Tag Archives: watercolor

Artist Spotlight: Katherine Moore

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”Bluebird Bitter”

Katherine Moore has a special knack, a natural talent, for art. It looks as though she’s been a committed player in art’s game for years, a seasoned veteran who navigates her way through creative process seamlessly, making unique pieces with signature characteristics. Well, according to her, she is “brand new to the art scene” and has “only recently decided to commit [her]self to painting and would like to make it [her] life’s work.” We beg to differ! Some pieces could easily be categorized as fashion illustration and are of professional-grade quality. Whether she is mainly using watercolor, pencil or oil paint, her color palettes and artwork are simply wonderful.

ArtVenue wanted to ask Katherine a few questions about her artistic inclinations and a specific thready medium she uses in her pieces. Perhaps we could call her bluff about being a newbie.

“I go into every day knowing that I will not stop trying, no matter how frustrated and ignored I may feel.”

”I'm Staring Straight at You”

Home is where the heart is-where is home for you?
I was born and raised in Groton, Massachusetts, but I feel more at home in New Hampshire where my father grew up. We have a house on Newfound Lake there and it is our slice of heaven.

How and when did you discover yourself to be an artist?
I always felt uncomfortable with the label of ‘artist’. I felt strongly that I was not an artist, I just liked art. Artists are people with crazy hair and paint splattered overalls. They live off sardines and day old bread; black coffee and cigarettes. I always thought, ‘Artists don’t like me’, but that was because I didn’t like myself. I had to go through some very hard times, experience my lowest moments, and then pick up all my pieces and put myself back together. When I did, that is when I discovered myself to be an artist. This was about a year ago, and I have been moving in the right direction ever since.

”Allie Monday”

What are a few things on your artistic bucket list?
I am beginning to toy with the concept of stitching my designs into clothing. It was a natural transition to begin thinking about fashion as thread is normally used to sew clothing, not paper. Maybe someday i’ll have my own fashion line with my own inspired hand stitched designs.

“The juxtaposition of the black thread to the soft watercolor makes for a striking combination. [...] It I just had a feeling it was exactly perfect for what I wanted to convey.”

”Do Not go Gentle into that Good Night”

Where did you learn the skills and gain the knowledge you, as an artist, posses today?
When I was in elementary school I took an art class once a week after school. A local artist from my town, Sharon Wooding, taught the informal class out of her home for a group of the neighborhood girls. I loved the class and the time with my friends, but never realized I was any good at it. When I reached college, art classes were the only ones I enjoyed so I chose to be an art major. I Worked through some of the introductory courses, but school never really did agree with me and I still have not finished. Most of what I know is self taught. I know I do not have the most effective technique, but I work in a way that makes sense for me. I never worked in watercolor until I got the idea to work with thread this past June. I watched a video on Youtube and then just went for it! I create instinctively and am very pleased to see an improvement in my work.

 

What is art to you? What is art for you? Why create it?
I suppose art is everything. I see the world very differently than everyone else and I create works of art so that other people can share in the beauty that I see everyday.

“I push myself everyday to be better than I am so that every piece of art I create is more inspired than the one before.”

Where do you gather and/or seek your inspiration from?
It usually starts with a photograph. Whether one I stumble across or one that I seek out. I tend to fixate on a tiny detail from a piece and run with that. I went to a photography exhibit and saw a photo of a pear with a stamp on it which inspired me to create the self portrait Return to Sender. At the same exhibit I saw a photo of a man in a suit climbing a ladder; suddenly I have strapped the moon to his back and he is climbing into the sky in my painting How He Hung the Moon. Often when I look at an image I see more than what meets the eye; more color, life, and spirit. I create my artwork to show other people what it is that I am seeing.

"So Hard to Handle"

Do any psychological factors or traits transpose into your work?
Do you ask me this because clearly I must be crazy to sit for hours on end and meticulously hand stitch my paintings? I have an obsessive-compulsive personality and an abundance of patience.

Explain where your use of thread came from. What draws you to it, what is its appeal?
Like most things in my life, how exactly this idea came to me i’m not totally sure of. I found myself inspired by the artist Egon Schiele this spring. I have always been scolded by my teachers for using line in my paintings, but I cannot help it. I see in lines and colors. I wanted to do a work similar to Egon’s with sketched lines and splashes of color. It came to me that working in oil was not going to work for this project. With thread I can achieve so much with consistent, crisp, black line that also adds a dimension of texture to my work. The juxtaposition of the black thread to the soft watercolor makes for a striking combination. I am not sure then exact moment I realized thread was the key, but I just had a feeling it was exactly perfect for what I wanted to convey.

“I felt strongly that I was not an artist, I just liked art.”

Pick one of your own favorite pieces on ArtVenue. What is it of, why is it your favorite and what does it mean to you?
My favorite has to be Bluebird Bitter. I have a bit of an affinity for birds, specifically of the blue nature. This painting was my experiment — the first hand-stitched work I created as well as my first ever attempt at painting with watercolor. I discovered so much through making mistakes on that piece of artwork, and though my skill level has improved so much since then, I think she will always be my favorite.

“Untitled”

What is your creative process, typically?
I have a fantastic little life. I work nights and I am free to create all day every day! I am very relaxed about it all. When in the process of stitching I sit on my futon with a cup of coffee and listen to music while I stitch away. Sometimes, when my thoughts get too loud, I turn on the TV and watch Law and Order SVU marathons to distract my mind. I am a very efficient multi-tasker. When I get to the painting, I sit at my isle in the corner of my bedroom where I am flooded with natural light and begin my process of seeing in colors. I need longer chunks of time to commit to the painting as once I begin the process I hate to stop before I have finished. Some times I am burnt out and can’t work, other times I am inspired and cannot stop working. It’s a bit like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.

“Often when I look at an image I see more than what meets the eye; more color, life, and spirit. I create my artwork to show other people what it is that I am seeing.”

"Untitled”

What propels you forward, what keeps you going as an artist?
My mom once said about me, ‘ask her to think inside of the box and you’ll have a problem’. Outside of the box is where I reside. I do not think or behave in the typical manner. Being an artists takes a lot of self motivation and an intense desire to create. I have the ability to hyper-focus, set, and maintain goals for myself. I do not need an outside source pushing me on. I push myself everyday to be better than I am so that every piece of art I create is more inspired than the one before.

Are there any projects you are working on right now that you can’t wait to finish and share? Any other mediums you would love to explore and experiment with?
Yes, always! My artwork takes so long to create that I have to try really hard not to abandon each project for a new one before I have finished. I could fill an entire gallery with unfinished paintings, it is disgusting. Right now I am working on a hand-stitched water color that is my largest one yet. I am very excited about it! It is called Attitude Towards Existence and I cannot wait to share it with everyone!

“Maybe someday i’ll have my own fashion line with my own inspired hand stitched designs.”

What is some advice you could give to budding artists, hopeful to make a name for themselves or looking to build a portfolio?
This is a bit of a peculiar question for me to answer as I am a budding artist myself. All I have to say is perseverance. I go into every day knowing that I will not stop trying, no matter how frustrated and ignored I may feel. And then one day, someone like ArtVenue will come along and recognize how hard you are working! Then, you wake up the next day and keep trying with someone else.

"Esteban"

View Katherine Moore’ complete ArtVenue profile!

ArtVenue would like to thank Katherine for lending us some of her time and thoughts. We are thrilled to have her on ArtVenue – welcome to the family!

Artist Spotlight: Bethy Williams

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"Strange Star Girl"

Bethy Williams‘ ink and watercolor work can do one of two things. They can teleport your mind to a galaxy light-years away, where a velvety backdrop of darkness pin-pricked with stars envelopes you with weightlessness. Alien-like creatures with serpentine purple hair gaze at you with glittering Milky-Way eyes. Symbols and encryptions appear like hallucinations, and you wish you could stay forever to unearth the meaning of everything you see. If your feet stay planted on earth, Bethy’s artwork can show you a celestial dreamscape where her artistic inclinations run free, a glance into her creative space.

Bethy’s illustrations conjure up other-worldly feelings of fantasy and imagination no matter who is looking at them. ArtVenue couldn’t wait to ask some questions about the artist and her fantastical artwork.

“…As Orson Welles told Eddie in the movie Ed Wood, ‘Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else’s dreams?’”

"Tentacle Girl"

Home is where the heart is-where is home for you?
Wilton, New Hampshire. It’s a little town with a population of a few thousand, full of idiosyncrasies, centuries-old ruins and rural New England magic.

How and when did you discover yourself to be an artist?
Making art is just something I’ve done for as long as I’ve been conscious, practically as a biological function. When I was a little kid, probably from the time I was about two years old, my dad would give me pads of paper from his office and I would fill them with drawings from the front to the back, then I would draw on the back, then I would draw on the spine. I would also make picture and story books with stapled-together printer paper. The stories were very strange. A lot of kids draw, but for me it was more than a pastime. I was obsessed and hyper-intense. I was creating a whole world and it was serious business

 

“When I draw my long-haired girls flying between the stars, it’s because I look up at the sky and feel like I could just about do the same thing.”

What are a few things on your artistic bucket list?
Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to see my work published in Fortean Times. Seems oddly specific, but seeing that happen would have great personal meaning to me. I also really want to make liner notes for at least one terrific musical release.

"Three Maenads"

Where did you learn the skills and gain the knowledge you, as an artist, posses today?
Years and years of scribbling, sketching, obsessing, and perfecting. My work is definitely not the product of any kind of structured education. I also have to give credit to my mom, though she isn’t an “artiste” in the stereotypical sense, she sews and crafts and taught me how to mix watercolors one rainy day when I was about four.

 

Your illustrations are delightfully fantastical and have a specific subject/theme. When and how did your interest for “hyperspace faery tales and otherworld portals” begin?
I have that kind of imagery in my head all the time. When I sleep I have extremely vivid dreams and when I’m awake I have extremely vivid daydreams. Just closing my eyes is like watching a movie sometimes. But where does it come from? You know in the cartoons when a character is really happy about something and they get stars and fireworks in their eyes? That’s the only way I can explain it.

 

“Making art is just something I’ve done for as long as I’ve been conscious, practically as a biological function.”

What I mean is that it reflects the way I feel about life: that life is full of amazing wonder. I identify my work with faery tales because faery tales say that magic is all around us, and it’s true. When I look at pictures from the Hubble telescope or listen to cicadas singing in harmony on a summer night, I know just how true it is. When I draw my long-haired girls flying between the stars, it’s because I look up at the sky and feel like I could just about do the same thing.

"Reverb Girl"

Describe your art with 3 adjectives, a genre and a metaphor.
Adjectives: magical, rapturous, ridiculous.
Genre: fantastic.
Metaphor: a happy sphinx from outer space in an old New England forest.

Your work reminds me of artist Tara McPherson’s celestial pieces. Are there any artists you emulate or that influence your work?
My artistic heroes include Delia Derbyshire, Bryon Gysin, Jean Cocteau, William Blake, H.P. Lovecraft, Walt Disney and Pee-Wee Herman.

What is art to you? What is art for you? Why create it?
That is a mystery I have been trying to unravel my entire life. The funny thing is, it makes sense to me in some deep part of me, and it makes the most sense when I am working and not thinking about it, but when I try to explain it I am at a loss for words.

I guess I could say that there’s something inside of me that seems to have a life of its own and wants to manifest itself in the physical universe through pictures and symbols. I’ve met other artists who have said that’s more or less the way they feel about it as well. Then, in turn, when you make art right, it brings the people who look at it a deep-down satisfaction of a mysterious kind, something that can’t be met by any other means.

You could call it something spiritual (I do), but you don’t have to. However you slice it, the fact is that man has an inner life that is just as important as his outer life. It has always been that way; just look at the Chauvet cave paintings and you will have no doubt about that. It seems to be part of the deal of being human, and whether we can explain it or not we’ll always need the satisfaction that only art can bring.

“When I sleep I have extremely vivid dreams and when I’m awake I have extremely vivid daydreams.”

"Girl with Ancient Astronaut"

Who is the long-haired female in your illustrations?
The long-haired females in my work are not all literally the same person but there is a unity of purpose to them. She represents the “spirit” of my work. As I’ve said, my work is alive to me in a funny kind of way, and the long-haired female, with her untamed mane and twinkling eyes, represents the personality of my artistic universe.

Are there any other mediums you would love to explore and experiment with?
I would love to work with film, and I would also love to work with some kind of performance. Maybe something involving an accordion.

“However you slice it, the fact is that man has an inner life that is just as important as his outer life.”

Last exhibition or gallery you visited?
The last exhibition I visited was the Lowell Folk Festival this past August, which featured art in many different media by Lowell artists. The Lowell art scene has a special place in my heart because there is a strong spirit of co-operation, collaboration and fun.

Pick your favorite piece on ArtVenue. What is it of, why is it your favorite and what does it mean to you?
My favorite piece on ArtVenue is “Strange Star Girl”. It’s hard to explain, but when I finished her I had a sense of finally saying something I had always wanted to say and knowing that I said it exactly the right way. When you look at her, you can get a sense of what my entire artistic mission is about. She has become sort of a mascot for my work; she even appears on my business cards.

"Lantern in Black Space"

What is some advice you could give to budding artists, hopeful to make a name for themselves or looking to build a portfolio?
There is nothing in the world more precious than an artist with a genuinely strange artistic vision. If this is you, hold onto that strange vision with all of your might. Protect it, cherish it, nuture it, and never let anyone stop you. Your strange vision is your unique contribution to the universe; what a tragedy, what a crime it would be to let it die and deprive the world of something wonderful and new it has never seen before.

Of course, hard work, dedication and a professional attitude are supremely important as well. But as Orson Welles told Eddie in the movie Ed Wood, “Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else’s dreams?”

"Mary, Seated"

View Bethy Williams’ complete ArtVenue profile!

ArtVenue would like to thank Bethy for allowing us some of her time and thoughts. We are excited to have her on ArtVenue – welcome to the family!

Artist Spotlight: Ellen Crenshaw

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"Ghosts of Japan"

The watercolor and ink illustration you see above this text is incredible, don’t you agree? The composition is sophisticated, the colors are vibrant, and every physical detail is just how it needs to be. Now take a deeper look and allow the details to settle in your mind. There is an untold story collecting momentum the longer you analyze this picture, and it’s a trait which seems to pertain to Ellen Crenshaw‘s illustrations. She is a talented artist who creates artwork rich in narration, movement and context, and has a body of work that has caught the eye of companies like Beer Advocate Magazine, The Weekly Dig and FableVision. The day Pearle Vision lost an employee was the day the art world gained brilliant illustrator, and thank goodness for that!

ArtVenue approached Ellen through the “mysterious ways of the internet,” aka. Gmail, and threw her some meaty questions. She diced them up and served us some tasty insight!

“Interestingly enough, most of my projects that I’ve been happiest with are the most difficult–it’s through the struggle that I find satisfaction, even if I’m grinding my teeth every step of the way.”

Home is where the heart is-where is home for you?
This may sound incredibly cheesy, but home is where my family is.  My husband in particular; if we’re together, I’m at home.  Literally, my place of residence is in East Boston.

How and when did you discover yourself to be an artist?
When I was a kid, I was enamored with cartoons, stories, and characters and I drew what inspired me.  I can’t remember a time when I didn’t do that.  I can’t remember a time when I didn’t tell people that I was going to be an “artist” when I grew up, even if I didn’t know what that meant.  It was always a single track for me, I never seriously considered anything else.

"BYOB, Beer Advocate Issue #42"

When you’re not working or illustrating and have some free time, what do you like to do?
When I’m not drawing, I’m feeling guilty about not drawing.  But I am a child of the screen, I love movies and TV, and in the winter there’s nothing better than cozying up with hot tea and a good book.  This year I started taking kickboxing as a complete change of pace.  I also started getting into fashion blogs, so getting dressed up has become a small hobby of mine.  What I look forward to most, though, is getting together with my husband and friends and letting my silly out.

What are a few things on your artistic bucket list?
I’d love to work on a children’s book.  Learn to screen print.  I’d be curious to try working in California someday, exciting things in the illustration world seem to come from there.

“When I was a kid, I was enamored with cartoons, stories, and characters and I drew what inspired me.”

Who are some illustrators you look up to, and why does their work speak to you?
I’m adding more and more people to this list every day!  The ones I tend to return to, however, are my standbys that get me going again when I’ve hit a wall.  Chuck Jones for his vitality and humor, and for his cartoons that got me started in all this!  Dupuy & Berberian, creators of the most stunning comics I’ve ever seen–I can’t tell you how often I turn to their books for guidance on page layout, storytelling, composition.  Peter De Seve, whose watercolor techniques I would love to successfully emulate someday.  Jen Wang, Graham Annable, Scott Campbell, Vera Brosgol, Brit Wilson, Juan Berrio…I could go on!  Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with inspiration, I feel very lucky.

"My Girl"

What is your creative process, typically? (Mood, time of day, rituals, duration of work, surroundings, caffeine intake, sleep-depravation levels, etc…)
I love visual problem-solving, so I thrive on constraints and deadlines.  Once I settle on a project, either for myself or a client, a great amount of my time is spent gathering visual reference.  Ideally I would make a trip to check out the real thing I need to draw, but most often that’s not possible and I rely on stock photography sites.  Then I make small thumbnails in my sketchbook; refine the drawing either digitally or traditionally; color study in Photoshop; and finally paint, either digitally or with ink, watercolor, and gouache.  While most of the final product is planned in advance, I think spur-of-the-moment decisions and happy accidents keep the work fresh, so I leave myself at least a little mystery before beginning a final illustration.  I work best in the morning and afternoon, but when that occasional all-nighter has to happen (side note: I LOVE sleeping, so you can guess how I feel about all-nighters) I drink a cup of coffee and I’m a jittery, wired machine.  Oh, and I always–ALWAYS–need a movie playing in the background, or I can’t concentrate.  One of my best resources: listentoamovie.com.

You’re a dirty-joke teller – give me your best (PG-13) joke!
Gosh, you’ve really pushed me against a wall here.  It’s awfully hard–to perform under pressure, I mean–I don’t want to get a rise out of anyone, after all.  I may just have to sit on it.

“Kindness opens more doors than you can imagine, especially in a world where a lot of the people you meet never see you in person.”

On your ArtVenue profile you say, “As a lover of animation, I also employ a sense of motion in my illustrations, capturing action so that the characters appear to have life beyond the page. ” How did you craft this skill? (Specific classes? God-given knack and ability? Hours in the studio at school?)

Hours and hours of cartoons!  Practice makes perfect, of course, and I did go to an art magnet high school as well as art college, but when I’m drawing a character I imagine the movement–like a cartoon–I feel myself doing it while I’m drawing.  If I can’t get it right in my head, I act it out!  For a long time I wanted to be an animator, and any animator will tell you that you have to be an actor as well to bring a cartoon to life.  When I realized in college that I didn’t have the patience to be an animator, I inherently had to find a way to convey movement in a still image.

"Jack Spratt Investigates Old Mother Hubbard"

Describe your most difficult project you have ever worked on, personal or work-related. How about easiest or must fun?
Interestingly enough, most of my projects that I’ve been happiest with are the most difficult–it’s through the struggle that I find satisfaction, even if I’m grinding my teeth every step of the way. The comic I illustrated for Inbound #4 (written by my husband, Matt Boehm, published by the Boston Comics Roundtable) was incredibly hard for me.  We were constricted to four pages, and we chose a fairly ambitious story to tell in that amount of space, which means there were a LOT of panels.  It also took place in a historic landmark that no longer stands and has very little documentation, so reference was quite a challenge.  I ended up relying heavily on written accounts, which I had never depended on before for a nonfictional setting.  And, of course, I procrastinated…pulled those all-nighters I hate so much, panicked, inked until my fingers ached.  I’m very proud of the result, though, and I’m proud of the book it’s in.

“Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with inspiration, I feel very lucky.”

In regards to the second half of your question, I’m actually collaborating on a project with a bunch of my friends right now and it’s incredibly fun!  It’s called Fanartica (fanartica.tumblr.com); it’s a blog started by me and Matt, in which we and our closest illustrator buddies contribute fan art that conforms to rotating topics.  It’s only been up for a [few] weeks, but we’ve been picking up a lot of steam with our first topic, 90s Nickelodeon.  It’s really great to work on something that’s simply meant to make you and your friends laugh.

"Fair Is Foul, and Foul Is Fair"

Describe the pinnacle of your artistic career. (ie: Are you a household name? Influencing fashion? Prints flying off the shelf?)
Ha!  I think the pinnacle is still coming (that’s what she said).  So far the proudest moment of my career is a fairly humble one: it’s when I was able to quit my day job.  I worked part-time for four-and-a-half years with a wonderful staff and generous bosses at Pearle Vision while moonlighting as an illustrator.  There finally came a time when I couldn’t realistically juggle both jobs anymore, so I took the plunge into full-time freelance.  It’s scary, and not always lucrative, but I’ve never been happier.  (Plus I’ll always have my eyewear knowledge to carry with me.  You need help with lenses?  I’ll hook you up.)

"Brer Bear, Brer Rabbit, and Brer Labrador"

Pick your favorite piece on ArtVenue. What is it of, why is it your favorite and what does it mean to you?
Woah, I imagine that’s like trying to choose a favorite child.  Let me instead tell you about my most influential piece, Ghosts of Japan.  When someone looks at my portfolio for the first time, this is the piece that stands out.  I don’t know what it is about her, but she opens doors for me.  She’s the first piece I made when I reevaluated my career strategy in 2008.  She brought me out of a six-month-long creative slump.  She was printed on the cover of the Weekly Dig to promote my solo show in 2009.  When I look at her now, I see all the technical errors that I have since improved upon, but she is consistently my most popular illustration, and remains my best-selling print.  I can’t help but get sick of her sometimes, I feel like I’ve progressed so much since I made her, but I owe a lot to that Japanese girl on the subway with her ghosts.

What is some advice you could give to budding artists, hopeful to make a name for themselves or looking to build a portfolio?
Just keep working.  Find reasons to make new artwork, dig for deadlines to meet.  When I left college I had this idea in my head that I was worth too much to work for free; don’t get me wrong, to a certain extent, this is true.  But when you decline the opportunity to build relationships and experience because of the money, you get yourself nowhere fast.  Respond to those calls-for-artists, start a blog and consistently post work, find any reason to get your work seen–better yet, published–and the opportunities will come.  Also, be nice.  Kindness opens more doors than you can imagine, especially in a world where a lot of the people you meet never see you in person.

"The Food Issue"

View Ellen Crenshaw’s complete ArtVenue profile!

ArtVenue would like to thank Ellen for lending us some of her time and fantastic thoughts. We are psyched to have her on ArtVenue – welcome to the family!

 

Artist Spotlight: Adam LoRusso

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"Looking For Something That's Right in Front of You"

Adam LoRusso ponders life’s notions a lot, and you can feel his thoughts leaping, reaching, calling out to you in his mixed media pieces. You might not be able to decipher them at first glance, but each of Adam’s works are pensively crafted – you’ll pick up the sentiments in each artistic nuance. His work is balanced, ethereal, interesting and bold. It’s clear there is a permanent place for Adam in the art world, and we can’t get enough of his creations.

ArtVenue handed Adam a few questions and allowed him time to let his thoughts simmer. Here is a little glimpse into the world of a talented individual.

How and when did you discover yourself to be an artist?
I’ve always been interested in creating visual art, sketching and drawing, but grew up more as a musician. When I got to college, I couldn’t find any musicians that were into playing the same type of music so I said ‘whatever’ and picked up a pencil and paintbrush instead.

Envision yourself at the pinnacle of your artistic career?
Not really sure to be honest. I try to stay in the present and not worry too much about the future.

“Stop thinking so much and just make stuff. Experiment.”

The very first piece or work ever created by you-what/when was it, is it anything like the work you do now, and do you have it in your possession?
A three-legged dinosaur outlined in green crayon from when I was 5 or 6; it’s tucked away somewhere in my mother’s closet. I still have a bunch of drawings and painting studies that I did when I started taking art classes in college. My professor gave us this awesome assignment that consisted of taking a bunch of completely unrelated photo references we liked and working them into a drawing together; the first one I did was a woman surrounded by all these molecules and vintage clocks. That’s probably what strengthened my interest in surreal/visionary art and my motivation to use my work as a way to show people things that exist even though our eyes can’t necessarily see them (molecules, metaphysical concepts, etc…).

"Xx Transmission"

If you were given a blank check, an hour in your favorite art store and permission to shop to your heart’s content, what would we see in your shopping cart/s?
A whole mess of things: acrylics and watercolors, tons of brushes, Prismacolor and Sharpie markers, spray paint, a bucket of Mod Podge, acrylic medium, x-acto knife blades, any magazines or art books I could cut pictures out of, and probably a bunch of stuff I’ve never used before just to play and experiment with.

What is your creative process, typically? (Mood, time of day, rituals, duration of work, surroundings, caffeine intake, sleep-depravation levels, etc…)
I’ve tried to figure this out for 5-6 years and I honestly don’t know. The only common factor I’ve noticed is that my work usually comes in big waves. I’ll usually create 4-5 pieces in a two week span, and do nothing but work on those pieces of art. Then, once they’re finished, I won’t pick up a paint brush for three to four weeks. And repeat. That’s the main reason I’ve learned to work with mediums that dry quickly; I’m able to have an ‘art-xplosion’ without smudging everything together.

"Eagle's Song"

Where do you gather and/or seek your inspiration from?|
Things that I find fascinating. A beautiful woman, a silent and ever-present Buddha, the fact that the ‘world’ we conceive is actually just one giant field of energy, what it was like for warriors to hunt for food before supermarkets existed. I use art as a way of sparking an inner dialogue that might help me understand these concepts. I start with a concept and just go from there and see where it goes. Sometimes I come to a better understanding on a subject; sometimes I just confuse the crap out of myself. But I guess it’s the journey that matters more than the final destination.

“I couldn’t find any musicians that were into playing the same type of music so I said ‘whatever’ and picked up a pencil and paintbrush instead.”

If I’m a fly on the wall as you’re creating art, what do I see?
It really depends on what I’m doing at the moment. There’s times I’m sitting meditatively in silence only making the necessary movements to put paint on a canvas. Then there’s other times I’ll just thrash about hucking any art medium within arms reach at a canvas and end up looking like a 5 year-old after finger painting for the first time.

Describe your art with 3 adjectives and a genre, if you can.
Experimental, Self-realizing, and Alive. I have no idea what ‘genre’ my work would fit into really.

"They'll Call Me Freedom"

What is some advice you could give to budding artists, hopeful to make a name for themselves or looking to build a portfolio?
Stop thinking so much and just make stuff. Experiment.

There is symmetry in several of your pieces on ArtVenue — what’s the story behind that?
I’ve always been intrigued by the psychedelic aesthetic, so that’s probably where I subconsciously picked it up. I never really sat down and was like ‘OKAY! Now THIS piece will be symmetrical!”. It just kind of came out that way.

“I use art as a way of sparking an inner dialogue that might help me understand these [self-realizing] concepts.”

Pick your favorite piece on ArtVenue. What does it mean to you, why is it your favorite, and how did it come to be?
Not to sound cliché but each piece holds a different lesson and meaning to me, I don’t really think I have a particular favorite so to speak.

Anything else?
I have a solo show opening September 3rd at Dark World Gallery in Worcester. I’m super stoked on all the new work and really excited to get some feedback on it. Check it out!

"Lion Heart"

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ArtVenue would like to thank Adam for giving us some of his time and thoughts. We are thrilled to have him on ArtVenue – welcome to the family!