Posted on

Artist Survey #17: Mindy Marlowe

{Jelly Belly Tomatoes : Acrylic on Canvas}

{Spats : Fabric and whatnot}

{Dapper Flamingo : Acrylic on Canvas}

{River Monster : Acrylic on Canvas}

Name: Mindy Marlowe

Location: Twain Harte CA

Medium(s): pen & ink, acrylic, spray paint, marker, sewing machine, random up-cycling of household objects.

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? shy gypsy crafter…so “Other”

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? At a young age, my family encouraged my brother and I to experience the outdoors so we would go tearing around making forts, dancing, laughing, petting bees, searching for fairies in the grass. (Which was so much fun, that I once ended up with poison oak in my eye.) Essentially, my concept of art is rooted in make believe, but it seemed real and that was the best part.

Who/What inspired your interest? My mom, she is the original free spirit.

Where do you first remember being exposed to art? Waldorf school.

What is your day job? Driving school manager extraordinaire

Why do you create? Because I feel that I have to, it’s a comfort

Is there any recurring theme in your work? Extremely loose representation of personal freedom, wanton abandon, whimsy.

What do you want from your work? Challenge, solace.

What do you want viewers to take from your work? Hard question… commonality, or an interest in something that was previously uninteresting.

How often do you work on personal projects? A few times per week, 2-ish. At this point, its all personal to me and I hope that stays, I can’t imagine doing art for impersonal reasons.

Does your art support you financially? Not yet…

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? When I have an idea, I tend to dream of it and daydream of it. I just want to go home and lock myself in my little art space until the project is finished.

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? Camp, write, cook, drink wine, snowboard, read, play softball, sing, drink more wine.

Which musicians are you currently interested in? Tim Armstong, The Black Keys, Jolie Holland, Elliott Smith, Riverboat Gamblers, Tiger Army, O.A.R.

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? Next roller derby bout, horseshoe tourney at the Lube Room, Renegade Craft Fair in SF.

How long do you generally take on a piece? Hard to say, sometimes I get really carried away and finish things in a matter of hours. Otherwise, maybe days.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? Mostly I chicken out at Art’s expense, but I’m standing on the edge of the precipice now.

Do you work on multiple projects at once? No, I’m single minded, I have to get one thing out & done before I can start another.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? No, I usually give it away to good homes.

Posted on

Artist Survey #15: Danae Wilson

I met Danae on my second day at CSU Long Beach. We lived in the same dorm building and along with her roommate Christina and my neighbor Mike became good friends. She has a talent to control whatever medium she works with incredible ease. At least it looks that way to me…I can’t paint fer crap!

{Oil on Canvas}


{Oil on Canvas}


{Screen Print}


{Oil on Canvas}

Name: Danae Wilson

Location: Long Beach, CA

Medium(s): Drawing and Painting- Charcoal and Oil on Canvas mostly but I do pattern making and screen-printing, as well as ceramics and metal work.

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? I am an artist, but I play around with interior and graphic design.

Where can we see your work (place/publications/url)? My flickr but it needs to be updated there’s not much there.

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? I started drawing when I was 2. My dad was a Pastor of a church and my mom worked so I stayed with him during the days. I would sit on the floor drawing and painting for hours. I was five when I told my mom I would try and think of something I wanted to paint before I went to bed so that I could dream about and have more to paint about.

Who/What inspired your interest? I used to take lessons as a child and I would go to The San Diego Museum of Art. My favorite painting as a child was Jaques-Louis David’s Death of Marat. I also loved the impressionists and the idea that I could invent anything I wanted on paper. My other inspiration was Harold and the Purple Crayon, I loved that he invented a world around him using only his purple crayon and some imagination.

What is your day job? I am a Photo Retoucher. I use Photoshop to enhance wall portraits (removing blemishes, wrinkles, extra pounds, and unwanted people in backgrounds).

Why do you create? I create because I have to. I don’t create enough though and this plagues me.

Is there any recurring theme in your work? The idea of dystopia comes up a lot in my work, which I think stems from coming to Los Angeles and my feelings of disenchantment and disgust, mixed with wonder. I also focus on personal themes, roles of women, and often my work is inspired by classic literature. I am also a Comparative World Literature minor.

What do you want from your work? I want my work to inspire and receive respect from those who I admire and respect within my art community, but I also want my work to stay universal and retain the ability to communicate to those who are not part of the “art world” and have no training in art history and the art canon.

What do you want viewers to take from your work? I like people to be able to project their own feelings and emotions onto my work. When I create something that is open ended enough that someone else can come and put his or her own interpretation into the piece, then I’m happy.

How often do you work on personal projects? Pretty often. My figurative works are what I consider my “personal projects,” although I have been showing them at school lately so they are less personal.

How often do you work on commissions or commercial work? I do paintings for charities although I never show this work to anyone else because of how commercial and even kitschy the works can be.

Does your art support you financially? No. However I do find photo retouching to be a distant cousin of painting and its close enough since it pays the bills.

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? Yes. I think of all sorts of projects and paintings that never come into existence because of factors like time, money, and freedom to explore without feeling like the work is “unworthy.” I need to let go of those restrictions though.

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? I go camping, I love nature, I love being away from the city. I ride my bike on the beach a lot. These things make me so happy. When I can, I travel. I push myself to grow whenever I can and I pursue things that make me uncomfortable. I never want to be at rest.

Which musicians are you currently interested in? Bon Iver, Fatboy Slim, Sigur Ros, and always Classic Rock

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? COACHELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How long do you generally take on a piece? A week. I have NO patience. I’m a “one-shot” painter and I don’t usually go back to old pieces.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? Over and Over. Artists can only date very patient and understanding people who see that art is a necessity and who want to promote your growth rather than monopolize your time.  I could have done anything coming out of High School, but I chose the art path and I know that I will probably never see a ladder that I can climb or any obvious ways to advance myself. Artists have to be as creative with their career and employment as they are with their art.

Do you work on multiple projects at once? Yes. I work on abstracted apocalyptic landscapes, as well as large-scale figurative drawings.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? I never part with my work, at least not anything I really cared for. I know it will be hard when I do but so far I have hoarded most of my work or given it to my mother and father.

Posted on

Artist Survey #14: Lindsey Lutts

I met Lindsey during preparations for the Returning Show. The punk rock attitude captured in many of her photos contrasted nicely with the clean photography of other artists (check out her web page for more examples). She grew up here in Sonora and has since moved to the Bay Area. Despite the distance she is always willing to make the drive up to the foothills to help with our struggling youth art scene. Look for her work at the next foothill art event.

lovedeath

necklace

(Ocean Necklace by Lindsey – Silver hand made chain mail all soldered
with turquoise and hydrologic press silver charms etched in acid.)

boat

Name: Lindsey

Location: San Francisco

Medium(s): Photographer, Metal Artist/ Jewelry, Ceramics, Knitting, Graphic Designer

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? Starving Artist maybe because I am still trying to figure out how to do it for a living. It’s hard to consider myself an artist when everyone thinks they are an artist. Anyone with a finger can push a button on a camera. It takes a lot to stand out in the world today and to not blend in with the masses.

Where can we see your work (place/publications/url)? Photolindsey.com but it is very out of date. Myspace.com/photolindsey has weekly updates of musician/band photos.

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? Ever since I can remember.

Who/What inspired your interest? Almost anything can inspire me, a color or combination of colors, a smell that reminds me of a time, a feeling, the way light falls upon something, and pretty much every kind of art.

Where do you first remember being exposed to art? My family has always encouraged me be artistic from the time I could hold a paint brush. We made ceramics, paintings, and various crafts all the time. When I was 12 I took an underwater photo with one of those plastic disposable cameras that came out pretty cool. I think it still might be my favorite photo I have taken. Right away it stood out so my Grandma took it to get enlarged at a photo shop. Someone there saw it and bought a large copy for his law office wall. When my Grandma called me from the print shop and asked me if she could sell it and than brought me a check, I realized that this was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

What is your day job? Accountant (yeah boring I know). I have worked in many types of photography jobs in the past but sold out for the higher paying job. I am not sure if I would recommend it but I have learned a ton that will help me when I decide to start my own business.

Why do you create? It is the only thing I do that makes me completely one hundred percent happy. It is my escape from the world but it is also my interpretation of the world and how it affects me.

Is there any recurring theme in your work? I go through different phases and if I figure out what they are at the time I am shooting them instead of after, I go with it and try to stick with it. It is usually just one word like decay, serenity, or sound…

What do you want from your work? I don’t think I want it to give me anything but I will give to it. Does that make sense at all? Haha

What do you want viewers to take from your work? To see me. Also if my work provokes a feeling inside someone no matter what the feeling is, it is successful.

How often do you work on personal projects? Always. I consider it all personal.

How often do you work on commissions or commercial work? I work for a small magazine photographing bands and submit to many other magazines monthly. Some of my photos will be in AMP Magazine’s next issue. I recently set up a studio in my house so I am starting to shoot a lot more band portraits, families, kids, and pin ups.

Does your art support you financially? No, that is my ultimate goal though.

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? Yes, like right now I am at work and really need to be at home working on some Riverboat Gamblers photos for a magazine. If I wait too long, other photos will be used.

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? It is really hard for me to go anywhere without a camera. I am trying to think of an instance when I do not have one with me. I think I am always working and looking for things that inspire me. It could be something as simple as a color or texture or something amazing that is just about to happen around the corner and I am ready for it. If I did not have my camera I would miss it. I have this strange kind of fear that I am going to miss something and in turn am constantly shooting. I do other things in my spare time but they always end up becoming about the photos that I can get while doing it.

Which musicians are you currently interested in? Gaslight Anthem, American Steel, Get Dead, Dead to Me, Samiam, The Clash, Drag the River, Devil Makes 3, Johnny Cash…

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas next week. Hundreds of bands and record labels form bowling teams and come from all over for a crazy week in Vegas. There are tournaments and shows going on the whole time. The teams all make their own uniforms and come to bowl and drink 24 hours a day. This is one of my favorite things to photograph every year.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? I don’t think so but I know a lot of people who have. I have only lost parts of myself and my time by not doing more art.

Do you work on multiple projects at once? Always. Imagine trying to take just one photo, or trying to choose just one after a shoot.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? Sometimes. I make handmade jewelry and that is much harder to part with than a photograph. A photograph can be duplicated in its raw form but Jewelry can not. I once spent over 200 hours on one piece and don’t see myself selling it anytime soon.

Posted on

Artist Survey #13: BZ Smith

I was introduced to BZ at a post-Thanksgiving celebration in 2007. We found we had many things in common, including the dream of seeing Sonora as an artisticly centered community with heavy youth involvement. Ever since she has been introducing me to local artists, designers, board members, organizations, entrepreneurs and festivals. Until recently she was a member of the Central Sierra Arts Council with which I try to volunteer as much as possible. She is an advocate for youth arts and nurturing the future of our community as well as preserving it’s rich history. I really can’t say enough great things about BZ, her open heart or her sharp mind.

bz3

bz2

bz1

Name: B.Z. Smith

Location: Tuolumne County

Medium(s): Mixed Media, Storytelling.

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? Performance artist & dabbler into visual arts

Where can we see your work (place/publications/url)? www.thestoryquilters.com for storytelling information.  I have an award-winning CD published with Cynthia Restivo and Bill Roberson by that name:  The Story Quilters.  It’s available at CDBaby.com and in Tuol-Co at Mountain Bookshop

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? In the womb.

Who/What inspired your interest? I have a crazy artistic family.  It is in my genes.

Where do you first remember being exposed to art? Yep.  In the womb.

What is your day job? Art.

Why do you create? I have to create.  My heart, my mind drive me to create, to build, to get messy!

Is there any recurring theme in your work? Childhood journeys come up a lot. I’m just finishing a painting called “Childhood’s Dreams.” It’s about my forever quest to live in France, to remove myself from American culture, and live in the dream-state of Romantic Paris—a fantasy world that does not even exist!  Another recurring theme is my relationship with nature—the sea, earth elements. Within those themes, I have a signature that I’ve developed that I call “tangled.” Wires, beads, bits of pottery that make up a tangled mess—a lot like my life.

What do you want from your work? I want the joy of knowing I’ve connected with an audience to express some common feeling or shared value. This comes up a lot in storytelling.  I hope to make these same connections through my visual work.

What do you want viewers to take from your work? That same sense of connection.  And I hope to leave a question dangling in the air that lets the audience/viewers ponder their own thoughts.

How often do you work on personal projects? Constantly.

How often do you work on commissions or commercial work? My storytelling? A lot. My visual art, not at all.

Does your art support you financially? Yes. My storytelling has given me a decent supplement to other income for many years.

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? My art work does take up a lot of mind space!

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? Sleep.

Which musicians are you currently interested in? Well, the list is long…Today it’s Gogol Bordello. Yesterday it was Tim Minchen. It’s always Vivaldi and Mozart. Tomorrow it might be Polka Accordion. My musical tastes and experiences are very eclectic. I am all over the musical map!

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? The Strawberry Music Festival.

How long do you generally take on a piece? Storytelling—years. Each story sits in me, evolving over a course of time. I might learn a story to tell on the very same day, but that same story in two years will be completely different with a much deeper sub-text. It has lived in me, and I in it. Paintings—I tend to do the main piece rather quickly in one day. Then I let it sit for a while. Later I may change it, augment it—or even paint over it completely.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? Yes. I get so absorbed in my work that I lose sight of anything else. I make a huge mess, and it spreads into my partner’s space. Once my husband, the dear and departed Rick Thorpe, said, “Every time I create a new horizontal surface, you fill it up!”

Do you work on multiple projects at once? Unfortunately, yes. And this is what gets me in trouble.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? No. Make it. Love it. Pass it on!

Posted on

Artist Survey #9: Corey West

Corey is a local artist who’s work has exploded in our county. She is a really hard worker, attending all of the festivals and craft fairs in the county. She also beautifully frames and mattes work. I go to her for all of my presentation needs. Even Jesus was prepared by her!

cwest1

cwest2

cwest4

Name: Corey West

Location: Sonora, CA

Medium(s): mixed : watercolor, acrylic, ink, collage and found objects

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? well- good art has good design – so shouldn’t artists be designers as well?

Where can we see your work (place/publications/url)? Ventana Gallery (Sonora), San Francisco Design Center (Hinc Showroom) www.coreywest.artspan.com

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? I don’t remember not having interest in artistic forms of expression.

Who/What inspired your interest? It has always been there, but my dad helped me grow my interest by encouraging it.

Where do you first remember being exposed to art? It has always been around me.

What is your day job? I work in my studio full time – painting and custom framing

Why do you create? That is hard to answer. Creating art is such a part of me… it is who I am. I can’t imagine not creating…

Is there any recurring theme in your work? Not necessarily.

What do you want from your work? I want my work to inspire me to keep learning and growing.

What do you want viewers to take from your work? There is a lot, but basically if I can make people smile, give them inspiration – I am happy. My work is happy – there is so much doom and gloom out there and if I can portray a happier life then I am doing my job.

How often do you work on personal projects? As much as possible.

How often do you work on commissions or commercial work? Often, but even the commercial work and commissions I have a way of turning them into personal projects (makes it much more fun to do).

Does your art support you financially? Pays the studio bills, but that is all for now.

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? If I am not in the studio painting I am thinking about what I am going to work on next.

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? I don’t have spare time. I take care of my baby and run a business where I do framing, painting, make purses from repurposed fabric, jewelry…so there is no free time.

Which musicians are you currently interested in? I listen to my baby’s musical toys more than anything so the only thing stuck in my brain is the abc’s!

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? A friend of mine is working on opening a gallery in the Oakland area and showing my work…I am very excited about that.

How long do you generally take on a piece? It varies. Anywhere from a day to a week sometimes more.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? I have never been in a situation where it would be an issue.

Do you work on multiple projects at once? Yes.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? No. My work is very personal, but once it is done I move on. And besides, if I am ever going to make a living at this I have to be willing to part with it.

Posted on

Artist Survey #3: Ape-Bo-Peep

I met Ape, as she likes to be called, during my 3rd year at CSU, Long Beach. We had Computer Graphics with Tim Musso (a total badass designer) and became quick friends. She is absorbed with the smallest details and is relentless in the pursuit of perfection. She is a fantastic designer, the only student I personally knew that made it into the rigorous design program at CSULB. Take a look at her explorations of different materials and textures and you will see why.

Name: ape-bo-peep

Location: LBC

Medium(s): experimental but alas, largely design.

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? A designer with the self-indulgent, rebellious spirit of an artist.

Where can we see your work (place/publications/url)? Through clairvoyance only, better have a crystal ball handy.

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? As a youngster.

Who/What inspired your interest? Mom, awww.

Where do you first remember being exposed to art? Supervised: melting crayons and marble art. Unsupervised: playing with mud and coloring in the pictures printed on paper towels and watching them bleed underwater drops.

What is your day job? I design for West Coast Choppers, school, and freelance with Mr. Tang Bang.

Why do you create? It seems to be a necessary human activity.

Is there any recurring theme in your work? Concept: I like to challenge what people are comfortable with. Execution: Nature in some form.

What do you want from your work? Fame and glory.

What do you want viewers to take from your work? In my own work do not care if people completely understand. I do, however, want people to feel challenged by the concept or execution. Working for clients is another story. That is, of course, where  your own ideas are often compromised and the clients objective is priority.

How often do you work on personal projects? Mostly I turn my school projects into concepts that I am interested in so they become personal. They are sometimes not what the instructor had intended but in the end I am helping paying his/her salary.

How often do you work on commissions or commercial work? 3-5 days a week.

Does your art support you financially? Yes

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? Depends on the project but yes quite often.

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? Travel, read, concerts, experimenting with art mediums. If I am back home I ride my horse and work in the woods.

Which musicians are you currently interested in? Ani Difranco, Emily Wells, PJ Harvey, Bright eyes, Johnny Cash, Flat Mountain Girls…

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? A trip to China, Burning man, oh so far away… South America…
How long do you generally take on a piece? Varies significantly. A day to a few weeks, sometimes months.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? Yes, I have refused to work on projects because of conflicting ideologies ( i.e. nestle skinny cow, lingerie ). Most of my friends and family have become distanced as I lack the time necessary to sustain close relationships.

Do you work on multiple projects at once? Constantly.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? Because most of my design work is disposable, no. Everything else that has more artistic value I give to friends and family.

Posted on

Artist Survey #2: Megan Tucker

I have known Megan Tucker since we were very young. Living in the same small town we went to the same elementary school and knew a lot of the same people. She recently became active in our local art scene and is someone I can always count on to help further our local underground arts movement.

(Down to the Roots)
(O! Brother)

Name: Tucker

Location: Sonora,CA

Medium(s): anything and everything-mixed media

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? Painter

Where can we see your work (place/publications/url)? A couple on MySpace  www.myspace.com/piratescavengers

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? Straight from the womb

Who/What inspired your interest? The eternal void

Where do you first remember being exposed to art? Being taken to museums in the city when I was really young by my mother

What is your day job? I work at The Country Store in Sonora- it’s a local health food store

Why do you create? The only constant we have in our lives is change, we need to be ever-changing, evolving. If I’m not creating, I am stagnant and feel lost.

Is there any recurring theme in your work? Nature is always a part of my pieces. Feathers, crows, mountains… Essentially the result of being born in Sonora.

What do you want from your work? No essential expectations, roll with the punches…

What do you want viewers to take from your work? Just a glimpse into my head I guess- it’s a visualization of how I was feeling at a certain point in my life…

How often do you work on personal projects? Not often enough…

How often do you work on commissions or commercial work? I’m just starting to design tattoos for people- thats on more of a trade system.

Does your art support you financially? Its hit or miss, most of the time I want things other than money.

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? I am my art

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? I’m trying to study to be an herbalist…

Which musicians are you currently interested in? The list is never-ending….the fleet foxes, devendra banhart, led zeppelin, the beatles, the avett brothers…

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? November 8th A craft bazaar of sorts in Oakdale, I think I will be at a booth…

How long do you generally take on a piece? I will dwell on a piece for months sometimes and sometimes get one done in 10 minutes, theres no telling.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? I don’t think i have…. this is an intense question Zac…

Do you work on multiple projects at once? Yes, I have at least 5 half-assed projects going right now.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? its mostly my mother who wants to keep everything I do.