Leah Jay

Website: leahjayart.com

What do you do?
I make little pieces of fun for people. I consider myself to be analogous to a cupcake baker....except instead of cake and frosting, you get colorful illustrations that cheer you up! I like art though because it's a fat-free, carb-free, calorie-free, inexhaustible supply of happiness, always ready when you are.

Where can we find your work?I have my own website at leahjayart.com. I use Etsy as my storefront, linked direct from my website.....my shop is called https://www.etsy.com/shop/leahjayart. However, as I am a big fan of experiencing real art in person, I just celebrated my one year anniversary at Kaleid Gallery (hurray!) and will also continue to have a table in downtown Campbell as part of their "Second Saturdays" street fairs.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
I produce work best when I have a lot of downtime to daydream, and I'm feeling confident. I rely a lot on family and friends to keep my spirits up when I'm feeling insecure. Frankly, I'm moody and bounce back and forth. I think I'm getting better at positioning myself in the best way possible to take advantage of the good, creative moods when those come.

What do you think is more important, the content/finished product, or the process?I am definitely a process person. Sometimes I'll get almost all the way finished with a thing and then stop. Sometimes I'll finish it and then not like it very much afterwards. But I never regret having done it. I find that when I'm "in the zone" of artmaking, that is my best time to be alive.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
Jove Tansson. She was a Finnish children's book author and illustrator who is famed for her "Moomintroll" characters and stories. Her pen and ink illustrations are so pure and childlike, and her stories are humble and direct. The world she created is touchingly human and shows a deep connection to nature. I also am a big fan of Jim Henson and the worlds he created, for a lot of the same reasons. Sometimes the simplest, most heartfelt story, told in earnest, is the one that moves mountains within you and changes your life. The worlds of Moominvalley and Sesame Street are places my heart has never really left behind.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?
Miss Piggy. When she walks into a room, she cannot and will not be ignored. If I could be that confident in my own skin all the time, it would be wonderful.

When do you get your best ideas?
Halfway between a dreaming and waking state just before I get up in the morning. Or when I'm driving, or in the shower. Any time it's really inconvenient to have a sketchbook in front of me, really.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?I am an absolute art media polyglot. I literally have done everything. I hoard art supplies and own more types of things than I know how to use. This doesn't help me stay consistent as an art maker, but it does help me teach. In the past few years I've tried to stick to "various things on watercolor paper" and I do have a favorite watercolor paper, 300lb Arches Hot Press. You can do practically anything with Arches Hot Press, including set it on fire and glue broken glass to it (actual things I have done.) I've tried to keep myself on track with watercolors though - you can also get that paper very wet and just let the pigments do their thing.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
Well, in terms of Art, I suppose I'm informally educated. I've had plenty of university-level and professional-level instruction, and most of it in person (not online), but from a bunch of different people and institutions.....not coherent enough to cobble together to form a single degree. I'm kind of glad I haven't spent too much time with one teacher because I've been forced to come up with my own style rather than parrot someone else. I also have a degree in Film from U.C. Santa Barbara, which has come in handy.

What would your creative work taste like?
Hot cocoa with marshmallows.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I like to be around kids and watch kid's shows. I teach a few kids from my home studio and I really look forward to spending time with them, because they are so funny! I'm a big fan of the Aquabats Super Show, and Yo Gabba Gabba, and Spongebob Squarepants.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
Time. I always wonder which might have happened, how far I would have gotten by now, had I been able to do all this earlier in my life. The simple answer is -- I wouldn't have been able to. I guess I'm a late bloomer, but really before age 30 or so I was so insecure and introverted that nothing could have really happened. Now it's taken me 15 years to gather enough courage and discipline to do the work and show it to people. One event that changed things for me was a solo high-speed car accident. It's been ten years now but I think that little reminder of my own mortality was good for me. When you can see your time is limited, there is no greater motivation than that.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
I think a lot of people are in the same position at the beginning -- too guarded and too afraid to take risks. We're born that way and are brought up that way, so forgive yourself for this tendency, but know that no good art is created without some risk involved. Trust yourself. Listen to your own voice and go with it. Keep moving forward, even if you aren't moving much, and even if you have no idea where you're going. The journey, in itself, is everything.

Jason A. McHenry

Name: Jason A. McHenry
Website: www.anti-product.com

What do you do?
I’ve been an artist for all of my adult life and one of the projects that I’ve been working on for years is called One Thousand Thousand. The idea behind the project is to create an edition of one million original pieces of art. So for the last 20 years or so I’ve been plugging away at this goal and I’m just recently nearing the first third of the way to a million. [As of right now the final count is just shy of 325k paintings.]

Where can we find your work?
I’m pretty good at keeping the project website updated with images of the latest pieces and you can always see the work online at anti-product.com.

A number of new and recent pieces from the project are currently showing at KALEID Gallery and I try and replenish the sold pieces and rotate the pieces with new work as often as possible. I would like to stay on there as long as I’m able. In addition to KALEID Gallery I try to make the work available at various art events like SubZERO Festival and at South First Fridays. I’ll be showing at South First Fridays in August and September for sure. There are usually pieces available for sale as well.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
I’ve been really thinking about this question a lot after recently spending some time visiting with other artists at SubZERO Festival. The whole One Thousand Thousand project was borne of the idea of doing something that would serve as a motivator to continue making art. It was initially just a little creative exercise that served as a way to experiment with ideas and colors and composition and all of that and over time the little pieces ended up looking better than the other work that I was trying for at that time.

In terms of this specific project I am motivated to work almost every day now. Some by the excitement of it and some out of necessity since I announced to the world so long ago that I planned on making a million paintings and want to put my money where my mouth is , so to speak.

But ultimately, when I look back on this project and the body of work that I’ve done so far I feel tremendously inspired. It’s remarkable to look back and see how my own styles and approaches have evolved over time and that’s the part that inspires me the most. It’s cyclical in a real way. Motivation to create will invariably produce inspiration. Honestly, you just have to keep at it. If you’re an artist then make art. For good or for bad you need to just keep going at it. Trying new things. Figuring stuff out. Something will come of it.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?  
In some ways I am inclined to say both are equally important. It’s obvious that what we see first with a piece of art is the content/finished product. The visual aspect is all that a lot of people ever see. “It looks nice. It’s not done well. I don’t get it.” Looking a bit more closely at who created the thing and how they did it and can be the part that makes a piece of art so much better than just the sum of the visual elements themselves.

But there is also this aspect of art that is not so easily defined. I call it ‘soul’. Sure, a work might look amazing. Or some technique the artist used was head-shakingly incredible. But if it lacks soul the art just doesn’t do it for me in the long run.

[This is a tough question. I could go on about this topic forever. No kidding.]

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
I may be confusing the artist or where I saw it but I think it was at an early Henry Darger show in Chicago that I saw this piece of wood that just had layers of paint on it. It was cut in half so you could see all of the different layers of paint that had been applied over the years. The thing was a couple of feet tall with paint layers and colors and it looked like the ring section of a tree in a way. Marking time with paint. Darger also cut out the Nancy and Sluggo comic strip from the newspaper every day and would paste them into pages of a phone book. Like, four strips per page and the book was just unmanageably big when it was full. He did this more than once.

That sort of dedication to a goal or project has always been impressive to me and was a very early source of inspiration for the One Thousand Thousand project.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Seymour Glass. With very little hesitation.

When do you get your best ideas?
Looking at art. In galleries and shows and museums and books and magazines. I love seeing what other people have created and that generates ideas for my own work.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
Mixed-media in the strictest sense of the word. I don’t play favorites when it comes to art supplies and truly do work with just about everything. I’m a fan of making great art with little.

Are you self-taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
Both.I went to a Visual and Performing Arts high school and later studied Fine Art in college. Still, in the long run I’d call myself self-taught. I learned just about everything that I find to be valuable to me as an artist are things that I learned on my own or from other artists. For years I said that I was doomed to spend the rest of my life trying to unlearn the things they tried to instill in me in school. I feel like I’m better for being my own judge of things. Art is pretty personal that way.

What would your creative work taste like?
Horchata. Or maybe Guinness Extra Stout. It’s probably a liquid of some sort. And it’s got to be simple and comforting. Something proletariat. So, yeah. Either of those would do.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
It doesn’t get much better than being on some road trip or long car ride listening to music that you love.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
It was a necessity for me. My childhood was kind of crummy and I knew I needed something to support me emotionally and spiritually and intellectually. Art provided that and I believed that since I was a kid. So I pushed towards that with all I had and I’m better for it.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures? 
I’d say that creating art will invariably make you feel big and strong. It’s some kind life in and of itself. You’ll see and learn new styles and techniques and mediums and you’ll hate some and fall in love with others. You’ll find success by accident and you’ll fail miserably when you try hard to succeed. But the opposite will be true too. Just like life.

Like Hunter S. Thompson said, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

Erica Atreya

Name: Erica Atreya
Website: http://Atreyart.see.me
You can purchase my work at http://www.saatchionline.com/atreyart
You can keep in contact and up to date with current work and shows at www.facebook.com/atreyart

What do you do?
Mostly I work with art pens and acrylic paint on art and canvas paper also starting to delve into digital art. I most of all love working with metallic pens and paint.

Where can we find your work?
Every second Saturday in downtown Campbell. On the corner music. Two upcoming shows in June at Kaleid gallery and DDEF gallery.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get to tough?
Mother Nature and beautiful woman inspire me. Ahh how do I keep on through tough times? Hmm….Zoloft!! And knowing “The sun will come up tomorrow”

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
All of these are of importance. But when I’m looking to buy art I look for the spirit/soul to the piece I’m buying.
  

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
Frida Kahlo, Gustav Klimt.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Betty Boop. Why? Cause she’s just so darn HAPPY and CUTE! Things that I still strive to be B-)

When do you get your best ideas?
Late at night and other inopportune times.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
Art pad, metallic art pens and paint on canvas. Also just started using Samsung note for digital work.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
Self taught. Lack of formal art education has made me doubt myself at times, but then I see so many talented and well recognized artist without formal art education and I realize there are so many types of art rather educated or not.

What would your creative work taste like?
Coffee, cigarettes and sweet honey.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I’m a big time movie buff! Horror movies are my favorite! Also love music big time. I have a rose-note tattoo on my left arm. People always think I’m a musician, I say nope I just really appreciate music ;-) I don’t think I could create my art without music.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?

Firstly my mother always encouraged me. But now it would be my husband. I can not work because of my disability (Fibromyalgia) my husband gives me the support and courage to pursue my art.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
 Just got to try!  If you don’t Succeed, try again. Make art for your own enjoyment and in turn hope that others will find enjoyment in it as well.

Joseph Arruda (Zeruch)

Name: Joseph Arruda (Zeruch)
Website: http://zeruch.deviantart.com/gallery or http://zeruch.net

What do you do?
By day, I am a “Senior Product Manager” at a software company; I’ve worked largely in technology for the last dozen years, and its something that surprisingly has lead to discoveries about concepts I can apply to creative work.  I’m educated as a political wonk, and even though I’ve rarely used the knowledge professionally, I still am an active consumer of political research materials.  One day I hope to move to something like the Congressional Research Service or the State Department, assuming I can ever get past the idea of DC winters.
Otherwise, I have moonlighted as an illustrator and fine artist.  My sole departure from this was 18 months as a principle conceptual artist for a now defunct video game startup in the early 2000s...and experience that nearly killed my creative spark.

Where can we find your work?
It’s predominantly online, with a few private owners (mostly in the Bay Area, but a few in far afield spots like Washington DC, Portugal, Australia, Netherlands, Scotland and probably a few other spots; people buy my prints, but I know not always where they end up).

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
It’s axiomatically a compulsion, so I just do it.  Motivation rarely factors in since I usually have more ideas than I can ever execute on. If I don’t feel like creating, that’s ok (although that’s an unusual state, I’ve had spells where I’ve walked away for a few months at a time, only to come back and produce at a ridiculous clip) and if I am, I just do.  Different projects have different secondary motivators; some commissions are very pecuniary, others are only labors of love that happen to be paid for.  I generally work the same way regardless in terms of execution -- the only difference is the cathartic effect I get from the activity.
When the muse is there (and she is there often, in a lot of forms, because I am just as apt to get an idea from following the curve of a womans figure as I am from the curve of a teapot design, or the curve of a beach or...yeah, it just works).
Maybe that’s why it works: since I never force it, ideas/motivation mostly self-regulates to the “on” position.  I keep sketchbooks in every room of the house, including the bathrooms. I jot stuff down all the time.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?  
I don’t have that type of separation.  The process is the compulsion, so it MUST get done.  But I view works as things that can have many lives; you can “finish” something, and then as your technique or approach changes, you can revisit that as many times as you wish afterward.  The objects one create have lives that can extend well past the initial potential.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
I’m a fan of the arbitrary top 10 lists, so here is my (un-sorted) top 10 list:

Bill Sienkiewicz

Pablo Picasso

Antonio Lobo Antunes

Kent Williams

Miles Davis

Vernon Reid

Alvaro Siza

Jasper Johns

Akira Kurosawa

Mark Romanek

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
George Smiley.

When do you get your best ideas?
Because I'm responsive to contexts more than specific triggers, it really could be anywhere and at any time (its why I keep small sketchbooks in every room of the house). That said, there are some times when the good ideas seem to materialize more concretely, and thats usually deep in the night or otherwise very early in themornings when I'm waking up (I sleep minimally and at 6-6:30 when I wake up it strangely can often be a time when at least a lot of big project ideas seem to just "show up" in myhead).

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
I use a pretty broad array of items, depending on the size and type (representational or abstract), and I made a small blog post that takes a swipe at laying it out visually:
http://zeruch.net/wordpress/?p=3144

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I have taken some formal courses in college, and was an AP art student in high school, but most of my studies were self directed.  Lots of library visits for books on art history and techniques, and heaps of trial and error in the studio.  I got more out of trying to learn formal rules and ignoring them as I needed than just being indoctrinated from the get go.

What would your creative work taste like?
A multi-course Chef’s tasting menu, with wine pairings.  It would be pretty savory, and hopefully leave you very sated.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I play with technology, mostly in the Open Source space.  I probably qualify as having a half-assed “active” lifestyle (I like things like trail running, doing “Tough Mudder” type events, and otherwise fooling around outdoors).  I read lots of really wonkish stuff in terms of international politics, and otherwise am never “bored”...I keep busy every moment I can.  Life simply is too short to sit on your ass.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
I didn’t.  It was my negation of confidence that helped me along.  I always am both my own worst critic and biggest egomaniacal advocate.  My work is almost exclusively for my own edification only.  When you feel confident you’ve addressed your own needs, putting it out there regardless of what reaction may come (or the absence thereof) seems pretty easy to handle.
Frankly, I am still amazed when anyone notices my stuff, positive or negative.  It means I in fact have inspired some kind of reaction, which I assume is something that only works on me.  Often the reaction interprets what I’ve done differently than how I experienced it.  But its not my place to correct someone on how they experience/perceive what I’ve done.  Their experience is just as valid.  Its theirs, and based on whatever context they happen to be in.  

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
This is one of those questions thats just hard to even wrap ones head around.  You have to be open enough with yourself to look for the path you need to take to get where you want to go.  Maybe thats bunkering in a basement for weeks at a time, maybe thats putting yourself out there in the public eye every moment you can. Maybe you work with a mentor. You have to be honest enough with yourself to define what that is...then take steps to do just that.
There are no cookie-cutter steps.  You make your own adventure.  You can be scared or unsure of yourself, but you just keep at it.  To grossly mis-paraphrase my favorite Henry Rollins-ism, “Get Up, Go Again”.

Murphy Adams

Name:  Murphy Adams
Website:   www.murphyadams.net 

What do you do? 
Primarily I make small, quirky paintings, but I also work in clay, mosaic and make art dolls.

Where can we find your work? 

Kaleid Gallery in San Jose, Studio Gallery in San Francisco, and a number of smaller shops, as well as my Etsy store Murphy Adams Studio http://www.etsy.com/shop/MurphyAdamsStudio .

I've also done several murals and public art projects throughout the South Bay and am currently starting a slab clay and mosaic project at Ace Charter School in East San Jose.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
I tend to be a bit of a hermit, hiding out in my studio at home, so when I hit a creative slump I just need to get out.  My work is about relationships, emotion, the stuff that makes us human, all squishy and pathetic and ding dang lovely at the same time, but if I don't get out and live it I've got nothing to paint.

I also get inspired when people tell me how they connect with my work, or how a specific piece seemed to be painted just for them. Again, it's tapping into emotion, and you can't do that alone, it would be boring.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?  
Well I can't believe I'm saying  this, but the finished product. As someone who sells art, the end product is ultimately more important. Of course  experimentation and process has played a big part in developing who I am and who I continue to be as an artist. I still spend hours testing new techniques and combinations of materials.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
I love that SJ has this cool little, tight knit art community, it's very inspiring. So many artists here work really hard at surviving making art, and consistently create...friends like Christine Benjamin, Lacey Bryant and Katy Kindig  to name a few.

I'm also really into reading the Etsy Blog "Quit Your Day Job," where artists and craftspeople tell their own personal stories about how they've grown their art businesses and been able to stop working a day job...someday.

As far as influential art figures currently and through history, people like Alison Saar, Squeak Carnwath, Linda Barry, Maira Kalman, Reverend Howard Finster, Margaret Kilgallen, Joe Sorren, Jean Michel Basquiat, Mark Rothko, Frida Kahlo, Henry Darger, Jacob Lawrence... their creative expression always blows me over, makes me cry or just hits me hard across the face, in a good way.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be? Ha! Somebody kickass like Game of Thrones Khaleesi, the one with the dragon babies, Zena Warrior Princess or a Bond Girl.  If you watch Adventure Time, I'd like to be Marceline, but I'm the Lumpy Space Princess.  In other words, somebody completely opposite of my marshmallowy, goofy self.

When do you get your best ideas? Laying in bed in the morning , kind of lucid dreaming, I think about things that I've witnessed the day before, what's been said to me and what was meant by it, sometimes about the underlying meanings of things.

I  also keep a sketchbook in my bag at all times and I'll often sketch a situation that I've seen, or write down a phrase or title that gets stuck in my head. I like to listen to people, things they say when emotions run high are most interesting. I'm especially drawn to awkward and embarrassing situations, the immense power of love and hope and the sad but sometimes funny side of misfortune. Laughing inappropriately has gotten me in trouble more times than not, but it's those situations that provide substance for my paintings.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
I like to start with good thick cold press watercolor paper, then I use a combination of acrylic and colored ink, sometimes some colored pencil and I love Tombow art pens.  I layer multiple jewel tone colors over colors with matte medium. I know, it looks deceivingly simple.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I started out as a fine arts major in college, but it was the 80's (I'm aging myself here) and abstract, minimal & light and space paintings were what was popular, so I wasn't taken seriously. My art wasn't art with a capitol A; I suppose it still isn't. In any case I got a degree in art history and worked as a gallery director and curator for much of my adult life. I took a few studio classes but I consider myself largely self taught. Overall I think it's influenced me in a positive way. No one got to tell me what to do or how to do it. Of course I missed out on the how to do things part and I admit that would have been helpful. However, I was able to draw my inspiration from the art that was important to me, form my own opinions and discover things outside mainstream trends. Outsider, visionary, and folk art is a big wow for me as is the bravery that children's work possesses, I would have never found that during a  traditional arts education. 

What would your creative work taste like?
Pigs in a blanket and a beer, and maybe some Hot Tamales candy for dessert. Something so bad, but really so good.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I sew, I'm a compulsive baker, my extraordinary husband Patrick & I raise chickens and keep bees. I like homestead-ish type stuff, we've been looking for a little farm down in the Santa Cruz/Monterey area where we can do more of that kind of stuff, and my man has promised me goats! I like taking my dogs to the beach, I love music and going to shows, I'm a word game junkie and I like TV, way more than I should. I also love hanging out with my kids Ivy & Kasten who are now 20 and 17; they're amazing, hilarious and creative beyond belief. Ivy is starting her 3rd year of a BFA program in illustration at PNCA in Portland, and I'm sure my son will follow his creative vision. Seriously, they're my greatest creation. Everything considered, I'm living the good life.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
Putting your art out there at first is tough. I had tons of support and encouragement from friends and family. The first time I showed my work I made 40 small paintings and nearly all of them sold. It suddenly hit me, after years of working in galleries, teaching art to kids and a multitude of odd jobs in between, I can do what I love doing most of all. It took me a really long time to come to that realization and to feel comfortable enough to call myself an artist. I wish that I made it happen sooner, but I had to get to the "why the heck not," phase of my life where I stopped worrying about failure. I also just think creative people are naturally more fearful & sensitive, and I needed time to get over that.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
It's not easy, but if you're the kind of person who puts creating above all else for all means go for it. Eat it, sleep it roll around in it. Your work should be completely your own, don't  try and be somebody else. Think about content, not just style. Most of all treat it like a business, put some serious hours into it, market yourself,  get yourself out there. Oh and don't be a flake, don't perpetuate the artist stereotype, it makes us all look bad.

Oscar ”OscarLars” Knutsson

Name: Oscar ”OscarLars” Knutsson

Website: oscarknutsson.moonfruit.com

What do you do?
 Artist working with acrylic/watercolor painting and graphite/charcoal drawings. I also do a lot of mixed media artworks example: Communication with tongue cut out (Watercolor and Graphite).

Where can we find your work?
 A lot of my work are entering competitions right now. I also do a lot of commission works and installing them in different places. I recently did one for Hugo Kalm from Sweden, an upcoming DJ and producer.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
Everything and everyone inspires me. Music is one example of inspiration sources. I almost always listen to music when ideas pop into my head. When things get tough I mix myself a good drink, get a buz and just keep on working.  Eye of the tiger and never give up. I like when times are tough, that makes me feel alive and gives me more motivation to keep on pushing myself.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
 That is a hard question, I think both are very important. Technique makes people see your stuff because I think most people are drawn to things that are beautifully made. But there are millions of people out in the world that can do beautiful things and have better technique than you have. It is then you have to ask yourself, what makes you different  and unique - Your ideas.

Who are some people who inspire you and/or influence you?
 Hellenistic Greek sculptures inspire me a lot. I love the statue of Laocoon and sons. These statues also inspired Michelangelo’s David which is probably in my opinion the greatest statue ever made. I also enjoy Salvador Dalí’s work. All from paintings, sketches, sculptures to photography and clothing.
Inspiration comes more often though from people around me. Four artists that have inspired me a lot since I moved to California are Miha Sarani, JoJo Piera, Patrick “Wädl” Hoffmeister and Erals. R DelaO. These guys’ works are unique and keep pushing the limits every time I see their work. They are amazing artists and also guys I’m proud to call friends.

If you could be a fictional character who would it be?
Batman

When do you get your best ideas?
 Often times when watching movies, listening to music, hanging out with amazing artists or in my sleep.

What materials/tools do you use to create your work?
 My brain, hands, eyes and whatever tools they need to make my ideas into reality.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I am self taught up until this year 2012 when I started studying art at Mission College under George Rivera and Mark Engel. I have always been hard on myself developing a better technique since that is what gives you the most approval from the common eye. I think what affected me most when I started studying was how important the ideas and “reason for everything” actually were.  I then started to work more with creating mind-maps and brainstorming ideas to make into artworks.

What would your creative things taste like?
The world

When you’re not creating what do you like to do?
 I work out a lot and enjoy playing board games with friends. I love going out to bars and have drink or two but also being behind the bar working and mixing drinks.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
 I’ve always been a bit weak for attention I guess. I love to make sure people around me are having a good time, because that makes me smile. My artwork might not make people smile in some cases but hopefully makes them think. As long as I can give to people what people give to me, I’m happy.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?

Create so many works that you feel the burning in your hands, the itching in your eyes and you’ll see results. Be humble and invite people into your life. Some will dislike you and some will like you, accept that people will talk trash behind you back and that people will put you on display. This is the way of life as we know it, but as an artist. Often times you will notice it even more.

Rene Lorraine

Name: Rene Lorraine
Website: www.renelorraine.com

What do you do?
The easy answer is simply that I create. The more interesting answer is that I make all sorts of art in different mediums. My work strongly focuses on the human figure, however each series severely varies in theme. I am currently embarking on a new body of work focusing entirely on vision loss associated with migraines and abnormal brain functions.

Where can we find your work?
You can find my online portfolio at www.renelorraine.com. I also have an online storefront at http://www.etsy.com/shop/renelorraine, and currently show at KALEID Gallery in downtown San Jose. You can follow me on Twitter @renelorraine or "Like" me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ReneLorraineArt for pictures of works in progress, updates about where I'll be showing, and things of that nature.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
Inspiration comes in all forms and to pinpoint what it is for me is nearly impossible. I will say however, seeing another artist becoming successful and "making it" can be greatly inspiring, so I try to go to as many art openings as possible when things get tough.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process? 
Learning about the technique and process of an artist is very interesting not to mention extremely crucial for the artist and some viewers, however I find them equally important as content and the finished product. Creating the work is about my soul, you having a connection with the finished product is about your soul.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
As far as artists go I absolutely love Jenny Seville, Lucian Freud, Willen De Kooning, Jasper Johns... But I get more inspiration from regular people who are overcoming hardships of any kind.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Questions like these make my brain go blank.

When do you get your best ideas?
I take the stance of the ancient Romans.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love spoke at a TED Talk about nurturing creativity. If you have twenty minutes to become inspired you can find it here: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Anyway, she talks about how in ancient Rome and Greece people did not believe that creativity came from humans. They believed that it came from some sort of divine spirit that came to you from an unknown place, for some odd reason that you would never know. In Rome, each person's creative spirit was called your "Genius."

I have found that my creative genius comes to me at the worst times. It joins me as I am sleeping, about to sleep, driving a car, helping someone move, in class listening to a lecture that will surely be on the final, in an airplane for nine hours with nothing more than a cocktail napkin and a pen, etc. My creative genius rules my schedule. She is like that amazing friend who you love like family but who only wants to play and hang out when you are busy doing something else.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
Right now I am really into watercolor and microns. I go through phases where I become obsessed with a particular set of tools, use them until I get sick of looking at them, and move on. I find it very important for any artist to experiment with as many materials as they can. I feel if you get stuck with one set you hinder your creativity.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
Formally educated. If I had not gone to art school I would have never found that I was in love with watercolor portraits. I would not be as skilled as I am. And I would not have learned about all the artists I now find to be most inspirational.

What would your creative work taste like?
Once again another question that makes my brain clock out for the day.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I don't really like to do much else, actually.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
People find confidence in so many different ways. For me it was the encouragement from my friends and family. And if you don't try, you'll never succeed. So wherever, however, your confidence comes, take it and run with it.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
Talk to other artists. Research other artists, past and present. Travel. Take pictures. Always carry a sketchbook with you. Try new materials. Take classes. Don't get lazy. Listen calmly and openly when someone gives criticism, and then take TIME to decide if you are taking it to heart. There is nothing worse than taking advice about your work, and then regretting it when it is too late. Be true to your art, it is your life's work.

Al Preciado

Name: Al Preciado

Website: http://alpreciado.net/

What do you do? 
Artist and teacher

Where can we find your work?
Kalied

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
I am inspired by beauty and women. I am inspired by heroic actions and sacrifice

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?  
Technique and finish. Content is important on particular projects

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
Goya, Kiki Smith and Michael Buscemi. I  like his take no  prisoners attitude

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Jerry Maguire. I like his sense of compassion for the athletes

When do you get your best ideas?
Flying in planes, different countries, the beauty of women and nature

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
Paints, watercolors and clay

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
Formally taught. I think the University prepares for a formal critique of your work

What would your creative work taste like?
Tacos and menudo

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
Travel. Movies, magazines, family and friends

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
I had the talent early, but was not confident. Teaching others gave me confidence and helped me develop my work

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?  Don’t be afraid to look stupid and fail. Ask others. Get involved in peer critiques. Draw til you bleed. Help the community and not just artists. If you are convinced you are an artist, you are an artist. You determine if you matter or not. 

Karen Honaker

Name: Karen Honaker
Website: www.karenhonaker.com

What do you do? 
This year has marked my 50th year being a painter.  I got my fine art degree using oil paint, but switched to watercolor when we moved to San Diego 30 years ago. 

Where can we find your work? 
Changes all the time depending on the economy, but my website, www.KarenHonaker.com, continues to be the place to see my latest work.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
When you use everyday objects to create painting compositions, every moment is a possible painting.  It is that constant search that makes life interesting.  

   

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
The content/finished product is more important to me.  It does not matter what technique is used when the product conveys your own voice.   

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
 Being surrounded by local artists and seeing their work inspires me every day.  The artists who take my workshops, also, take me to new artistic heights.  Just seeing my artistic influence come out in their paintings is my greatest inspiration.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Lil’ Red.  You need to be from Nebraska to understand that one!

When do you get your best ideas?
Usually while swimming or walking my dog.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
I use transparent watercolors and a particular kind of watercolor paper that allows me to suspend my pigment on the surface.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I have a BFA from University of Nebraska.  My degree taught me how to maintain a studio of my own while creating a body of work needed for the end of the year.  However, they should have added marketing classes, something I have had to learn on my own all these years.

What would your creative work taste like?
It would be smooth to the tongue, but spicy when swallowed.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I love spending time with my dog, Daphne, a mini Schnauzer.  Travel is very important to me, and finding some time for some golf fills up my extra time.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience? 
When you begin painting at the age of 6, my creative side just feels natural to me.  My creative outlet is painting, but if you have that side of you that is begging to “come out”, it will in some form.  It is just who I am.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
 Listen to your insides and fulfill that creative edge or your life will only be half full.  Do not stop no matter what anyone says. 

Frances Marin

Name: Frances Marin
Website: www.francesmarin.com

What do you do?
I mostly paint and draw, but also sew and print.

Where can we find your work?
You can see my art on my website www.francesmarin.com. I show at libraries, bars, galleries, shops, wherever. I’ll have work in an upcoming group show at Empire Seven Studios (http://empiresevenstudios.blogspot.com/). The opening reception will be Friday, January 13, 2012 at 7pm. Also, I’m in a group show at On the Corner on January 27th.

I recently did an illustration for a magazine called Made in San Jose
http://www.madeinsanjose.com/ and I designed a t-shirt
http://www.kfjc.org/fundraiser/store/girlieshirt_2006.html some years back for the best college radio station, KFJC. It’s available still. I think?! I also just finished a zine with my boyfriend called Ladies and Gentleman Quarterly. You can buy it at The Arsenal for $2. We are hoping to make another issue around February or March of this year. I want to do a silkscreened cover and sew the pages together this time.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
Both manmade and natural things inspire me: stacks of records and books, animals and their symbolism, buildings, plants, patterns, structures, history. I like aged colors and using scraps of wood to paint on. I am a very nostalgic person and I think that shows in my work with the colors being diffused and unsaturated, like a faded photograph.

It feels easy to stay motivated in my small and crowded studio. There’s so much to look at and think about.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
I love the feeling of being done with a painting, but the process is when I’m zoning out, doing a lot of thinking and figuring out. I love that part.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
Tania Aebi. I read her book when I was 15. She dropped out of high school like me, but unlike me, sailed a boat by herself around the world with her cat. I hope to get a boat and learn to sail someday.

I love artwork that is loose, carefree or kind of slanted like the illustrations of Miroslav Sasek or drawings of Mingering Mike and Ben Shahn. These artists put a lot of feeling into their work and it shows. A lot of the art I like looks effortless or like it was really fun to make, like Karin Mamma Andersson, Peter Doig or Egon Schiele. I also like art that tells a story like the work of Pieter Bruegel, Raymond Pettibon, or Los Carpinteros.

I also have incredible friends with incredible talent and they’re pretty influential.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Brian Sweeney "Fitzcarraldo" Fitzgerald. I admire his determination. Plus, I can relate to his questionable decision-making. He’s the main character, played by Klaus Kinski, in the Werner Herzog movie.

When do you get your best ideas?
When I’m left alone. Also, on road trips.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
Ink, paint, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil, paper, thread, wood. Lately, it’s mostly scraps of redwood or pine and acrylic paint.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
Educated. I have degrees in art and library science. Words and images are fascinating to me, so it was perfect for me to study those two things. My education was kind of spotty, I dropped out in my freshman year of high school and was on and off again for years with college, mostly because I was more into music. It’s funny, the reason why I went back to school for art was because I was sick of my job at a record store and when I started looking for other work, I didn’t want any of the jobs I saw…so, school it was!

Art school was confusing for me. Sometimes it makes you think too much because you start to contextualize everything. I’m now about 5 years away from it and it feels good. Don’t get me wrong, I learned a lot about sculpture, photography, printmaking, drawing and painting, it’s just that it’s more pure when you aren’t getting graded for it. Still, it was good because it made my work more dimensional and layered.

What would your creative work taste like?
Kale, bread and butter, rice and beans, persimmons and coffee.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
Read, listen to records, camp, walk, bike, and take photos. I love coffee. I love drinking it alone or with people close to me.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
I was really creative when I was young and never outgrew it. When I could I would fake being sick to stay home from school to draw in bed all day. I would draw anything and everything:Garfield, horses, fashion, lizards, cars. I also made my own books, embroidered, crocheted, knitted.

When I was in college early on, I had a professor, Erin Goodwin-Guerrero, tell me I should pursue painting. That definitely got me going. I’ve done shows since I was in school, but am working a lot harder at it in the last year.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
Learn about everything you can, not just about “art”. Be disciplined and selfish with your time. Stop making excuses. NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR IT! Don’t be too attached to the work you make. I recently gave away a ton of old paintings and canvases for friends to paint over. That felt great. I know they’ll improve whatever I had on there.

Portrait by Bryan Lopez

Katrina Marie Loera

Name: Katrina Marie Loera
Website: N/A

What do you do?
I am an art teacher at LeyVa Middle School in Evergreen School District in San Jose.

Where can we find your work?
I participate in a few local art shows per year.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
I am inspired by all of the talented people around me… and of course, my students J When things get tough and I need motivation, I try to spend some time around as many art events and artists as I can…the work of others motivates me more than anything!

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
I love content…I want my art to speak to you…it is an opportunity for me to have a voice in a positive way.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
Those who dedicate their lives to making the world a better place…I know that’s vague, but there really isn't one specific person. Most of the people who inspire me are not celebrities or well known in any way…they are just ordinary people who do whatever they can to promote a positive change in the world!

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Wow…tough question…there’s a character in a young adult book called Stargirl…she carries around an ukulele and sings songs at lunchtime… she carries her pet rat on her shoulder, and dresses in dresses from years in the past…her favorite pastime is to give random gifts to strangers or go for walks in the desert and watch the sunrise and set…she appreciates the world around her for what it is with no complaints…she’s pretty awesome…I’d like to be her J

When do you get your best ideas?
I hate to admit it but my best ideas come when I’m alone and there are no distractions. When I am out for a run or ride in the mountains…alone in the wilderness my creative thoughts come pouring out. I cherish this time in nature and it seems to stimulate my creativity.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
I love to sketch. I never get tired of pencil and paper. I love most mediums that I have tried but I do most of my pieces in oil. If I want to produce more pieces in less time, I will resort to acrylics and I am beginning to appreciate them more and more. My favorite medium with my students is tempera and cardboard. It’s amazing how beautiful these paints can look when applied to recycled cardboard!

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I consider myself mostly self-taught but I guess you could say I was formally educated through the classes I took over the years for my credential. I really wish I could have had the opportunity to attend an art college. There are areas in which I struggle to learn technique. But in some ways, that struggle has made me the artist that I am today.

If your creative work was edible what would it taste like?
Duh…Chocolate (vegan of course)

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I love to play sports: Ride my bike, play basketball, soccer, snowboard, surf, you name it! I’m an adrenaline junky! But I also love to write poems and stories, sing and play music, perform…so I guess you could say I’m an ARTS junkie as well. Sports and the ARTS are my life!

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
Hmmm…that wasn't easy…I mean I’ve always done art…but not until I was asked to do a mural for the city did I feel confident in my talent…After weeks of having people visit me at the wall, I was okay with sharing my art…I guess I never thought my art was worthy of public viewing until that experience. I realized that it wasn't about how well I could draw or paint, because art speaks to everyone in a different way and people connect to each other through art…it’s an amazing thing! Since that experience I had the confidence to begin to seek out small local shows to display and sell my art. I hope to do more in the future.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
Do it for you, not anyone else…Don’t try to create what’s popular, or what you think others will like…take risks…the best art is raw…unjudged…it is your interpretation of your world…so go at it without restraints…