The Marketplace has created a list of questions and we will randomly pick 6 for each MP member to answer for you to get to know the artist behind the works of art you will find in the Marketplace.
- Who is one current day artist you feel has helped to make the pathway for others to follow their dreams? There are 2 actually, one is practically a household name, at least in the mixed media world, and the other most have not heard of. IsAbel Beaudoin is an artist that lives in Door County. IsAbel is the real deal when you think of mixed media artist, and she did it long before most of us ever even thought about it. She's 80 something years old, has Parkinson's disease, and is still making art. Even though her family discouraged her from being a full time artist back in the 40's, she compromised by becoming an art teacher so that she had the summers to explore her own artistic interests-and she did it all, she's my hero! With no excuses, and a determiniation to create, she was able to find that balance to keep peace & remain "respectable" in her family's eyes, and still follow her dream in an era that made it tough for a woman to do that. Here's a little bio on IsAbel, which is a bit dated but will give you a better idea of who she really is. http://www.doorcountyartleague.org/Artist_Bio/DCMastersBio/IsAbelBeaudion.html The second artist would have to be Nina Bagley. Nina has followed her dream of making a living doing what she loves to do the most-creating & teaching art. The fact that Nina has been able to support herself & raise her 2 sons on the income from her art sales is inspiring to say the least. That was a gutsy move on her part, to be able to believe in herself enough, that she could pull that off. She's been at it for over 20 years, still going strong, and still leaving us wondering what she'll come up with next! Both of these women have proven that if you believe in yourself enough and are willing to keep at it through whatever life has thrown at you, you'll just get better & stronger as time goes on. They've followed their dreams, and so can we if we're willing to put as much into our art as these 2 women have. They've both beaten the odds & have survived as artists, showing us that it's possible, and has made the world a little better by adding to it's beauty.
-
When you are not creating art are you doing something that will further expand your art goals? Yes, most of the time I really am doing just that. There's always a stack of books sitting in strategic places around the house so that they're readily available to glance through, or sit down & read a bit. Everything from techniques to marketing to creativity, and anything else in between. Scouring the internet to find answers to questions about techniques, new products, finding best prices on art supplies, and advice on the business end of things. We also go to our favorite gallery, The Flying Pig in Algoma (http://www.theflyingpig.biz) at least once a week to get a dose of inspiration and be surrounded by exciting art and folks with nothing less than a positive attitude. Each year I try to take the time to attend a few classes, not just for fun (even though it is!) but also as an investment in my career. There's always so much to learn in a classroom that just can't be picked up by reading a book. And last but not least, getting together with local art buddies on a regular basis helps keep me accountable and stay on track. I think it's important to have "real life" art friends/contacts, as well as online, if it's at all possible. To reach any goal, art related or not, time has to be spent looking at all aspects of said goal. Learn it, practice it, study it, surround yourself with it, and most importantly, believe in it!
-
What steps did you take to create your own business? Still working on that one:) Actually, it seemed to take on a life of it's own, but is something that is definitely a work in progress. My website was a starting point, but my blog is more important in keeping up with folks and letting them know what's happening. Getting my work into a gallery was a big scary step, but once taken it's hard to go back. I quess that's really when I started looking at this as a business and started trying to treat it as such, like choosing the MMCA Marketplace as one of my marketing venues, and also having an Etsy shop. But there's a lot left to learn on the business side of my art, so check back with me in a year or so & see what's changed!
-
Where do your artistic ideas come from? Ideas can come from a quote, a sunset, a color combination, or they can come out of what seems like nowhere. Most of the time, the ideas evolve as I play around with paints, papers, or beads. Trying out different looks or combinations of color, looking at old photos & trying to imagine what those people were like, looking at the varying colors or textures in my garden, all these things get the creative flow going. I wish it were as easy as just sitting down at my table in my studio and suddenly get slammed with a ton of ideas, but it normally doesn't work that way. If I keep working, the ideas will come-sometimes fast & furious, other times the ideas seem to have taken a vacation!
-
Do you have one blog or website that you visit daily and why? There really aren't any that I make a point of visiting each & every day. Although, there are some that I visit more often than others. Right now there are so very many good blogs & websites out there, that it's too easy to bounce around from one to another & before you know it, the day is shot! I prefer to sign up via a feed to the sites that I like the most so that they come right to my mailbox. For myself, it's much easier to keep up that way. But if I had to choose just one, it would be Tammy Vitale (http://www.tammyvitale.com), she's always got interesting & intelligent posts, has a thought for the day that is almost always what I need to hear on any given day, and is just someone that I choose to be around.
-
Do you have a plan for your future art career? My plan is a little fuzzy around the edges right now. Life happens, and when it does I shift gears & look around to see what happened and figure out what to do next. So my plan is to clarify a plan and take it from there. That said, the best way for me to answer that question at this moment, is to say that I plan to keep learning, to make art that makes me happy, to do the best that I possibly can, and to always have fun with it. At this stage of my life, there's no time to devote to anything that's not going to make me happy, or at the very least I have to learn how to remove or reduce the stress from anything that I do, for health reasons as well as just plain old maintaining sanity. If I can accomplish that for right now, I'd say I've done well.
To see more of Sue's extraordinary work visit her shop in the Marketplace.
Awww - Sue's SUCH a sweetie! We have a mutual on-line admiration society. And I think everyone should check out Sue's work - her jewelry wraps show the patience of a saint - her jewelry original and enticing. I love her created books too and...well, I don't know that I've seen anything she does that I don't like. She often share very cool projects too.
Posted by: Tammy Vitale | August 2008 at 07:10 PM