Hello there fellow art lover! Today I am sharing a 20 question interview I recently gave to an old friend of mine who is getting her degree. Kayla Rainey is a super sweet and wisely ambitious lady who asked to interview me for one of her classes, and you'll see in the first question why I decided this was great Inspo Saturday material.
So without further adieu...
20 Questions About My Life As An Artist:
1. What is your biggest inspiration?
Finding beauty in everyday people; I like to highlight and appreciate the underappreciated
2. Who is your biggest inspiration?
My mom and her brother, my uncle, because they have both been able to figure out how to live their dreams and travel the world by being creative and having an entrepreneurial spirit.
3. What is your favorite medium? Why?
Oil paint – I like the slow dry time and I feel like a miracle worker when I create incredible colors from ordinary paint tubes
4. Does music influence your art? For instance, do you have to listen to music while you are creating?
I used to listen to music all the time when I was painting, but nowadays I mostly listen to podcasts. I just really enjoy bubbly, dancey music for the most part and of course bouncing and singing is not terribly conducive to detailed oil painting or drawing.
5. What are you working on currently that excites you?
My Bohemian Goddess series is a current and ongoing collection of portrait oil paintings I am creating in which I am focusing on multi-cultural and ethnically diverse beautiful and modern women. I have been finding women from all over the world to paint and am getting to know each one through social media. I love that we are all so much the same.
6. What are you trying to communicate through your art?
With this series especially, I want to help open up the Western fine art world to folks of all ethnic backgrounds, as well as simply share my adoration and appreciation for a much wider definition of beauty than the traditional American Anglo standards.
7. What kind of art (if any) is unappealing to you?
I hate to bash an entire genre of any art form, but I could say my least-interest would be in the popular manga/anime genre. I certainly respect it as an art form, I’ve just never been into most comics or cartoons so the characters are meaningless to me.
8. Do you think that ANYONE can create art?
Absolutely. Just figure out what you want to say, and be honest saying it.
9. In your own words describe what the term art means to you.
Art is anything that is humanly created to get an honest message out creatively.
10. If you could pick an artist to hang out with for a day, who would it be?
Probably Mary Jane Asnell because I would love any tips on her techniques.
11. Where do you think your creativity comes from? Do you think it was inherited?
I think everyone starts out with lots of creativity. Whether or not it is nurtured and explored depends a lot on upbringing and circumstance.
12. What is the hardest thing about being an artist?
Learning how to create a functional business out of a creative passion.
13. What was your major and where did you earn your degree?
Studio Art focusing on painting with an art history minor for both my Bachelors and Masters degrees; attended College of Charleston and University of South Carolina, respectively
14. Where did you study abroad and for how long?
I have attended two oil painting atelier programs; one in Florence, Italy for a month and more recently another in Argenton-Chateau, France for six weeks.
15. Do you think that your time abroad enhanced your creative mind?
Absolutely! I have always said that travel is the only thing money can buy that actually makes you a better person… and such greater enlightenment too!! I have learned and been inspired tenfold from my numerous travels than I ever could have from a class or a book.
16. At what age did you know that you wanted to be an artist?
Always. I was given watercolors when I was old enough to sit up. It’s always been art for me.
17. What is your personal favorite, or your best piece?
To be quite honest, usually whatever I have just finished is my favorite!
18. Do you still sew your sock monsters?! Tell us a little about them!
Nope, gave them up to focus on my fine art. I could see myself making another few small batches here and there in the future though.
19. How do you market yourself?
It would take an hour to write out all the million little things, but generally I try to stay on top of my social media and try to collaborate with other creatives or entrepreneurs whenever possible, and just try to produce and show as much artwork as possible. It’s a lot to figure out and I wish they did a better job at art school teaching it…..
20. If you ever suffer from “creative block” what do you do to overcome this?
I really don’t. If anything, I never have enough time to create all the ideas swimming around up there. But I often make a point to visit galleries and museums for inspiration nonetheless.
Some fellow artists and myself at the French atelier program I attended in 2015
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originally posted: April 22, 2017