Beginner's - ArtTrader Magazine

Art TRADER
m a g a z i n e
It’s a pricey fabric, to be sure; I spend anywhere from
$50 to over $200 per yard on material, which is partly the
reason artist bears are so pricey. But mohair makes the
most beautiful bears in my opinion, and it’s relatively easy
to work with, and it’s traditional, so it’s my fabric of choice.
My bears also feature leather, suede, or wool felt pads and
premium glass eyes, which I custom color and lid to suit
each bear, plus embroidered noses and shaded features.
They’re pretty time-intensive to make, truth be told. Making
one leaves my hands hurting, for days.
How has being a soft-sculpture artist affected your 2D
work?
My bears have a winsomeness to them; I’ve been told repeatedly that they have “heartbreakingly
soulful” faces and that people feel compelled to just hug them, and make them feel better. I consider
that high praise, because it means my work is evocative. That soulfulness is what my hands and head
and heart want to create when they get busy working; it’s not really the outcome of intent, I’m afraid. In
a weird way, my bears make themselves.
Most of my original 2D art has those same qualities; a certain sweetness, alongside a kind of “lostness.”
I’m jonesing to create more somber ,provocative and edgy flat art, though — something more depthful
and adult and alive — in a voice that feels authentic. But I’m frustrated to find I don’t really have anything
serious or provocative or edgy to say! I keep circling around themes of love and innocence and clarity
and optimism, all things bright and beautiful, but there’s a part of me that really wants to let loose in a
different direction with something grungy and damaged
and blackened and profane; because those things are in
me, too. I don’t feel I’m repressed or anything; hell, I even
have a tattoo. I just can’t make ART of my darker aspects,
accessing those shadowy places. Yet, anyway. Maybe
I need to join a biker gang or something; to roughen up
around the edges a bit. I’m laughing here...
What is your process for creative brainstorming?
Sometimes, when I’m watching a movie or reading a
magazine or viewing someone else’s art, something about
it — some quality, some color, some subject — will just
sorta fall out of the sky and hit me on the head like a ton of
bricks, absolutely out of the blue. And when that happens,
this fever will grow inside me, almost instantaneously, to
do something with that new inspiration — and I mean
RIGHT NOW! I sometimes get to where I can’t stop, can’t sleep, until I’ve started (and often finished)
some new art, in those moments.
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