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Tinarity – Featured Artist

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Tinarity: Featured Artist

3-D sculpture

Website: www.shapeways.com/shops/tinaritys

Twitter: : @tinaritys

Instagram:  @tinaritysshop

Pinterest: @tinarity

Email: tinaritys@yahoo.com

Home:

Winter: Sailboat in the Caribbean,

Summer: UK/Germany

A couple of weeks ago I was scrolling through my twitter feed and came upon a lovely sculpture that has such motion.

Wind in your face

I asked the person posting if she knew who created it.  She responded with a cheerful “Me.”  I went on to view other works by Tinarita and was fascinated by the process.  She was gracious enough to participate in an interview.

Tinarity, I think I am as interested in your art as I am in your process and where you do your work.  So much to cover, so let’s start with some first memories.  Thinking back, what drew you to art.  

Other than the painting that kids usually do, I remember carving a wooden old man when I was about 17 years old.  I was actually supposed to be working on my exams for school.  But I kept getting side tracked by sculpting.  Luckily, I passed my exams and made some more wood carvings in the following years.

What was it about wood or sculpture that kept your interest?

Creating something you can touch and hold is always very satisfying. Wood has wonderful haptic properties (warm, smooth etc.) Since then I became a great admirer of Michelangelo’s and Rodin’s marble statues (a very tricky material).

When I read that you did sculptures and lived on your boat part of the year, I was fascinated.  What about your environment keeps your creative juices flowing?

Nature and its close observation are always sparking my inspiration. Looking at macro photographs of plants or plankton is an endless wonder of forms, shapes and colours.

I live part time on a sailboat, so watching the weather, waves and wind is a natural part of everyday life. Even seeing the occasional turtle, manatee, cormorant, or pelican inspires me. With the ocean, everything is round, smooth (just look at beach sand closely) and a bit washed out. These are the forms I am mostly using. I have been travelling a lot and other cultures can give you so much new input, it can be slightly overwhelming. It certainly gives you new perspectives and/or point of views and a big supply of inspiration to feed on.

Since you live on the boat, I know you don’t carry around huge chunks of wood to sculpt.  You have taken your sculpturing skills to a new level with 3-D modelling.  How did you learn this and how does that work?

My present skill (3D modelling) is self-taught. When I became aware of 3D-modelling software (Blender, a free and open source software) I sat down and learned it (with the help of some very good YouTube tutorials). I was (and still am) amazed what wonderful things you can do with it (animations, sculpting, 3D-print modelling, movies etc.). So after wood carving it was a ‘natural’ development for me. In Germany I have 3 self-built 3D printers (for plastic only) where I test-print my models and do a few fun bits (like fridge magnets and desk toys).

Do you have some examples of what has inspired your work?

“Bacteria” pendant

bacteria

I came across a picture somewhere on Twitter. The caption was something like “this is what you find on a child’s hand after playing outside”. Not to scare people, just making them aware of what we carry around all day. Anyway, I thought the shapes and forms intriguing, so I sat down and modeled my very own bacteria to carry around the neck.

Using software and the 3-D printers, I translate the drawing into a a real pendant.

3dbacteria

It is popular in science circles and a favourite of my nieces.

“Connect” Pendant

This came out of nowhere, or actually just playing around with shapes and forms (I think playing is a very useful technique to improve our inspiration and we all should nourish the child within.)

on water

Being on Twitter, getting feedback and actually connecting to other artists is what this pendant represents. Connecting to people, ideas and/or the surroundings is important for me. It still keeps amazing me, to see and share pictures, music etc. with people from all over the world.

Modelling animals is challenging but utter fun and rewarding. You can find a frog, a weasel, a chameleon, a lion, a whale and a seal in my collection. I still have to work on the shark and plan to do a turtle.

The model below is quite dear to me as well. It’s an abstract pendant about the confusion of love. And love can be wonderfully confusing!

love

As you can see in my Shapeways shop, I love doing abstracts, so there will certainly be even more in the future. (There will also be a new website coming out soon.)

You have shared the positives and inspirations of living on a boat.  Is there a down side?

I work alone. The isolation is to one degree good, as I can focus on my projects without distraction. Space on a sailboat is limited, so working on my computer (solar and wind power allowing) is the best solution. Besides I can upload my models to my shop at Shapeways from anywhere in the world. On the other hand discussing problems or ideas would be great and whenever we have friends aboard I am grateful for their feedback. Social media (especially Twitter) is a great source of feedback and inspiration for me. So many talented people out there and I love seeing also those wonderful creations and connecting to fellow artists. So the isolation doesn’t feel so hard.

What kind of advice would you give those who want to make a living through their art?

I am not a sales person at all and it is the most frustrating part of the whole process. Finding an audience is not easy and I won’t ‘elbow’ my way in  (and I am glad and grateful to do this interview, maybe some new people may have a look at my creations) I still hold a job that pays the bills but carved out enough time to follow my passion. I think it is good for my art not having to go with what is popular (and therefore sells), but only create things I am happy with (and hopefully a few others). Everyone knows that making a living from art is a hard thing to achieve. My advice? Get a job that pays the bills and make no compromises to your art. Keeping this apart might keep the frustration level down and the inspiration level up.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and art with us in this interview.

Sunday Comics

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Janet Wright Reed – Featured Artist

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Janet Weight Reed: Featured Artist

Watercolor/Watercolour, Oil

Home: UK

Website: http://www.janetweightreed.co.uk

Email: jcrhumming@hotmail.com

Blog: http://www.jcrhumming.wordpress.com

While scrolling through my twitter feed, I kept running into these delightful splashes of color.  These images would flit between my tweets in the same way hummingbirds hover for an instant then zip off for some unknown adventure.

I explored further and found that these watercolors were the creation of Janet Weight Reed who was gracious enough to allow an interview for my “Featured Artist” column.

What were your first memories of wanting to be an artist?

 My first memory of knowing that I wanted to be an artist was when I was about three years old. At that time my grandmother showed me a sketchbook belonging to my Aunt….which I can visualize to this day. Born in London at the end of WW2, my first impressions of London were of a war battered, drab and grey city.  Even at such a tender age, my Aunt’s colorful sketch book inspired me to want to be an artist and to love and appreciate color.

The other resounding memory and inspiration from that time were the pavement artists in front of the National Museum in London.  Their world seemed to be filled with color and light….a world I wanted to be part of.

That you can still visualize something you saw at the age of three is amazing.  Color caught your attention then and seems to be important in all your work since….your watercolors as well as your illustrations for children’s books.

Regardless of subject matter, observation is key to my life and work.   Nature plays a huge part in my life and is a constant source of inspiration.   I look for the drama in a subject, and tend to see the world as if I was looking into a kaleidoscope of shapes, color, lights and darks.

What type of education or discipline helped you hone your skills?

When I was sixteen I won a scholarship to The Medway College of Arts in Kent…(now part of the University of the Creative Arts)   However, I believe it is the years of consistent dedication and desire to ‘marry technical prowess with the intangible’ that makes the artist. I have enjoyed quite a few wonderful mentors in my life and career. There have been times when I thought I couldn’t continue for one reason or another, and it always seemed that one of my mentors were there to catch me, and encourage me to keep moving forward.

Your website and blog is filled with a variety of work, but it appears you have been enchanted by the hummingbird?       

I saw my first hummingbird in the mountains of North Carolina in 1968 – Since then I have used hummingbirds as symbolic imagery in large oil paintings and of course watercolors. The hummingbird symbolizes, for me, the ‘unseen magic’ in the world.

I love how you seem to use the viewer’s perspective to fill in the movement….having us catching glimpses as we would out in nature.

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My goal was to capture a gentle, soft, moment in time with this watercolor ‘Hummingbirds with Flowers.’

single hummer

In this watercolor I hope to convey the flight of the hummingbird and again the essence of a moment in time.

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This watercolor/gouache image is more vigorous, attempting to capture the movement and total integration into the natural world of this amazing little creature.

You said you had many mentors along the way.  What are suggestions you have to others who want to make their living (or their life) as an artist.

Don’t compare yourself to others, only to yourself. Be as creative in the way you make a living, as you are in your artwork.  i.e. During my own career, I have exhibited widely, given workshops, talks, and during the middle of my career, between 1987 and 1993 – Painted large commissioned murals for corporations on both sides of the Atlantic.  I believe that using social media offers all sorts of opportunities, but again, this can only happen if it is used consistently and persistently.

I really like that phrase “consistently and persistently.”

Unless someone is independently wealthy, and I am not……be realistic and accept that life as an artist will most likely be filled with the ‘feast or famine’ syndrome.  Don’t be too precious…..meaning, sometimes we all have to do work that we don’t necessarily want to do…..however, I see it all as part of an artist’s journey and is often an opportunity to hone one’s technical skills.

Wise counsel, indeed.  Thank you, Janet, for being willing to take the time for the interview.  I hope my readers will take some extra time and go through your website and blog.  I found the exploration inspiring.

 

Deborah Unger – Feature Artist

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Deborah Unger: Featured Artist

Wood sculpture, Printmaking

Home: Mt. Angel, Oregon, USA

Website: http://lunariagallery.com/lunaria-artists-2/deborah-unger/

Email: Deborah.unger@yahoo.com

During a recent visit to Lunaria, a lovely gallery in Silverton, Oregon, I came face to face with delicately carved figures with hand sewn clothes.  I was struck by the artist’s ability to combine realism with metaphor.  Each sculpture was a short story…and at the same time open to interpretation.

I contacted the artist, Deborah Unger, who was willing to be this month’s featured artist.

Do you have any early memories of doing art?

Growing up, I always enjoyed drawing.  I remember drawing a fish in a fishbowl with a crayon and for some reason, I believe I was four at the time.

You have always enjoyed drawing.  Did this enjoyment lead you to taking courses in art?

I received a Bachelor’s of Fine Art from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon.  My major was in printmaking.

Printmaking?  How interesting, because your sculptures are very far from printmaking.  What lead you to that transition?

After graduating I moved to Germany and didn’t have facilities to do printmaking so I tried other media. And though I never considered myself a sculptor, three-dimensional work, particularly Gothic sculpture and altarpieces increasingly compelled me. One day I was in an art supply store and found a piece of linden wood so I bought it and tried my hand at carving. On my first attempt, I was trying so hard to coax a figure out of the wood that I didn’t really leave enough for clothing. Since I sew, I just made her a dress. So I guess I am a trained artist but a self-taught wood carver.

I love that story.  I feel artists will create art with whatever is handy and speaks to them.  Where do you get your ideas?

Because my art is metaphoric and more about the idea than the execution or process, inspiration is key. Sometimes an idea comes as a flash of an image relating to something I’m thinking about. Sometimes it’s a phrase that evokes an image. But sometimes inspiration needs to be helped along. If I need more ideas for work than come easily to me, I think about different images I find evocative and put them together. Often I add something I have a fear of, like fire or heights. That juxtaposing can spark ideas.

From how you talk about the ideas, it seems as if your metaphors or messages are very personal.  Do you collaborate on art projects or mostly work alone?

As most artists do, I work alone. I’ve always thought how strange it feels to make something that can be intensely personal, essentially in secret, and then bring it out to show people. You have to get to that point where you don’t take rejection of it personally, even though what you’ve created is very personal.

There are times when I wish I had some feedback while I’m working. It can help you see things you’ve missed in your own work but it can also lead second-guessing and losing your vision so it’s a bit of a double-edged sword.

Would you be willing to share a few of your works and a little about them?

“The Changeling”

I find mythical creatures which are part human part animal very interesting and think lend themselves nicely to metaphor. That is how The Changeling came about. I was wanting to do some kind of hybrid when “Buck Boy” came to me. As is typical with the way I work, the image comes first and I figure out what it means later. The meaning is clear to me on this one since at the time my son was a teenager.

Unger-The Changeling (1)

I noticed that many of your sculptures have to do with male and female relationships.

 “Hanging On”

This sculpture combines images which I commonly use; houses, relationships between men and women and heights.

 Hanging On (1)

“Blind Leading the Blind”

I’m not sure anymore what made me think of piggy back rides and someone covering your eyes, but suddenly it had a slightly uncomfortable aspect to me.  The not being able to see was what I think it was, so I thought it would be interesting if neither one could see. I think this is a metaphor for relationships in that you never know what’s ahead of you and also about how we handicap those in our lives and ourselves.

Blind Leading the Blind (1)

Thank you, Deborah, for sharing your art work and letting us peek behind the curtain of your inspiration.  Thank you for being this month’s featured artist.

 

Bozena Wojtaszek-Featured Artist

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bozena face

Bozena Wojtaszek: Featured Artist

Art: Textile

Home: Lodz, Poland

Twitter: @textile_cuisine

Website/Blog: http://textilecuisine.blogspot.com/

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BozenaWojtaszek

If you want to see textile art, spend some time looking through Bozena’s blog posts.  She is skilled at making the ordinary exquisite.  She has a passion for textiles in all their colors and textures.  She adds to this a fearless design style.  I’m pleased she took time to answer some questions.

What were your first memories of doing art or having an interest in art?

I really have to go back in time to answer this question! When I think about it now, the first thing that I made that had a trace of art in it, must have been collages. I was a little girl then, in primary school maybe. I can recall finding all kinds of materials that fitted together, photos, scraps from magazines, anything, and putting it all together on a board which hung over my desk. Nobody called it art back then, but now I understand that the feeling I had while making it was the same I have when I sew now.  I mean, patchwork is somehow similar to collage. You create something that looks great from pieces that somebody wouldn’t think could go together.

You do such a good job of making things go together. I noticed that you used a lot of everyday themes: trees, chickens, kitchens.  What kinds of things spark your inspiration?

What kinds of things don’t spark my inspiration! I get inspired by so many different kinds of things it is hard to tell. But the reason for this is that I keep my eyes wide open. The beginning of my creative process is often in the kitchen. I see many ‘kitchen landscapes’ in there, created by real vegetables and I try to translate them to textiles later (I have a whole series of this title). And just as easy, I get hit by the beauty of my window view. Or sometimes I am inspired by medieval illuminated manuscript, botanical illustrations, or… you can name anything; the key is to look at it the right way.

bozena_wojtaszek_red_tree_textile_art6E

I love the way you make trees, using different forms and seasons. Some artists take classes, some have mentors, while others are self-taught. In what ways did you learn your present skills?

I’m definitely self-taught. I’ve never been in any art school, never finished any course. My grandma taught me basic skills in all handcraft techniques. The rest I drew from books, magazines and trying. I started mixing different techniques when I felt urged to do it and I developed my own style of creative process.

Would you be willing to share your creative process?

I would like to share a bit about the process of creating “Spring birds.” Probably because I had so much fun sewing it. When the idea came to my head, I just couldn’t stop until I made it real.

bozena_wojtaszek_spring_birds_textile_art_process1

And I like how linen greys in the background go well with little brightly colored silk birds.

bozena_wojtaszek_spring_birds_textile_art_process3 (2)

There are also elements like pieces of checked textile which is not a pattern you would think of for this design, but it turns out the final effect is simple and fresh.

bozena_wojtaszek_spring_birds_textile_art1

I also like the shape of trees – they are just simple dark lines, yet they give quite the impression of where the birds are. I just really like it.

I, too, like all the work you do with trees.  They become so much more than simple dark lines in your hands.  If you had unlimited funds, what kind of work space would you have, where, and on what would you focus?

A big window!  A giant window is the only thing I need. The place must be bright; I need a lot of natural light. Then, I would love a spectacular view, but it doesn’t matter what is outside. As long as it has a lovely view, I don’t mind where my work space is. And I don’t need anything apart from that. There doesn’t have to be much space. Just a sewing machine, materials and a few books is enough for me to create. I don’t need a computer in my work space. In fact, I would rather there was no computer, so I could fully concentrate on art and leave the business behind.

What experience stayed with you relating to some piece of art that someone admired?

Certainly one of the greatest experiences I’ve had concerns my artwork “Poet in the kitchen.” I created it after reading “Recipe for the cabbage,” a poem by Dorota Kiersztejn Pakulska. I put a lot of heart into catching the poet’s story  in my work. It was more than satisfying to hear how the poet herself admired the result. Then later I was contacted by her daughter who decided to buy it and offer as a gift to her mother. Although, I hadn’t planned to sell it, I was more than happy to do this, because I believed that the poet was the right person to have it. Whenever I get so much appreciation, it is always a very positive experience. I always preferred my works to be recognized rather than myself as a person. This is the nicest thing.

I think your work is delicate and powerful, common and extraordinary all at the same time.  Thank you for sharing your art work with us and being this month’s featured artist.

*Two thumbs up for Bozena’s blog being written in English and Polish.

Hobbit Dream

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My husband (a Hobbit enthusiast) shares his birthday with or around Thanksgiving each year.  This year I had a surprise in mind.

November is also our anniversary, so we decided to take the family for a weekend at the coast.  (Will post that next week.)  Since the coastal fun takes place two full weeks before his birthday, I schemed with the family to hold a surprise birthday there.

He was shocked when gifts, candles, songs, merriment appeared from out of nowhere. There were gifts and cards galore, with all of us beaming that we had kept the secret.

The last gift was a box inspired by his own words.

IMG_3619

The box held a scroll with the message,

Dearest Hobbit,

From the earliest birthdays we’ve shared, few have gone by without you wishing you could celebrate a proper Hobbit birthday where the birthday hosts gives gifts to others to celebrate a spirit of gratitude. These small tokens are given with much love. So, dear one, I have made it so. In this box you will find gifts to hand out, as a proper Hobbit would. I do this with deep love.

Your Elven Queen

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He removed the gifts and handed them out to a much surprised family.

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* FYI, if you wish to make paper look old, it is quite acceptable to tear the edges and color them in ink.  Getting the aged look through burning might cause some…er….ah….situations that are harder to explain (ruined an iced soda and had to air out the house before he got home — yikes).

Vjekoslav Zivkovic — Featured Artist

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Vjekoslav Zivkovic: Featured Artist

Illustrator, animator, designer for characters and backgrounds

Home: Born in Karlovac

Website: http://vjekoslavzivkovic.com/

Twitter: @VjZivkovic

Vjekoslav was kind enough to answer questions for November’s Featured Artist Interview.

I’m amazed at all the projects you have been involved with, some with teams and others by yourself.  What first sparked your interest in illustration or animation?

A far as I can remember I’ve had an interest in drawing and coloring. I used whatever “tools” to tell my own stories. It was a way of playing for me. Every child does that. It is natural. While you cannot expect a five year old to write novels, with a pencil or color, that child can tell a story. It is human nature to express one’s thoughts and feelings through visual art. Children grow and find different ways of expressing themselves.  For me, I stuck with what was natural for me.

I understand you attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.  Was that your plan growing up?

As a child, I learned a lot from watching cartoons, especially Hanna-Barbera productions (So, watching TV is not always bad for kids, ha).  I attended classes in drawing and painting and learned a wide variety of skills.

Here is a painting of my home town, Karlovac. This is a view of the old center of town. The town is situated on four rivers and this old part was a Renaissance fortress (founded on the 13th of July in 1579) built as a defense post against the Turks.

01Painting of Karlovac

I planned on going to the academy to further study in drawing and painting, but fate had something else in mind.

Then one day I went to an animation class.  That is where I learned that animation was my true love.   I focused on that, and had many mentors, but it still left me open to any challenges along the way. During the last two years of the academy we had a great deal of flexibility to focus on our interests.  I learned a great deal from challenging myself.

Before you talked about using a variety of “tools.”  What do you mean by that?

For about 8 years now I’ve gone completely digital in all I do. I use Wacom Cintiq 24HD and Wacom Cintiq Companion for all my work. For those who might find that repulsive, do not worry, I do not press “enter” and let the computer do the rest. I still need to hold the pen to do all the work. All that digital technology does not keep me from neck and back pain – ha.

How does the digital work influence your art?

I thought it would be interesting to show the process that I go through while working on an illustration or some character design. You can see step by step how I did this crazy lumberjack. The software I used here is Photoshop.

03Process

It is clear how each layer makes such a difference in your final product.

I understand you participate in a community as an artist that is similar to the community I participate in as a writer.  We have #FP Friday Phrases where we post 140 character stories.  What community are you involved with?

I’m involved in a Twitter group called “Colour Collective” where artists from all around the world post their work in the same time (19.30h) every Friday and each week a colour is set as a collective theme. Doing this weekly gives me lots of joy. When I do my illustrations I always try to tell a story. If there can be drama, that is even better. Here is an example of something I posted.

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I can see the drama in this picture.  I think this is one of the first pictures I saw on twitter from you that caught my imagination.  I think it is what urged me to follow you.

 I understand you are comfortable working alone or with large groups of people. 

Most of the time, I’ve worked as a freelancer on all sorts of projects (animated short, music videos, animated feature, story books, collectible stickers, web games and apps, animated TV series, etc.).

There were other projects that were bigger and I am a part of the team. In the last year and a half I became a co-founder and member of a creative team called FooFoo. Most members of that team worked with me at another company, in the UK (an animation series). We understood each other so well that we became very good friends. We wanted to do a TV show of our own but pitching forums and TV producers like to work with studios that are already established in the industry. So we decided to do iOS Apps instead. In that way we could still be creative and tell our own stories, but this time directly to the customers. Here is the link: http://www.foo-foo.net/

02Character Design

We have been doing that for a year and a half now and at the end one of our Apps (Choro & Robin Adventure) is now opening a small door for us to make it a TV series. This is still in negotiation process so please keep your fingers crossed.  Here is the app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phonic-school/id964811139?mt=8

I would like to share with you a trailer I did for our very first App we did in Foo Foo. It is a bedtime story book for kids. Here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ySvtcF-iWE

I understand you also work with children, being a mentor to new artists.

I hold animation workshops for kids. I’ve been doing that for over 10 years. Two years ago, I held an animation workshop in Pilsen (Czech Republic). It had about 10 to 15 kids in the workshop and we had so much fun. At the end, the organizers gave kids paper with a few questions about the workshop. I still have those pieces of paper, and every time I`m down or am struggling on some project, I read what those kids wrote. You cannot get a more honest answer or feedback than from a child.

Indeed.  I’m glad you kept those papers. What kind of dreams do you have for the future?

We all have dreams and wishes. I think we all should dream big, but to set up smaller goals (dreams) along the way to help us reach that “big” dream, the ultimate goal.

When we were in the FooFoo animation company’s first meeting and talked about what we wanted to do, we kind of all had similar goals – to have an animation studio of our own.

We have been working very hard on our projects for the past year and a half and now we are very close to achieving that goal. If the idea for a TV series gets the go ahead from a TV company, we will definitely establish our own animation studio.

If that goes well, we will have a similar meeting as before and put our bigger goals on the table, and make a plan how to achieve that one. Dreaming and achieving is a never ending process.

Here are two quotes that keep me going.

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”

Michael Jordan

“If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Walt Disney

Thank you for sharing your experiences and your dreams for this interview as the featured artist for November.