Featured Member Interview: CMMAG Founder, Jeanne Rhea

Jeanne Rhea
Website:  JeanneRhea.com
Blog: JeanneRhea.blogspot.com
Facebook: JeanneRheaStudio
Instagram:  JeanneJarrettRhea
Pinterest:  JRhea

What inspires you to create?
Dreams—I often solve problems in my sleep, and wake up with fully formed ideas of what I want to create.
My studio—The moment I enter my studio, I am excited about the possibilities of the day.
Questions—What if I…? I am constantly asking myself what will happen if I try a different technique, flip my process, or a myriad of other questions.
Experimenting—New art supplies and visiting artists who are into experimenting make for excitement that one does not get when working alone.
Traveling—The moment I get on an airplane, I love to write. Traveling enhances my observational skills, and the ideas come like waterfalls.
Taking walks—Observing nature provides inspiration that on the surface appears not to enter my art. However, my mind clears, and I can return to my studio, and my art flows.
Music—Once I am in the creative groove, music keeps me going. I choose my music based on what I am working on. It helps me avoid the attention to detail that makes me overwork paintings, and keeps me moving which is important with my work.
When did you decide to pursue art or did art pursue you?
It must have been a symbiotic relationship. I cannot imagine my life as anything other than an artist.
When did you begin to call yourself an artist?
I have always considered myself an artist. After being online and observing the art of those who called themselves artists, and studying the past well-known artists, I decided that I was as much of an artist as many of them. I now proudly call myself an artist.
If you weren't an artist, what would you be?
There are so many areas of interest, and I am curious by nature. I go through periods when I want to learn every single thing I can about a subject, and I am certain that I should have studied it in depth. I have always loved geology, biology,
archaeology, and learning about other artists and their lives. With the passing years, I find myself leaning toward the study of human behavior, and our relationship with each other, living creatures, the earth, and the environment. If I could just pick one thing that I could magically do, I think I would be a singer or writer. Still art comes into play with those!
What other jobs have you had which have aided you on your artistic path?
Every job, from working in restaurants and factories, to owning a B&B to working in an arts and crafts co-op, to working in a bank and in the building and maintenance industry, has contributed to my art in some way. In my opinion, art is the one profession that is so much a part of a person that every event, every connection, every job, and every experience often affects what one creates.
At the art supply store, which section do you gravitate to first?
I check them all out on a regular basis. I love experimenting with new supplies and pick up any supply that looks like I may be able to use it in my art.
What new technique or art form would you like to learn? Do you have plans to do so?
I am currently working on learning how to paint a little more representationally—more illustratively than realistically. I also plan on making more assemblages. I admire those who paint realistically, but I am not drawn to creating realistically for myself.

If you could do anything, and knew you could not fail, what would you choose to do?
Can I change the question? What would I do if I never had to think about making a living?
I would take classes to learn some art techniques that I want to learn quickly, and then go to my studio, and make art every day except for travel breaks. I would hire a studio assistant so I never had to do social media or marketing. She would contact galleries, keep inventory records, maintain my website, write a blog entry and a newsletter monthly, do press releases, order supplies, and ship artwork. She would find a source for putting my paintings on a clothing and jewelry line, and do all the graphic design to make a book of my paintings. She would find a manufacturer to create the alcohol inks that I love, and travel to demo them. She would do almost everything except create my art and clean my studio. No wonder I can’t get enough of my art done. I have been trying to do it all. I just need an assistant.

We ALL need that assistant!  Thanks so much for your vision in creating the Guild, and for the interview, Jeanne.

Featured Member Interview: Ilona Isaacs

CMMAG Vice President Ilona Isaacs shared the following in her interview:

What inspires you to create? 
I'm like a two-year-old .. I want to 'do it myself'. And, I LOVE beautiful things. Beauty in nature transports me.



When did you decide to pursue art or did art pursue you?
I have always been a maker and artist by looking at the world through that lens but when I joined CMMAG, I crossed over into pursuing art on a more regular basis. It is such a creatively affirming community. I have gained confidence and knowledge and friends.

When did you begin to call yourself an artist?  

Only recently.

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

What I am intrinsically - an appreciator of art and beauty in the world. 

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

Many jobs: antique dealer, scrapbooker, student, teacher, parent, gardener, traveler. The two most helpful were: 

1. TechShop Education Coordinator when as a member of this maker community, I could see every day that ideas & vision are only the seed. Persistence and hard work are what is required to bring an idea/vision to fruition. 

2. Girl Scout Leader where I began to see how process is as important or more important than the product for my girls.

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

Paper. Sale items.

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

The three things I want to learn remain the same from a few years ago: drawing, lettering, watercolor. I have taken some lessons and plan to do more but my goal is to achieve a mastery of these three skills that will allow me to create the visions in my head. That will involve stepping up my practice time.

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

Tackle my studio. Right now it defeats me and is holding me back from being more productive as an artist. 

Featured Member Interview: Marcia Streithorst

CMMAG Secretary Marcia Streithorst shared the following in her interview: 

What inspires you to create?
Nature, and landscapes inspire me. I love color and line, and have always loved the way organic shapes look.

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

I have a BS in Fine Art so I guess I pursued it.

When did you begin to call yourself an artist?
In college once I got accepted into the liberal art program, but after I graduated and started working as an art researcher and then a project manager, I started to not feel like an artist and stopped making art for a while. Then I started making people and my husband lured me into staying home with my girls so I could pursue my art again.  

If you weren't an artist, what would you be?
Party planner, I love to plan and throw parties!

What other jobs have you had which have aided you on your artistic path?
Being the project manager at Mead helped give me the confidence to speak in public and lead meetings. I now love to teach people and have no trouble talking to potential art buyers.

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

Clearance. I always look at what is on sale first.

What new technique or art form would you like to learn?  Do you have plans to do so?
I would like to learn calligraphy and I do plan to take a class.

If you could do anything, and knew you could not fail, what would you choose to do?
I would quit my job with the city and invest in an actual art studio and paint constantly . Since I cannot fail a well know gallery would pick me up and I would do art shows and travel to different cites selling art and doing workshops. I love the idea of getting paid to travel and do art.

See more of Marcia's work on her website:  Mjsworks.com
and keep up to date with what she's doing on Facebook and Twitter: Mjsworks

Featured Member Interview: Shannon Binkowski

CMMAG President Shannon Binkowski shared the following in her interview: 

"Harvest Nights" 

1.  What inspires you to create?

I love watching bits come together to make something different, especially when that something different is also wonderful. I love taking beads and wire and turning them into a necklace. I love taking paint and paper and turning it into something that is pleasing and pretty, or turning an eraser into a stamp, or any number of things that become...transformative.

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

Art has definitely pursued me. My family did a lot of making when I was  younger and I wasn't interested in a lot of it til much later, but it's always been there. My mom and grandparents would have loved to teach me to follow their arts, from the fancier stuff all the way down to basic cooking and sewing, and I was just not engaged with it. So much so that when I started to move toward art later I don't even see the way they saw. On the one hand I love getting to learn and discover new things, but on the other I would love to go back and learn the lessons they would have loved to teach me.

"Safe as Houses" 

3.  When did you begin to call yourself an artist?

Definitely not til after I joined CMMAG, and honestly I still have a bit of trouble with it sometimes. Growing up I knew people with very definite ideas about what does and does not count as Art, and somewhere in my brain 'artist' is still connected with fancy fine art pieces and everything else is filed under 'craft'. The rest of the great people at CMMAG have been really supportive in helping (or sometimes making) me stand up and claim it, though.

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

At this point in my life? So many things. Many of them would probably include writing somehow, as that was my first love and creative outlet. There is so much I'm interested in, and so many fascinating things to pursue. But now I definitely add 'artist' to the list of things I am, no matter what else I follow or do.

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

Working retail (especially at the health food stores) has helped me learn to focus on details and how to work around limitations. Working with the Astronomy department changed the way I see things, and the way I look for solutions; it also helped teach me how to combine information to make bigger leaps forward.

I think any job you have, even the soul-crushing ones that we've all had and hated, aid us on our artistic paths because they help shape who we are. They are part of why I am who I am and why I see the way I see, and my art wouldn't be the same without them.

6.  At the art supply store, which section do you gravitate to first?

If there's not a specific mission I'm on? Clearance. That's where I've discovered some of the most interesting tools and toys, and where I'm most likely to run into something I never knew existed. Other than that, I love the sparkle of the bead section and the wonderful bits and bobs and stamps and punches in the paper craft section.

"Butterful Music" 

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

Part of me, a big part, wants to learn all of the things. All of them. Not even necessarily because I think I would be a great potter or painter or paper maker or other things that probably don't start with P, but just for the experience, and because there are almost no art forms or techniques that can't be transferred to other media in some way. Realistically, I am aware that my wallet and studio space are neither one infinite, and so I have to tell myself sternly that I cannot start a new art form.

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

This answer may well change later, because answers like this often do, but right now? I think I'd love to have a little art café, where people who didn't have experience, or space, or materials could come and make art, and where local artists and crafters could have some storefront space.

Sounds idyllic, Shannon!  Thanks for the interview.  

Featured Member Interview: Cathy Mitchell

"Fantasy Fruit Tree"

What inspires you to create?
Nostalgia, antiquity, the quaint and whimsical. A significant element of inspiration comes from the children I work with; their innocence, their faith in their own hopes and dreams. And especially the enthusiastic abandon they bring to their art.

When did you decide to pursue art or did art pursue you?
When my children graduated and went out into the world, I had some time to focus on rebuilding my passion for art. As a child I always had art supplies, organic materials, wood, boxes as well as space to work. As I grew older, my parents sort of expected me to spend more time on studies and less on other activities. That was quite a while back, before we began to understand the value of art and overall wellbeing.

 

When did you begin to call yourself an artist?
This Guild has encouraged and inspired me to be brave enough to call myself an artist. I realized that an artist is one who produces art! An artist doesn’t have to be globally recognized. An artist simply enjoys making art.



"My Special Girl"

 

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

A writer.

What other jobs have you had which have aided you on your artistic path?
Teaching craft classes to children and senior adults.

At the art supply store, which section do you gravitate to first?
Pens, markers, crayons, pastels, anything that makes a mark. And paper!

What new technique or art form would you like to learn? 
Gain more experience and insight into collage.

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

Keep my art supplies organized. But I know that would be an Epic Fail. LOL
  

Featured Member Interview: Maureen Seltzer

Maureen Seltzer

Web site:  www.seltzersart.com

Facebook:  Maureen Seltzer's Art Studio

The Loft web site:  www.WFartistsloft.com

The Loft Facebook:  The Artists Loft @ Wake Forest Coffee

What inspires you to create?

Sometimes it can be as simple as a pattern that I see in my day or a splash of color that I catch out of the corner of my eye that gets into my mind. I often listen to music as I work and find that a song will trigger an image. In my play list I have a song called Mother Earth by Natalie Mac Master every time that song played I would see this wild horse in my mind. I did not collage it right away but waited until it came in focus and then grabbed a sheet of paper and got the sketch down.  I also often work in series so if I’m working on a bird I will get the idea for another bird painting. It is also fun to see how I can take the wildly abstract printed papers and turn them into some not so abstract. Sometimes it is the paper that will inspire me like when I was eating a burger at Char Grill and it was like I should use their slips and collage the Char Grill. I’m still working on this one.

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

I believe that art pursued me. One of the memories I have back in school was around second grade and I was getting a lot of attention for my art. This was good because I was having trouble with everything else; it was not much later that I would learn that I have Dyslexia. If it had not been for art and a wonderful High School that let me follow that path I’m not sure that I would have finished school. I also believe that my parents gave me permission to make a mess with all kinds of art stuff and helped to feed that creativity.

When did you begin to call yourself an artist?

It took a long time for me to call myself an artist, it was much easier to call myself a craftsman. But with time and the help of wonderful friends I can say yes I’m an artist, I might not be the best, my art might not hang in a museum but I’m an artist nonetheless.

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

I would be an archaeologist because I love history and the study of how people from the past lived. I watch a lot of the history channel I know it might be boring for some of you but I love it.I love to see then dug stuff from the past. 

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

I have a two year degree in Industrial Photographic Science. I have worked in many places like R& D research for Polaroid and in the graphic arts department as a darkroom technician for SAS. I also was the last darkroom technician for the local paper in town The Wake Weekly. With each of these jobs I was able to develop my eye to see things better which helped me with my drawing ability. With my job at Polaroid I was able to ask what if we did this or that and I use this in my art all the time. I also have worked with children from preschool to high school for a long time. They have taught me to enjoy the process of creating and not the end product. I feel that the kids have taught me more than I have taught them.

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

As my most used supply is what most people throw out like hand written shopping notes, old phone books, old maps and the like about the only thing that I go to the art supply store for is paint and something to collage on. I do get lost sometimes looking for any thing that I can use to make the texture on my printed papers.

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

I’m trying so hard to keep blinders on right now and not lose focus on building a body of work in the collage field. If I could I would run to try cold wax painting and might just have to give it a try in the future.

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

I have been blessed to see one of those things come to pass in my life time. I have always had a dream of having a place for artist to come together and work and sell what they have produced with their hands. Three years ago I was able to see this happen and opened The Artist Loft & Gallery @ Wake Forest Coffee. Albert Barneto the owner of the coffee shop runs the money end and I run the art end. It has been hard work and has pushed me to new level of learning so much of the business of the art world.

I have had the pleasure of working with a great group of artists that all work together for the good of the studio. I do have another dream that who knows it could happen. I love children’s picture books and would love to illustrate one someday.
  

Featured Artist Interview: Peggy Heitmann

    What inspires you to create?

    I am always on a quest for more time. I always strive for enough time so that the creative process takes over and the ideas and the art produce itself. I enjoy reading, re-reading, and looking at pictures in art books. I enjoy workshops and the camaraderie of fellow artists. I get a lot of ideas from YouTube. Most of all, I love color. I look for color combinations in every aspect of life. And, guess what? I am not disappointed. I find color everywhere. 

     When did you decide to pursue art or did it pursue you? I often think of cutting pictures out of the Sears Roebuck catalogue as a young girl. By the time I was in the first grade, I was cutting out for me and the left-handed boy who sat next to me. Today, a majority of my altered book work involves cutting out. I guess, I would say I have been preparing all my life for a chance to work every day; to be able to say I am an artist.



If you weren’t an artist, what would you be? I would continue to pursue my interest in writing. Right now, I divide my time rather unequally between writing and mixed media. The majority of my time is spent on my visual art. However, if that were not an option, I would submerge myself in my love for language.

    What other jobs have you had which aided you on your artistic path? Let's see, when I sold city directories for R. L. Polk and Company, I designed print advertising. I worked for about a year as an outside sales rep for a company that sold scrapbooking materials, stationery and fine gifts. I represented a variety of individual companies. Just to name a few:  Hampton Stamps, Lacey Leaves, Golden Oak Papers, Fiskars, Emagination Punches, and more. I still have products including papers from those companies. I went to Los Angeles to a trade show in 2000. I got to see product demonstrations, got free samples, “make and takes”, bought products and half off at the end of the show. The other jobs have simply supplied money to feed my addiction for more beautiful papers and pretties.

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

  Oh-la-la, my head spins in the paper section. So many colors and designs waiting for me to select, to manipulate, to layer, to stamp, paint, to glue to make into my own art. 

          What new techniques or art form would you like to learn?

I would like to learn how to use watercolor with ease. I would like to capture flowers, birds, landscapes. Like renowned artists before me, I would like to capture nature with my brush and transform the image into something that lives and breathes on the page. I am considering taking classes in the near future—maybe an Art of the Carolinas workshop.

   

    If you could do anything and knew you could not fail, what would you choose to do? In a fantasy world, I would own a large art studio, with my sister, Pamela Susan Land, which I would rent to other artists. The studio would be funky, bohemian, and creatively energized. Of course, Pamela and I would have studios for ourselves. The studio would be just down the street from great little restaurants that specialize in gluten-free food, a quaint tea shop, and a spa that specializes in yoga, meditation, and massage. I would occasionally teach classes, but otherwise just make altered books and watercolors paintings. In addition to the art studio to produce art, I would have a shop next door like Bluebells in Columbus, Georgia, where each artist pays for their space to display and sell their art. I would have my best work made into mugs, aprons, placemats, Christmas ornaments, mouse-pads, note cards, coasters, shower curtains, trivets, pillows, blankets, framed pictures, prints, shadow boxes, t-shirts. I could go on and on. My business manager would take care of all the financial aspects of the business so I could create.

I think we'd all like to visit and shop in your "fantasy world"!  

Thanks for the interview, Peggy. 

Featured Member Interview: Cathy Mitchell

1. What inspires you to create?

My art is defined by Nostalgia. I find inspiration in retro playtime, paper dolls, “vintage” toys (now that my childhood years are considered vintage!). I’m also working on some collage and mixed media pieces representing the rural countryside around me. I have always been enamored with abandoned and crumbling old houses and barns and the past generations who inhabited these places. The juxtaposition of the vulnerability of hope, dreams and disappointment fuels my subject matter.

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

My older sister and I always enjoyed coloring books, crayons, kids’ watercolor, paper dolls, construction paper, scissors, glue, bits of yarn and thread. My sister concentrated on coloring within the lines, I’d be all over the place with my own style of coloring and creating. I would copy the paper doll clothes and create my own line of clothing for them. I still don’t color within the lines and encourage my young students to work creatively outside the lines. Elementary through middle school, I was consistently told I was not following directions…oh well!

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

A writer of children’s books and fiction, both focusing on timeless values and topics. Although, all expression through art is therapeutic, it would be fascinating to be an actual art therapist.


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

Working with children in elementary and preschool teaching arts and crafts and encouraging creative expression. One of my favorite activities with preschool was to have them paint or color large pieces of paper and then cut out the shapes needed, leaves, sun, clouds, etc. thus avoiding lines and preconceived ideas of how to make a sun or clouds. As well, my work with people with disabilities of all ages has me using analytical and creative thinking to modify techniques for success.

5.  At the art supply store, which section do you gravitate to first?
Much like my childhood art shopping:  paper, pens, markers.  I still find casual drawing and coloring soothing and restful. 

6.  What new technique or art form would you like to learn?  Do you have plans to do so?
I've been trying out some watercolor.  I would like to take some formal classes.  Also, I want to learn more collage techniques.  Through the graciousness of the Guild, I'll be taking a class with Eric McRay.  Also plan to take a class with Sharon DiGiulio at Jerry's soon.

7.  If you could do anything, and knew you could not fail, what would you choose to do? 
I would go to school seeing an Art Therapy degree.  In addition, a friend in Ecuador has invited me to spend a summer with her and work in the orphanage with children with disabilities, teaching expression, individuality and joy through art.  That would take a lot of courage for me. 
 

And you'd be great at it, Cathy.  

Thanks for the interview, and we're looking forward
to the postcards you'll send from Ecuador!

Featured Member Interview: Megan Harris

"Dominique"

What inspires you to create?
So many things, both tangible and intangible.  Visiting a museum, taking a workshop,  photos taken on trips to India, Italy, Paris, etc.  Colors in flowers, fabrics, books on periods in design i.e. Art Nouveau, Art Deco, the buildings, clothing, jewelry, art, sculpture of these periods.  So many things.

When did you decide to pursue art or did art pursue you?
Being creative has always been a way for me to get lost into a different world other than the one I lived in.   As a child I had paper dolls (is there such a thing anymore?) and I would take white paper and outline their various clothes, dresses, gowns, hats, and then I would create new designs on the garments and color them.  My paper dolls had great wardrobes.  Today they would be seen as fashionistas!  Another thing I used to do is draw skyscrapers.  Don’t know why.  I would draw skylines with many different  building shapes; short, tall, many windows, few windows, strange entrances.  And again I would color them in many different  hues.  My buildings didn’t exist in a black and white world but a child’s world of many colors.  Like Joseph’s coat.  Actual “art” didn’t pursue me, but I it, about 3 years ago.

"Paris Mannequin"

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?
An Architect.   I have always been fascinated by buildings;  both commercial buildings and the architecture of homes.  When traveling I always get fixated on the beauty of architecture and truly stop in my tracks to stare.  At the overall design, and more specifically at the entrance doors, the windows (tall and w/many panes of leaded glass, or just old glass with wavy lines).  I love the ornate trims of pediments, cornices, balconies, filigreed iron railing. The colored houses in Mexico and Bermuda were surprises.  I would only be interested in designing residential properties.  I would love to experiment and make each one interesting, beautiful both on the exterior and interior.  No
colored exteriors;  left that to my child’s eyes.

What other jobs have you had which have aided you on your artistic path?
I believe that each of the different careers I’ve had have added something to the ones that followed.  I tend to be verbose so will cut to the chase.  My first love was music, more specifically Opera.  I sang with small opera companies and did audition for the Metropolitan Opera and the City Opera but neither of those panned out.  Sang for many years until at some point I left music.  Enjoying performing I began taking acting lessons w/some prominent teachers.  My career as an actress was extremely fulfilling and I worked mainly in off-Broadway theatres.  In between acting jobs I worked as an extra in films and as an office temp in order to keep up with the inevitable bills that show up each month. 

"Adriana"

My 3rd & 4th careers were as an interior designer and textile designer.  I enrolled in Parsons School of Design rather late in life.  So late In fact, that at the beginning of each new course one or two students thought I was the class instructor and would hand me their registration cards!    An assumption on their part since my hair wasn’t pink or blue and I had no metal piercings in evidence.  In the end it all worked out fine and I enjoyed my time at Parsons and then working as a free-lance designer until retirement.  All of these careers are aiding me in some measure as I struggle to produce artwork. 



"Seeking the Light"

At the art supply store, which section do you gravitate to first?
I always go in for something specific.  After that I go up and down the aisles and end up at the check-out  with a cart full of “stuff”.    It happens every time.  My studio is getting smaller and tighter and messier.  

What new technique or art form would you like to learn?  Do you have plans to do so?
I sometimes feel overwhelmed at how much I don’t know, technique wise.  I mainly take workshops or watch DVDs and then try my hand at what I’ve learned.   Besides art techniques,  I’d like to try my hand at making art jewelry at some point.  In particular earrings.  Also, I like Louise Nevelson’s wall wood sculptures and would enjoy doing some small versions. 


"Dynamics of Consciousness"

If you could do anything,  and knew you could not fail, what would you choose
to do?
Introduce kids to the arts,  especially  to  those who wouldn’t have it at their disposal otherwise.  Music, theatre, dance of all kinds, visual arts.   Money being no object I would buy a huge industrial building, set up studios where art could be taught,  rooms for dance and music, an auditorium for plays, dance performances, etc.   Years ago we brought Puccini’s one act comic opera Gianni Schicchi  to public schools in the Bronx and Harlem and you wouldn’t believe how involved the kids got.  There were no Bravos to be heard at the end but a lot of clapping, yelling and happy faces and would you believe, humming as they exited the auditorium.   Also at the North Carolina Museum of Art there are what are called family days and some schools busload kids in.  One of the days the kids were taught to do ATC’s.  Most of them jumped right in and the results were great;  others too shy were encouraged and helped and in the end were so proud of what they had created.


We're looking forward to seeing what you'll create, with the great "stuff" you selected from the art supply store, knowledge gained from lots of workshops, and your own inimitable style!  Thanks for the interview.