to live again after the death of a baby. Upon my return, I got an email from one of the bereaved mothers. This bereaved mother was one of the granddaughters who had a baby die recently, and her grandmother had been in attendance just to support her. But the day after the event, her grandmother told the family, for the first time ever, the name of a child she herself had had 50-some years ago. That child had died at birth, and she had never said his name out loud to her other children and grandchildren. It's been over a decade for me, but it was just a couple weeks ago that this family found an out loud space to share grief and love, broken hearts and celebration of the full family tree.
I will never, as long as I am taking breath, stop speaking out with my art, writing, and presentations!
2. When did mother henna begin? Why and How?
www.MotherHenna.com is the evolution of the last decade. We started a small press at www.KotaPress.com (KOTA: Knowing Ourselves Thru Art) back in 1999 as a way to publish our grief and creativity books and artworks. At first, I was just writing books and journal articles for the press. I was covering lots of topics like grief of grandparents, siblings, grief during holidays, how teachers can help bereaved families, how stillbirth is an ambiguous loss, etc.
Over time, I began exploring lots of different rituals and tangible ways to express my different kind of parenthood. One of the arts I explored was the practice of henna body art. I began meeting with other bereaved mothers and doing henna designs on their bodies that included some symbol or word that represented the child who died. As these moms went out into the world with the designs visible on their bodies, they found people responded to the beauty. They felt comfortable saying this beauty was in memory of a child who died. They began making connections back to the world at large, honest, real connections that included the full scope of their motherhood to both living and dead children. One night at a local event, a neighbor saw me coming and said, "Hey look, it's Mother Henna." The name stuck!
And so MotherHenna.com evolved as a space where I could talk more directly about how the tangible practice of art and creativity was a way to express my different kind of parenthood, my grief. And it became a space where I started sharing my tools with others and helping to coach them through the process on their own grief path.
3. Tell us a little bit more about your Thousand Faces Project.
The 1,000 Faces of Mother Henna was the first major, every single day, practice of creativity that I shared with others on my site and blog. During my pregnancy and stillbirth of Dakota, I discovered the Bodhisattva Jizo, a spiritual entity who acts as a guide and protector of pregnant woman and babies who died. In the aftermath of grief, I also discovered Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces. Somewhere in the alchemy of those two things, I struck upon the idea of creating 1,000 pieces of heART, exploring my own hero's journey and doing that in dedication to Jizo.
At first I planned to make three pieces of art a day for a year and try to do all 1,000 in that first year. That pace was just over the top for maintaining other things like, oh I don't know, a life! So I took my time and made at least one piece of art a day. At the beginning of 2009, when I was almost done with the entire 1,000, we lost a computer and back up to virus. On those two machines had been the only copy of 498 digital art or scanned art pieces I had created!! It was just another lesson in learning to live again in the face of loss and grief.
By December 2009, I had created enough pieces to be back at the 1,000 mark. In fact it came right in the middle of my Creative Every Day Challenge with Leah Piken's site! And since I was in the middle of that, I hit the 1,000 mark and just kept on going to fulfill that challenge. At that point, I had an epiphany that the 1,000 was really just the first 1,000. My practice of being a heARTist would bring 1,000's more in my life time. So again, the 1,000 Faces of Mother Henna became just another creative practice that I can and do access every day!
4. What do you believe is the relationship between grief and creativity?
(I personally know and have experience this relationship and power of art and creativity via the death of my Mom and what art came from that -Lisa)
I believe that grief is often so overwhelming, so scary, so chaotic that we simply cannot look at it straight-on. When a major trauma comes, we stand at the dark abyss between what we so desperately wanted and what IS now. And we often cannot see in that dark. We have no idea how deep the abyss is, nor how to take a next step. By accessing creativity -- not just art making, but creative living choices -- we can begin taking a sideways look, an askew view, an upside-down look at possible ways to go next.
While art-making works for me, and I definitely help others if they want to explore art-making, I'm also just talking about the creativity it takes to decide why you should get out of bed the day after your child died. It takes so much creativity to figure out how to move from that moment of trauma, across space and time, into learning how to live life again in the face of death and grief. I know this relationship between grief and creativity has kept me alive since the day we cremated my son. And I'm honored now to accompany others as they find their creative way, too.
5. How does art heal?
Well, I don't really think art -- or any other pill or prescription or plan -- can heal anything. I believe we integrate and learn to live in the face of grief. There is no prescription for how to deal with grief. There is no one, single way to use creativity as you find your way. I certainly do not claim to have *the* ANSWER to your grief experience. I have the practice and skill of using lots of different tools on this path of a different kind of parenthood, a different kind of life. And I help others to pick up the various tools, play, experiment, see what creative keys work for them.
But I'm not sure that working our creative tools means we are "healed" or that we "get over it." I view all of this much more in the way you might view addiction. We can't escape alcohol entirely if we are alcoholic. We can't escape food entirely if we are eating disordered. But we work the tools we work to live in the face of alcohol and food. We work the tools we work to live full lives in spite of the presence of alcohol and tempting food habits. In the same ways, we cannot escape grief and death. Even if you are somehow lucky enough to be the first to die and never have to endure living life without someone you love -- even then, you still face the linear construct we humans inhabit. The passing of time. The loss of the moments and days and weeks.
And so we work the tools we work to learn to live full lives in the face of grief, in spite of death and loss. And the creativity tools that work for me might be somewhat different than what works for you. We only find our way by working it, experimenting, playing. We have permission to try out all the tools in our toolboxes!
You can purchase the book by following this link: http://stores.lulu.com/kotapress
6. What role does social media play in the world of art, healing and the artist?
Well, for me personally, social media is HUGE! Back in 1999, when I was feeling so alone and isolated, it was the one single webpage of a woman who signed off as "Cheyenne's Mom" that saved me. I clicked on the email link there and wrote to her. She wrote me back within hours. She turned out to be Dr. Joanne Cacciatore who has founded the MISS Foundation (missfoundation.org), and she mentored me through the darkest times. As I shifted from getting mentoring to offering mentoring, social media played more and more a part of everything. From the moderated forum boards at the MISS website, to the using Twitter and Facebook to share grief and creativity prompts, all of these spaces have allowed more and more bereaved parents to connect. And as I've shared more and more in these spaces about how creativity helps with any grief you face, well, I've just been able to connect with more and more people.
That is a far cry away from the 80-something year old women who were silenced for 50 years!!!
So as we all share art and ideas and creativity processes with each other online, breaking all geographic barriers, we open to each other as human beings. We create a more compassionate care, human being to human being.
I feel about technology much the same way Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood felt about television. He readily acknowledged that technology could be used for good or evil. It's our choice. Most people don't know this, but Fred was ordained to practice his ministry of peace through television. Talk about a commitment to using technology for good! In this same way, I feel social media has the potential to be used for the same kind of health and creativity Fred put into the world via television. We simply have to choose to do the right thing with it.
7. What does the future of the arts and healing world look like?
It is so hard to predict these things. My intuition tells me that as more and more boarders and divisions between people crumble, as the old institutions give way to how very small our world is, as some grow alarmed at this while others embrace the humanity, we will all have to be more and more creative in how we live our lives. As I said before I don't know that I believe in healing and perfection and utopia kinds of visions. BUT I do believe in integration. I do believe that for every alarmist who tries to use violence to stop change, there are two others wanting to celebrated and communicate and know each other creatively, non-violently. I do believe that human experiences happen at the same time, not mutually exclusive, one from the other. Grief and Love, Loss and Joy, Celebration and Memorial, Growth and Release -- all at the same time. It is a dynamic and creative process. My intuition tells me that we are going to need to be willing to help, witness, mentor as we each find our way.
8. Tell us about your art practice and process.
Well, so my practice is about finding my way as each new day reveals something new, something unforeseen. I'm a bit weird in that my practice has never lent itself to being categorized into "such and such" kind of artist. People try to pin-point me into being a henna artist, or a painter, or a mixed media artist, or a handmade bookmaker, or a writer. But the truth is that I traffic in all those media and more. I know, I know, you are a supposed to pick an art and stick with it. You are suppose to pick one way and spend your career branding yourself that way. But grief showed me that life shatters into the chaos of pieces -- and through creative practice we use those various pieces to make beautiful mosaics. My practice and process are like this.
Sometimes the words rush out of my fingertips.
http://www.motherhenna.com/seen.htm
Other times, there are no words to illustrate what is happening to me. So I turn to handmaking dolls.
http://motherhenna.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-making-dollspart-of-my-solstice.html
Other days, stitching does nothing for me. I turn to photography.
When photos fail me, I turn to mixed media painting.
All of these practices and processes are integrated into my being. They make up the full vocabulary of the language of my life. Sometimes people communicate with me in only one dialect of my heART language without realizing I speak all these other dialects, too. That's okay. I'm thrilled to connect with people in any way, shape, or form. But that one point of connection is only one small sliver of who I am. If people aren't scared, don't find that too confusing, they stick around and we eventually see the full view of each other. If not, then not. Connecting AND releasing. Both are part of the heART of being human.
As to my actual process, I simply wake up each day and get still enough to see where I am. Whatever my being calls for, I go that way. This is one of the gifts grief gave me. I walked away from 9 to 5 life where we eat lunch at 12:30 because the bell rang, hungry or not. Grief taught me life it too short to give any more of my days there. So we have crafted a life that is productive, full, expressing, working, and very much an organic experience. No, it doesn't always jive with the "real world." I admit we have found ourselves homeless in our car once along the way. But one small creative choice at a time, we re-crafted an organic life again. I know now that whatever happens, I can follow my heART, face anything that comes my way, and I do not fear death. There simply is nothing to "lose" and everything to gain by living the life I choose in every moment.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
Ultimate goals? Interesting question. I guess I aim to be as creative as possible in every moment I'm given. You just never know when it will be the last, right? If there are any mentors or models for what I might vision for my "old age," I guess I would say I look to the examples of Georgia O'Keefe, Beatrice Wood, Frida Kahlo, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. They all practiced their art everyday they drew breath. They let go of material or busy or big city things. They all made creative choices right up to the day they died. They all knew the value of being still, of using the voice of heART to advocate, the importance of burning grief energy through everything you create. If I could live out my life with one ounce of grace any of those women had, I would have lived a good life.
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org
http://www.beatricewood.com
http://www.fridakahlo.com
http://www.ekrfoundation.org
10. What does art mean to you?
To me, heART means making one small creative choice at a time till it adds up to living an entirely and radically creative life that flies in the face of all that grief and loss try to take from us! Art is living fully in every moment we are given on this Earth. If we stumble upon offering beauty through our art-making along the way, too-- well, what a gift!
Thank you Mother Henna for your inspiration, honesty, and insights! Also, Art is Moving thanks you for the instigation of our own personal interview, which is in process. This is our first one. We have interviewed over a hundred artists and we have never been interviewed ourselves. Thank you for the recopricty and the encouragement. ART can and does change the world!!
Namaste!
Of course AIM is all about the YES!!! Below is her interview. Thank you Mother/Kara for the amazing work you are doing in the world.
1. Tell us your story.
While I have always been an artist, making art and writing since I could use crayons, my real moment of choosing to be a practicing heARTist came after the death of my son Dakota. A couple months after his death, I had a few of my grief writings published and was invited to read them and say a few words at a public event. After the event was over, an 80-something year old woman approached me and my husband. She put her hands on our hands and with tears in her eyes, said, "My baby died the same way over 50 years ago, and I was never allowed to say his name out loud." In that moment, I became a practicing heARTist who decided to advocate and give voice to my own experience, and the experiences of other mothers like me, for the rest of my life. It was simply unacceptable that this woman had spent 50 years in the closet, silenced. No one would ever do that to me. And if I could help it, no one would do that to any other parent like me. If my stories and art served as models for how to speak out, speak up, and just generally teach others how to use creativity during grief experience, then I was on-board for the long-haul. It's been over a decade now since Dakota's death, and here I am.
All my work is now about grief and creativity. I did a speaking event in mid-April to a room full of bereaved families of all ages. Grandmothers were there supporting granddaughters who were learning to live again after the death of a baby. Upon my return, I got an email from one of the bereaved mothers. This bereaved mother was one of the granddaughters who had a baby die recently, and her grandmother had been in attendance just to support her. But the day after the event, her grandmother told the family, for the first time ever, the name of a child she herself had had 50-some years ago. That child had died at birth, and she had never said his name out loud to her other children and grandchildren. It's been over a decade for me, but it was just a couple weeks ago that this family found an out loud space to share grief and love, broken hearts and celebration of the full family tree.
I will never, as long as I am taking breath, stop speaking out with my art, writing, and presentations!
2. When did mother henna begin? Why and How?
www.MotherHenna.com is the evolution of the last decade. We started a small press at www.KotaPress.com (KOTA: Knowing Ourselves Thru Art) back in 1999 as a way to publish our grief and creativity books and artworks. At first, I was just writing books and journal articles for the press. I was covering lots of topics like grief of grandparents, siblings, grief during holidays, how teachers can help bereaved families, how stillbirth is an ambiguous loss, etc.
Over time, I began exploring lots of different rituals and tangible ways to express my different kind of parenthood. One of the arts I explored was the practice of henna body art. I began meeting with other bereaved mothers and doing henna designs on their bodies that included some symbol or word that represented the child who died. As these moms went out into the world with the designs visible on their bodies, they found people responded to the beauty. They felt comfortable saying this beauty was in memory of a child who died. They began making connections back to the world at large, honest, real connections that included the full scope of their motherhood to both living and dead children. One night at a local event, a neighbor saw me coming and said, "Hey look, it's Mother Henna." The name stuck!
And so MotherHenna.com evolved as a space where I could talk more directly about how the tangible practice of art and creativity was a way to express my different kind of parenthood, my grief. And it became a space where I started sharing my tools with others and helping to coach them through the process on their own grief path.
3. Tell us a little bit more about your Thousand Faces Project.
The 1,000 Faces of Mother Henna was the first major, every single day, practice of creativity that I shared with others on my site and blog. During my pregnancy and stillbirth of Dakota, I discovered the Bodhisattva Jizo, a spiritual entity who acts as a guide and protector of pregnant woman and babies who died. In the aftermath of grief, I also discovered Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces. Somewhere in the alchemy of those two things, I struck upon the idea of creating 1,000 pieces of heART, exploring my own hero's journey and doing that in dedication to Jizo.
At first I planned to make three pieces of art a day for a year and try to do all 1,000 in that first year. That pace was just over the top for maintaining other things like, oh I don't know, a life! So I took my time and made at least one piece of art a day. At the beginning of 2009, when I was almost done with the entire 1,000, we lost a computer and back up to virus. On those two machines had been the only copy of 498 digital art or scanned art pieces I had created!! It was just another lesson in learning to live again in the face of loss and grief.
By December 2009, I had created enough pieces to be back at the 1,000 mark. In fact it came right in the middle of my Creative Every Day Challenge with Leah Piken's site! And since I was in the middle of that, I hit the 1,000 mark and just kept on going to fulfill that challenge. At that point, I had an epiphany that the 1,000 was really just the first 1,000. My practice of being a heARTist would bring 1,000's more in my life time. So again, the 1,000 Faces of Mother Henna became just another creative practice that I can and do access every day!
4. What do you believe is the relationship between grief and creativity?
(I personally know and have experience this relationship and power of art and creativity via the death of my Mom and what art came from that -Lisa)
I believe that grief is often so overwhelming, so scary, so chaotic that we simply cannot look at it straight-on. When a major trauma comes, we stand at the dark abyss between what we so desperately wanted and what IS now. And we often cannot see in that dark. We have no idea how deep the abyss is, nor how to take a next step. By accessing creativity -- not just art making, but creative living choices -- we can begin taking a sideways look, an askew view, an upside-down look at possible ways to go next.
While art-making works for me, and I definitely help others if they want to explore art-making, I'm also just talking about the creativity it takes to decide why you should get out of bed the day after your child died. It takes so much creativity to figure out how to move from that moment of trauma, across space and time, into learning how to live life again in the face of death and grief. I know this relationship between grief and creativity has kept me alive since the day we cremated my son. And I'm honored now to accompany others as they find their creative way, too.
5. How does art heal?
Well, I don't really think art -- or any other pill or prescription or plan -- can heal anything. I believe we integrate and learn to live in the face of grief. There is no prescription for how to deal with grief. There is no one, single way to use creativity as you find your way. I certainly do not claim to have *the* ANSWER to your grief experience. I have the practice and skill of using lots of different tools on this path of a different kind of parenthood, a different kind of life. And I help others to pick up the various tools, play, experiment, see what creative keys work for them.
But I'm not sure that working our creative tools means we are "healed" or that we "get over it." I view all of this much more in the way you might view addiction. We can't escape alcohol entirely if we are alcoholic. We can't escape food entirely if we are eating disordered. But we work the tools we work to live in the face of alcohol and food. We work the tools we work to live full lives in spite of the presence of alcohol and tempting food habits. In the same ways, we cannot escape grief and death. Even if you are somehow lucky enough to be the first to die and never have to endure living life without someone you love -- even then, you still face the linear construct we humans inhabit. The passing of time. The loss of the moments and days and weeks.
And so we work the tools we work to learn to live full lives in the face of grief, in spite of death and loss. And the creativity tools that work for me might be somewhat different than what works for you. We only find our way by working it, experimenting, playing. We have permission to try out all the tools in our toolboxes!
You can purchase the book by following this link: http://stores.lulu.com/kotapress6. What role does social media play in the world of art, healing and the artist?
Well, for me personally, social media is HUGE! Back in 1999, when I was feeling so alone and isolated, it was the one single webpage of a woman who signed off as "Cheyenne's Mom" that saved me. I clicked on the email link there and wrote to her. She wrote me back within hours. She turned out to be Dr. Joanne Cacciatore who has founded the MISS Foundation (missfoundation.org), and she mentored me through the darkest times. As I shifted from getting mentoring to offering mentoring, social media played more and more a part of everything. From the moderated forum boards at the MISS website, to the using Twitter and Facebook to share grief and creativity prompts, all of these spaces have allowed more and more bereaved parents to connect. And as I've shared more and more in these spaces about how creativity helps with any grief you face, well, I've just been able to connect with more and more people.
That is a far cry away from the 80-something year old women who were silenced for 50 years!!!
So as we all share art and ideas and creativity processes with each other online, breaking all geographic barriers, we open to each other as human beings. We create a more compassionate care, human being to human being.
I feel about technology much the same way Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood felt about television. He readily acknowledged that technology could be used for good or evil. It's our choice. Most people don't know this, but Fred was ordained to practice his ministry of peace through television. Talk about a commitment to using technology for good! In this same way, I feel social media has the potential to be used for the same kind of health and creativity Fred put into the world via television. We simply have to choose to do the right thing with it.
7. What does the future of the arts and healing world look like?
It is so hard to predict these things. My intuition tells me that as more and more boarders and divisions between people crumble, as the old institutions give way to how very small our world is, as some grow alarmed at this while others embrace the humanity, we will all have to be more and more creative in how we live our lives. As I said before I don't know that I believe in healing and perfection and utopia kinds of visions. BUT I do believe in integration. I do believe that for every alarmist who tries to use violence to stop change, there are two others wanting to celebrated and communicate and know each other creatively, non-violently. I do believe that human experiences happen at the same time, not mutually exclusive, one from the other. Grief and Love, Loss and Joy, Celebration and Memorial, Growth and Release -- all at the same time. It is a dynamic and creative process. My intuition tells me that we are going to need to be willing to help, witness, mentor as we each find our way.
8. Tell us about your art practice and process.
Well, so my practice is about finding my way as each new day reveals something new, something unforeseen. I'm a bit weird in that my practice has never lent itself to being categorized into "such and such" kind of artist. People try to pin-point me into being a henna artist, or a painter, or a mixed media artist, or a handmade bookmaker, or a writer. But the truth is that I traffic in all those media and more. I know, I know, you are a supposed to pick an art and stick with it. You are suppose to pick one way and spend your career branding yourself that way. But grief showed me that life shatters into the chaos of pieces -- and through creative practice we use those various pieces to make beautiful mosaics. My practice and process are like this.
Sometimes the words rush out of my fingertips.
http://www.motherhenna.com/seen.htm
Other times, there are no words to illustrate what is happening to me. So I turn to handmaking dolls.
http://motherhenna.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-making-dollspart-of-my-solstice.html
Other days, stitching does nothing for me. I turn to photography.
When photos fail me, I turn to mixed media painting.
All of these practices and processes are integrated into my being. They make up the full vocabulary of the language of my life. Sometimes people communicate with me in only one dialect of my heART language without realizing I speak all these other dialects, too. That's okay. I'm thrilled to connect with people in any way, shape, or form. But that one point of connection is only one small sliver of who I am. If people aren't scared, don't find that too confusing, they stick around and we eventually see the full view of each other. If not, then not. Connecting AND releasing. Both are part of the heART of being human.
As to my actual process, I simply wake up each day and get still enough to see where I am. Whatever my being calls for, I go that way. This is one of the gifts grief gave me. I walked away from 9 to 5 life where we eat lunch at 12:30 because the bell rang, hungry or not. Grief taught me life it too short to give any more of my days there. So we have crafted a life that is productive, full, expressing, working, and very much an organic experience. No, it doesn't always jive with the "real world." I admit we have found ourselves homeless in our car once along the way. But one small creative choice at a time, we re-crafted an organic life again. I know now that whatever happens, I can follow my heART, face anything that comes my way, and I do not fear death. There simply is nothing to "lose" and everything to gain by living the life I choose in every moment.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
Ultimate goals? Interesting question. I guess I aim to be as creative as possible in every moment I'm given. You just never know when it will be the last, right? If there are any mentors or models for what I might vision for my "old age," I guess I would say I look to the examples of Georgia O'Keefe, Beatrice Wood, Frida Kahlo, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. They all practiced their art everyday they drew breath. They let go of material or busy or big city things. They all made creative choices right up to the day they died. They all knew the value of being still, of using the voice of heART to advocate, the importance of burning grief energy through everything you create. If I could live out my life with one ounce of grace any of those women had, I would have lived a good life.
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org
http://www.beatricewood.com
http://www.fridakahlo.com
http://www.ekrfoundation.org
10. What does art mean to you?
To me, heART means making one small creative choice at a time till it adds up to living an entirely and radically creative life that flies in the face of all that grief and loss try to take from us! Art is living fully in every moment we are given on this Earth. If we stumble upon offering beauty through our art-making along the way, too-- well, what a gift!
Thank you Mother Henna for your inspiration, honesty, and insights! Also, Art is Moving thanks you for the instigation of our own personal interview, which is in process. This is our first one. We have interviewed over a hundred artists and we have never been interviewed ourselves. Thank you for the recopricty and the encouragement. ART can and does change the world!!
Namaste!
I am an Artist: Ty Clark
Here are the questions we would like you to answer.
1. Why are you an artist?
I always have been, I was born an artist. Since I was old enough to hold bottle I was holding a brush, pencil or crayon! My Uncle was a world renowned sculptor and Raku artist in the 60’s and 70’s showing in major galleries all over the world, so I grew up drawing, painting, coloring, sculpting writing etc surrounded by every means possible to create. If I am not creating in some way on a regular basis I feel my existence in vein.
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.
My concept changes every few years, basically due to visiting or living in different cultures and through the humanitarian works I am involved in and communities I am involved in. At this moment my work is primarily based on images, memories, or influences in my childhood.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?
I like to play with everything, but currently I am painting with Acrylic, Oil and Spray paint on canvas or wood
4. How does the concept of design influence your work ?
It has influenced my work more and more in the last few years, I was a classically trained painter and was not a fan of design in many senses. Then I needed to figure out ways to make money as an artist, so I taught myself every Adobe program possible as well as video and video editing. Because of this I began to integrate design into my work through stencil and my fashion designs.(Veritas Fashion)
5. How does pop culture influence your work ?
Pop culture plays a huge role in my current work, because most of my work is made of of images from my childhood, influences and memories that are all made up of different pop-culture niches that influenced my world view.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?
"Hope is not a dream, it is not a whim. Hope creates life and it is our job as Artists to observe our world and our communities and create a sense of emotion, experience and action through our gifts. We artists can breed HOPE if we act."
This is the quote I have on the back of my Artist cards and in my artist statement, so I feel that we as artists have an obligation to observe the world around us and and share what we see with our communities. One of the things I am trying to do through my fashion company is form a collection of creative individuals in the arts that resembles Warhol’s Factory ie; artists, sculptors, writers, poets, musicians, directors, producers, etc etc and use each others creative abilities to not only influence the world of the arts, but communities in need around the world.
7.Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art (believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?
When I was younger, absolutely. I came across a number of individuals who couldn’t believe I would make being an “artist” a goal, degree etc. It didn’t bother me, I was raised around it and taught to do what I love, to love others and share my gifts with those in need, whatever way possible.
8. How do you personally deal with rejection?
I don’t really deal with it, of course it is frustrating when people don't want to listen and try to understand, but I have my vision and goals so I will continue to look for and educate those with open minds/hearts.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
To be a known gallery artist, to show internationally and nationally on a regular basis while building, changing and improving my craft along the way, but also to work with, coach, help, and push emerging artists towards ways they they can influence others with there work. For example- There is a Childrens Home ( Naomi’s Village) and a School for Children with Special Needs (Malaika Kids) in Maai Mahiu, Kenya that my wife and I and our fashion company support along with my art. Later this year I will take a small group of artists to paint murals, and teach art to the children in each place as well as children in IDP camps that are located in this area. If I can use my platform in the arts to network with other artists and show them areas in there local and international community where they can serve those in need of hope/love, then my goals will be achieved.
10. What does art mean to you?
Artists have more meaning to me than the work itself, my favorite artists work is obviously a major influence in my work and goals, but their lives, process, concepts, thoughts bring art to life...I get meaning from them, many of whom are dead but living on walls and in books. Art is those who have taught me, built into me, encouraged me and influenced me through their words and works...Conway “Jiggs” Pierson, Mario Ferante, Kim Morgan, Toby Covich, William Catling,the 5D Artists, and the artists in the Veritas Artist Collective, these individuals lives and work give meaning and purpose to my view of Art.
For more information and images, check out the website: http://www.samo4prez.com
May 8, 2010
I am an Artist: Snarko
Kamikaze Sumi-e artist (my term), Austin Texas. Japanese-inspired
I have always been an artist: my first work was probably painting myself green--repeatedly--with dyes when I was three. I have always preferred to create than consume: each work is a little piece of me. If I run out of canvas and paper, my body is still the canvas to this day.
Any time I've attempted to go against that grain, I wind up uncontrollably rearranging my whole world into a more artistic arrangement anyway, which just makes everyone think I'm OCD.
What the outcome FEELS like is far more important than what it LOOKS like. It doesn't matter if every muscle is rendered perfectly, if it doesn't move a viewer to laugh, cry, feel anything at all nor think.
I may already have a sentiment for the subject--like a flower presented to me by my husband--and I paint that feeling. If not, I spend some time with the subject before I begin to absorb that feeling from it.
I work with a lot of models, so that feeling is usually shared. Part is their mood (or maybe I noted their knee hurts) and part is mine. Often brush strokes are influenced by mood, smell, music, everything around me.
I strike for the moment, and record everything that happens in it. Most paintings are two minutes or less, but highly focused. 
As an expressionist, I mainly use inks and papers that "record" well. It's far from forgiving, but I like that. Every run, drip, splatter, and tiniest of brush movements are permanent, making it a perfect record of the process. I find the process of art often more interesting than the outcome: these materials tell the story of both.
Born in a Sicilian household, I think my original interest was in what I saw as "yin" to the Italian design "yang" (which I'm also addicted to), drawn to a perfect simplicity that isn't as always easy as it sounds. I once did hundreds of nothing but circles to get one for an illustration, because none were "empty" enough, as the Asian monks would call it.
In sumi-e philosophy, it is the goal to capture a subject's soul. Actually capture it; it can't be too real looking, or the soul may be released at an inappropriate time.
I started leaning towards black and white in college photography. Somehow just removing the color makes it less of a "snapshot" and takes it into the realm of abstract immediately. People viewing art often get hung up on color: they like this one cuz it's blue and that's their favorite, regardless of anything else about a piece.
One of my heroes--Kandinsky--and the Bauhaus studied that people respond to color first, even before shape. By removing both, I hope to set up a different, deeper dialog.
The artist has a huge role in contributing to and/or commenting on the human condition without the use of words. It is a universal language through which we can record thoughts, processes, emotions, the news even, but also influence these by opening myopic eyes to parts of a universal psyche viewers also have but can't quite see.
I don't view myself as nor the role of an artist as Texan. I view myself as a member of the planet Earth; the above doesn't change.
It's called the American public school system. Everyone benefits from learning the arts--not just artists. It requires critical thought, creative problem solving, and outside-box thinking, which I feel strongly is needed in every field.
A scientist or mathematician--most of the school funding--that cannot be outside-box enough to come up with a new theory is a robot, or at least doomed to repeat the same results over and over. Artists make lousy robots.
You'll hear this loud-mouth bring it up every chance.
What rejection? If that refers to the nine people who walked by it, I didn't notice: I'm too busy talking to the tenth person jumping up and down because they suddenly felt something for the next half an hour.
I would rather converse deeply than evenly.
I don't often think of end goals; I feel if you're paying attention to that, you're not paying attention to your painting. A Warhol lifestyle and a beach house?
"Pain is temporary; art is forever."
snarko.com
chezsnarko.com
1. Why are you an artist?
Any time I've attempted to go against that grain, I wind up uncontrollably rearranging my whole world into a more artistic arrangement anyway, which just makes everyone think I'm OCD.
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.
I may already have a sentiment for the subject--like a flower presented to me by my husband--and I paint that feeling. If not, I spend some time with the subject before I begin to absorb that feeling from it.
I work with a lot of models, so that feeling is usually shared. Part is their mood (or maybe I noted their knee hurts) and part is mine. Often brush strokes are influenced by mood, smell, music, everything around me.
I strike for the moment, and record everything that happens in it. Most paintings are two minutes or less, but highly focused.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?
4. Can you speak about the influence of the Asian Aesthetic on your work?
In sumi-e philosophy, it is the goal to capture a subject's soul. Actually capture it; it can't be too real looking, or the soul may be released at an inappropriate time.
5. What do the colors black and white mean to you?
One of my heroes--Kandinsky--and the Bauhaus studied that people respond to color first, even before shape. By removing both, I hope to set up a different, deeper dialog.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?
I don't view myself as nor the role of an artist as Texan. I view myself as a member of the planet Earth; the above doesn't change.
7.Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art (believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?
A scientist or mathematician--most of the school funding--that cannot be outside-box enough to come up with a new theory is a robot, or at least doomed to repeat the same results over and over. Artists make lousy robots.
You'll hear this loud-mouth bring it up every chance.
8. As an artist how do you deal with rejection?
I would rather converse deeply than evenly.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
10. What does art mean to you?
snarko.com
chezsnarko.com
May 6, 2010
I am an Artist: Devaki Knowles
I would have never expected that Texas would the state that would get us the most interviews from artists. I love that we have received such a great response. Let's keep this momentum going! Thanks Texas Artists!
1. Why are you an artist?
Art has always been a very large and influential part of my life. I
discovered my passion for photography at age 9 when I got my very
first camera, thanks to my grandma. I fell in love and took as many
pictures as possible. By the time I got to high school I had decided
it was what I wanted to “do” with my life.
A woman I photographed once told me I “made her feel sexy for
the first time in her entire life”. Getting a compliment like that is
amazing. It made me realize I have the ability to do something very
special for people with my photography. Showing someone his or her
own beauty is a powerful thing. It's what drives me to keep shooting.
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.
I love psychedelic colors and the way that photographs can both
reflect and obscure reality.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?
I use a variety of different cameras, switching between film and
digital depending on the look or mood I'm trying to create. I grew up
using analog cameras so shooting with them feels more satisfying and
forces me to take time with my subjects and composition. In a perfect
world, I'd always shoot slide film and then cross process it to get
the surreal colors and contrast I'm looking for. It’s sad to see how
shooting on film is becoming more and more of a rarity. I don't feel
like digital photography, even with the magic of Photoshop, can match
the depth and color of good old-fashioned film. I often end up
shooting digital because the convenience factor is undeniable, but
still, I usually edit it to mimic film as much as possible.
4. Do you have a favorite photo from history? How and why has it
influenced your own work?
It's funny but I think movies have probably influenced my work
more than any single photo. Things like The Cremaster Cycle by
Matthew Barney and some of David Lynch’s earlier films have had a deep
impact on what I do as a photographer. I try to mimic the sort of
obscurity that both directors create in their films in my photographs.
As far as photography goes, I love the way Joachim Knill uses light
and color to convey intense emotion. Color psychology is very
interesting to me and I find it to be an important element in setting
the mood for my photos.
5. Is the Narrative important in your work?
When I am working on a particular series or project there is
always some sort of theme or concept behind the photos. A story keeps
the work interesting and the viewer guessing, "what is going on here?"
A photo is successful if the answer is different for each viewer.
Some of my photos are from personal experiences, moments that make me
smile, sigh, cry, and laugh. Those tell a different kind of story.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?
It is the artists' duty to keep the pubic informed and promote
original thought. I recently transplanted to Austin from the Pacific
Northwest but Austin and Portland, my hometown, share a lot of
similarities. Both are very supportive of art and it’s many different
forms. Everywhere you look in Austin you see these "Keep Austin
Weird" shirts, bumper stickers, and whatever. Portland has those too,
though I think Austin came up with it first. That’s been my role as an
artist, keeping things weird and fighting that bland boringness that
is so prevalent in our societies. In Austin, art and music go in hand
more so than in other places, which is something I'm trying to capture
with my photography.
7.Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art
(believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?
My first photography job fresh out of high school was in a mall
portrait studio. We used various backgrounds, props, and lights to do
portrait photography. The studio was a large corporation and it
basically did what they call “fast food” portraiture. I had a
particular client that wanted something a little different so I used
various different colored gels and light modifiers for some dramatic
lighting. The photos turned out great and the customer absolutely
loved them and bought the largest photo package the studio had to
offer. After the customer left my manager pulled me aside with all of
my favorite color gels in hand. She firmly informed me that I was no
longer allowed to use the gels, as it didn’t fit with what the
corporate office said the studio’s “style” should be. She then broke
all the gels in half and threw them in the trash. I was devastated at
the fact that I was not allowed to be creative in my photography job,
that I was limited to a strict corporate model. Shortly after the
incident I quit that job. That particular experience is a large part
of why I play with color so much in my photography now. You gotta love
what you're not supposed to do.
8. As an artist how do you deal with rejection?
I embrace it. The art I create can be strange to some but I
realize that beauty and art is different for everyone. I have heard
extremely positive things about my work as well as negative. Any
reaction is better than no reaction at all. If you can at least
provoke some level of emotion in your viewer, you've succeeded. That
reaction really is the point of most art. Besides without rejection
and criticism you can never grow as an artist. It’s an essential part
of honing in on your skill.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
I want one million dollars.
10. What does art mean to you?
Art has always been very therapeutic for me. There is no time
when I feel more at peace then when I am shooting photos.
Check out more of Devaki's work on her website: http://www.funlovingphotos.net/
1. Why are you an artist?
Art has always been a very large and influential part of my life. I
discovered my passion for photography at age 9 when I got my very
first camera, thanks to my grandma. I fell in love and took as many
pictures as possible. By the time I got to high school I had decided
it was what I wanted to “do” with my life.
A woman I photographed once told me I “made her feel sexy for
the first time in her entire life”. Getting a compliment like that is
amazing. It made me realize I have the ability to do something very
special for people with my photography. Showing someone his or her
own beauty is a powerful thing. It's what drives me to keep shooting.
2. Is there a concept behind your work? If so, please tell us about it.
I love psychedelic colors and the way that photographs can both
reflect and obscure reality.
3. Why do you use the medium that you use?
I use a variety of different cameras, switching between film and
digital depending on the look or mood I'm trying to create. I grew up
using analog cameras so shooting with them feels more satisfying and
forces me to take time with my subjects and composition. In a perfect
world, I'd always shoot slide film and then cross process it to get
the surreal colors and contrast I'm looking for. It’s sad to see how
shooting on film is becoming more and more of a rarity. I don't feel
like digital photography, even with the magic of Photoshop, can match
the depth and color of good old-fashioned film. I often end up
shooting digital because the convenience factor is undeniable, but
still, I usually edit it to mimic film as much as possible.
4. Do you have a favorite photo from history? How and why has it
influenced your own work?
It's funny but I think movies have probably influenced my work
more than any single photo. Things like The Cremaster Cycle by
Matthew Barney and some of David Lynch’s earlier films have had a deep
impact on what I do as a photographer. I try to mimic the sort of
obscurity that both directors create in their films in my photographs.
As far as photography goes, I love the way Joachim Knill uses light
and color to convey intense emotion. Color psychology is very
interesting to me and I find it to be an important element in setting
the mood for my photos.
5. Is the Narrative important in your work?
When I am working on a particular series or project there is
always some sort of theme or concept behind the photos. A story keeps
the work interesting and the viewer guessing, "what is going on here?"
A photo is successful if the answer is different for each viewer.
Some of my photos are from personal experiences, moments that make me
smile, sigh, cry, and laugh. Those tell a different kind of story.
6. What is the role of the artist in our society? and in Texas?
It is the artists' duty to keep the pubic informed and promote
original thought. I recently transplanted to Austin from the Pacific
Northwest but Austin and Portland, my hometown, share a lot of
similarities. Both are very supportive of art and it’s many different
forms. Everywhere you look in Austin you see these "Keep Austin
Weird" shirts, bumper stickers, and whatever. Portland has those too,
though I think Austin came up with it first. That’s been my role as an
artist, keeping things weird and fighting that bland boringness that
is so prevalent in our societies. In Austin, art and music go in hand
more so than in other places, which is something I'm trying to capture
with my photography.
7.Have you ever encountered someone/something that is anti-art
(believes that art is not of high value)? How did you react to that?
My first photography job fresh out of high school was in a mall
portrait studio. We used various backgrounds, props, and lights to do
portrait photography. The studio was a large corporation and it
basically did what they call “fast food” portraiture. I had a
particular client that wanted something a little different so I used
various different colored gels and light modifiers for some dramatic
lighting. The photos turned out great and the customer absolutely
loved them and bought the largest photo package the studio had to
offer. After the customer left my manager pulled me aside with all of
my favorite color gels in hand. She firmly informed me that I was no
longer allowed to use the gels, as it didn’t fit with what the
corporate office said the studio’s “style” should be. She then broke
all the gels in half and threw them in the trash. I was devastated at
the fact that I was not allowed to be creative in my photography job,
that I was limited to a strict corporate model. Shortly after the
incident I quit that job. That particular experience is a large part
of why I play with color so much in my photography now. You gotta love
what you're not supposed to do.
8. As an artist how do you deal with rejection?
I embrace it. The art I create can be strange to some but I
realize that beauty and art is different for everyone. I have heard
extremely positive things about my work as well as negative. Any
reaction is better than no reaction at all. If you can at least
provoke some level of emotion in your viewer, you've succeeded. That
reaction really is the point of most art. Besides without rejection
and criticism you can never grow as an artist. It’s an essential part
of honing in on your skill.
9. What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
I want one million dollars.
10. What does art mean to you?
Art has always been very therapeutic for me. There is no time
when I feel more at peace then when I am shooting photos.
Check out more of Devaki's work on her website: http://www.funlovingphotos.net/
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