| In your profile it seems like you are really in tune with your
surroundings. Do you have any tips for artists about staying in the
moment and really seeing your environment? |
| | I would encourage people to keep their eyes open for what inspires them even in the most unexpected places.Sometimes that which inspires will jump out at you and sometimes it is more subtle.For example,for some the beauty of a city is the skyline, but I find inspiration in the many forms, elements, colors, textures, and even decay that make up the city. I love the way textures merge and overlap. I find inspiration in the accidental collages of torn posters and hand bills and peeling, cracked, and scuffed surfaces. Yesterday I was inspired by a torn poster on an abandoned building. A few numbers and an image of person's hands and fingers were all that was left of a poster that hung in jagged strips on plywood. I've got to find a way to incorporate that into my next piece! |
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| How did growing up in a small town influence your work? |
| | I think that living in a small town has limitations and opportunities. For me opportunity presented itself when my Mother encouraged me to read,explore,and learn more about the world. By doing so she motivated me to explore and push boundaries and recognize that my world could be as large as I wanted to make it. Now Chicago is my ever expanding world of light,color, and imagery all to be captured in my mind and applied to canvas. |
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| What do you think it is about numbers that reaches out to you? |
| | Numbers are a consistent aspect of our world.They can represent a particular place and time .Numbers are all round us-on our homes,buses,trains,the structural steel of bridges, construction sites, and signs.Even human beings are assigned a number. I guess a part of the significance for me is that they make a piece feel complete .Although, the significance of a number for me may me have an an entirely different significance for the viewer. |
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| Was it difficult to make the jump from photography to painting? |
| | Yes, it was a difficult leap for me and I was fearful in ways of trying it. I'm not sure where that fear was coming from, but for many years it did keep me from feeling free to even try to express myself on canvas. But, I now appreciate the photography background as I think it has made me think about composition and line, as each line, shape, and color has it's own purpose in the total composition of a painting. |
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| Who inspired you to become a photographer and how did you get into painting? |
| | I've always been a visual person. I got into photography right after college and it wasn't until many years later that I began painting. Both in my photography and my painting I am fascinated by urban details and seek to capture small elements within a larger setting. |
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| What do you hope to communicate to someone viewing your work? |
| | I hope to convey the sense of the city without aiming for realism. |
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