Featured Member Interview: Liz Miller, CDA

"Under the Old Maple"

Visit Liz's website:  Artful Endeavors
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/artfulendeavors
 
What inspires you to create? 
Creating is a part of me. I’m inspired by the world around me, colors, textures, lines, light and the way they interact. I’ve always gravitated to the creative part of any of my jobs or activities.
As an art teacher, my students inspire me with their desire to learn and their questions about art theory or techniques.

When did you decide to pursue art or did art pursue you?
I’ve been involved in art in one form or another as long as I can remember. As a child my favorite activities involved crayons or building something.

If you weren't an artist, what would you be?
At this point in my life if I weren’t an artist I would be retired and still involved in creative pursuits.  I’m not sure you ever retire from being an artist.

What other jobs have you had which have aided you on your artistic path?
Before I worked at being an artist I was a nurse, a belly dancer, and a dance therapist. I’ve always enjoyed the creative aspects of each job.



"Waiting to Hatch"

At the art supply store, which section do you gravitate to first?
An art store is like a candy store to me, so much to look at and explore. I usually end up at the paints, or pencils, or anything involving color.

What new technique or art form would you like to learn? Do you have plans to do so?
I’ve been exploring textures and mixed media, colored pencils, and watercolors. More portrait work is high on my to do list.

If you could do anything, and knew you could not fail, what would you choose to do?
I would provide an art studio/gallery/venue where any of my talented students or artistic friends could come to teach, create, dance or follow their creative urges. I would involve as many people in art as possible. I would have a large room for dance performances and Zumba workouts.
I would be an artist, wife, horsewoman, cat lover, Zumba enthusiast, belly dancer, art supporter, teacher, and friend. 

Sounds like you're living your dream, Liz!  Thanks for the interview.

Featured Member Interview: Katherine Stein

Nuno scarf I

Visit Katherine's blog, Designing Dragonflies

and her Facebook page, here.

 

What inspires you to create? 

Everything inspires me.  Trees, grasses, birds, berries, fruits, vegetables, sunsets, sunrises, gloomy days near water (a perfect example of monochromatic) buildings, mountains, oceans, deserts, cities, villages, people, dogs, cats, the moon and stars, books, the Milky Way, fiber, fabric and color, color, color!

When did you decide to pursue art, or did art pursue you?
I grew up wanting to be an artist so I guess I pursued it.  I LOVED art class in school and when I was able to choose classes in high school I took every art class I could. I wanted to paint and was really into embroidery in high school. I took some pottery classes but I just couldn’t get into it. After I got married at the tender age of eighteen I was broke and got into sewing, recycle, and nature art (anything I could do cheaply) In my thirties I started to work full time and went to (shudder) business college at night…which did require some creative thinking but kept me so busy I had no time for art. Ten years later, when we moved down to North Carolina, I found some boxes of my old projects and it was like finding a forgotten old friend. I’ve decided that this is my time to get back into what I loved doing, so here I am. I’ve declared to myself and to others that I AM a Fiber Artist (who meddles in paint, art journals, and whatever catches my attention) and I’m never going to let that part of me go for anything or anyone. Whether I stay in fiber or move on to the other mediums who knows, but it’s a journey that doesn’t really end and that’s the best part.

Nuno scarf II

If you weren't an artist, what would you be?

Hmm...been there temporally already, bored, frustrated, television watching zombie (and kinda bitchy as well).

Fairy Grandmother

What other jobs have you had which have aided you on your artistic path?

Different scarves

Working at a flower shop was really awesome because of the different colors of the flowers and plants.  But what gave me the discipline of color was working at Perrigo in Allegan, Michigan in the Graphic Arts area (Print Shop) I had to learn about four color processes, and the printing process, flexo and offset. It has turned out to be my favorite job so far.

At an art supply store, which section do you gravitate to first?

It depends on which art store, what day and what whim.
At Jerry’s I go for the fabric dyes, however I may want to check out what is new in paper, pens and paint. At Askew-Taylor I just want to slowly explore the whole store bit by bit, it’s like going into Aladdin’s cave. At Ornamentea I start with wool fiber and then look at seed beads and any other sparkly item that catches my eye. Quilt stores and Joanne’s is totally fabric.
 

Shibori

What new technique or art form would you like to learn?  Do you have plans to do so?

Since I’ve joined CMMAG, I’ve been exposed to so much beautiful art, I want to learn and master it all. However my top picks are to learn how to Art Journal, paint, draw better, and expand my fiber art knowledge. My New Years Resolution for 2012 has been to learn a new technique every month and so far I’ve done pretty well. January I taught myself Nuno Felting, February was portrait drawing, March was making a sweat shirt jacket using layered waves,  April I designed and made cell phone bags, May, I learned a new way of appliqué, June I started to learn how to Batik. July is furthering the Batik to a new level. I need to pick up some painting classes, an Art Journal class and possibly book binding to finish off my year.

If you could do anything, and knew you could not fail, what would you choose to do?

I would buy an old warehouse or mill, renovate it into a combination of Art studios, meeting rooms/ class rooms, gallery and an inn. This way, I’d be able to accommodate different artists needing space, provide space for guilds to meet, as well as classrooms (at a reasonable rate).  Also, I'd sponsor weekend workshops and the inn aspect of it would accommodate students. The gallery would be a co-op of all the artists in the studios.

Sounds like a wonderful place, Katherine...sign us up! 

Thanks for the interview, and best of luck meeting your New Year's Resolution goal...you're well on your way.

Raleigh 004

Featured Member Interview: Mary Neligan

Mary at work

What inspires you to create?

Sometimes it’s the wood with the different patterns, knots or shapes.  Sometimes it’s the odd metal parts that I‘ve found or been given.  Lately it’s been a theme or concept of a fish that makes me laugh and I search through my hoard of parts to create that fish.

When did you decide to pursue art or did art pursue you?


Oakey

I’ve always been a piddler, tinkering with tools, wood, glass, and the like.  When our talented member and my good friend, Jean Skipper, told me she could sell my fish in her gallery I was amazed.  I had a reason and a purpose behind my piddling.  I later realized Jean bought most of my first fish, but it got me started.

Hooked

If you weren’t an artist what would you be?
I would still be working in the Emergency Room.  With 12-hour shifts you always had 4 days of the week to decompress and work on projects.

What other jobs have you had which aided you on your artistic path?

Daddy Gar

When my boys were young I was able to be a stay at home mom.   My friend Joanne and I taught ourselves how to use a miter box and chair railed everything.  We laid flooring, painted, and wallpapered.  We mastered the bigger saws and built a dog house.  My dog never slept in it.  It has a bit heavy… needing a forklift to move it, but it looked good.   

 At the art store which section do you gravitate to first?
The one with the most colorful display.   They may be displaying something I know nothing about or have no need for, but I will be sucked in.   I have bought amazing things I know nothing about from fabulous colorful displays. 

What new technique or art form would you like to learn?  Have you made plans to do so?

Sally Sells

I have always wanted to learn to batik.  This past Monday I took a class with our own Liz Miller. I liked the element of surprise in a completed batik work.  More batik projects are now swimming through my head at an alarming rate.  I have fish orders that need to be filled first. So much art and not enough time. Batiking will happen, but back burner for now.

If you could do anything, and could not fail, what would you choose to do?

Mrs. Latchy

I’ve toyed with the idea for years of acquiring one of little cinderblock buildings you see dotting the rural highways of North Carolina.  You know the ones… mostly abandoned now, they use to be mom and pop stores, repair shops, and the like.  I would like to completely mosaic the exterior of the building with a landscape theme with monsters, gargoyles, and of course fish.  The store would become a junk shop with displays of found and upcycled art.  Give ideas to all on what they can create with discarded items.  They have the choice to create or to buy from all of us who create, tinker, and piddle.

There'd be lots of CMMAG members who'd be regular visitors to your store, Mary!  Thanks for the interview.

2012 Challenge: "What's on Your Palette?"

Our challenge for this year will be our take on the Capital One slogan ("What's in Your Wallet?").  No Vikings, no Alec Baldwin, no goats...well, unless that's what you're into. 

At the August 9th Guild meeting, all members will be given a 12" x 12" canvas (a gift from the Guild), and a template with the outline of an artist's palette.  The challenge will be to show the world what's on your personal palette. 

Anything goes!  If it can fit onto the palette, and be permanently attached to the canvas, it'll work.  The only requirements are that the outline of the palette must be visible, and a solid color background (which continues around all four edges) must surround it.  Finished work is due at the October 11 meeting (no exceptions!).  As we did last year, the completed canvases will be displayed at Art of the Carolinas (November 8--11). But unlike CanvaSynergy, these will not be attached, or in a frame. Instead, we'll forgo the table we normally have in the hallway leading to the trade show at AoC, and display them on a grid wall.  After that, who knows?  Maybe the Mayor has some more empty wall space...

Intrigued?  Got plans whirling in your head?  Great!  The fun begins August 9th.

January Member Interview

"Brown, Red & Green"
mirrored pendant

Jennifer Partridge
www.jenniferartundone.blogspot.com
www.lookingglasslane.etsy.com
www.bondedllama.com/wordpress/tenants/jennifer-partridge/

What inspires you to create?
My first response is to say everything because my work is an exploration of life, its various stages, and the paradoxes and beauty that are inherent to it. Depending on my mood anything can spark my creative muse. Sometimes inspiration comes from a quietly withering rose and other times a boisterous belly-dancing hafla. And it seems the more I explore, the larger the breadth and depth of my inspirations become. This journey of discovery is also greatly aided by the other wonderfully creative souls I am meeting along my path. Their loves and passions have inspired me in ways that I found quite unexpected!

Photograph from theater performance of "Cntrl+Alt+Dlt"

Did art pursue you or did you pursue it?
Both. I grew up in a home full of crafts and music. From age five to fifteen I took dance
lessons and acted. When I went to college I tried to negate my love for the arts and pursue science but ended up frustrated. I left college with a media communications degree and wandered through several jobs, many of them in the arts, trying to find my niche. I realized during this time I really wanted to be a selling artist; however, it wasn't until very recently, through perseverance and divine intervention, I created art uniquely my own and also commercially viable.

"Wild Roses" hand made cards

If you weren't an artist, what would you be?
Sad. My creativity is a huge part of who I am and not honoring my artistic soul would leave me very unfulfilled. With that said I think that my artist can have many different outlets. Currently I'm enjoying creating a business to sell my art. I love talking to others
about art and teaching people about it so if opportunities arise to do that too I will!

Attendees at Bonded Llama open house working on
my first Re-arrangeable painting

What other jobs have you had that aided you on your artistic path?
Oh my goodness I don't even know where to start! Many of the jobs I have had validated how much I wanted to be an artist although sometimes it was because of how
miserable I was when not working in a creative environment. Let's see... in college I worked as an on-air d.j. and manager at WKNC. I was also chief promotions officer
for a local promotions agency and record label. Out of college I became a band's tour manager for a summer. Then I returned to NCCU to pursue an art education degree. While there I worked at the NCCU art museum as part of my work study and loved it. Learning about artists and art history is so exciting! After that I worked at a photolab; printing photographs, installing murals, mounting slides, laminating signs, and trimming prints. While working at the lab I learned all about photography and became a photographer. I worked with other photographers around Raleigh as an assistant and second shooter. I love to take photos although my favorite photo shoots are when people are having fun and mostly pretend I'm not there. I also enjoy going out on photo adventures just to see what I can find! While working on my photography business I waited tables...a lot. blah! Although I laugh because waiting tables seems like such an
artist stereotype :P Most recently I was the production manager for an independent

"Red, Green & Black" Tennis court
abstract series

artist. This was probably the most helpful in recognizing that I could go into business for myself selling my own art. It just took me awhile to discover what art I could make that was commercially feasible. Currently my biggest and most important job is being a mom. I have learned patience, compassion, selflessness, perseverance, and loyalty. All of these gifts I had touched upon through art but never grasped them the way I have through parenting. Now my art has far more meaning and depth.

At the art supply store which section do you gravitate to first?
Where I go usually depends on what I'm working on. Recently I've been spending a lot of time creating jewelry. My shopping cart has been full of adhesives, plastic gloves,
metal working tools, butane torches, wire, jump rings, and resin. Although I always enjoy just wandering around to see if anything new catches my eye ;)

Asian-inspired photographic
pendant

What new art techniques would you like to learn? Do you have plans to do so?
Right now I'm working on expanding my metal-smithing and acrylic painting skills. I have some experience with both but would like to achieve a higher degree of skill in these areas. My plans are to take another jewelry metal smith class through Pullen Art Center in March and a few painting workshops with Liz Miller in the spring.

If you could do anything, and knew you could not fail, what would you choose to do?
Make the Arts a core part of schools' curriculum. It saddens me deeply that Arts are not valued (by some) within our schools. Arts teach self-expression, compassion,
tolerance, diversity, self-awareness, appreciation, critical thinking, and perhaps most
importantly creative problem solving and emotional intelligence. Arts reflect our culture,
our beliefs, our fears and our desires. It baffles me that some people do not see that
these attributes are just as important to society as science or math. If I could not fail
I would help the blind see that it has been creativity which has driven us forward. All
the math and science in the world won't solve problems, it is the people who seek new
ways to answer old questions that bring about change. It is my greatest hope that as
our technological engine plows forward people have the forethought, self-awareness, and
emotional intelligence to steer it in the right direction.

Thanks for your thoughtful answers, Jennifer...we're really looking forward to seeing your new work this year!

Happy New Year from CMMAG!

In this brand new year, we wish you good health, happiness, creativity and fun!

Watch this space for more artsy events, images, and the work of our members...

It's going to be a GREAT year!