Zoya Scholis

Name:  Zoya Scholis
Website: zoyart.com & artforpersonalgrowth.com

What do you do?
I paint mostly. I also like to dabble in ceramics and assemblage, even some writing. I lead workshops.

Where can we find your work?
I participate in solo and group shows in California and enter national and international shows four to five times a year.  A group I started, abstract7 will be showing at the El Marie Dyke gallery in Pacific Grove in January of next year (2013), and probably at Presentation Center in Los Gatos in the spring or summer. We hope to get a gig at the Toll House in Los Gatos for their Art walks this summer. 
I'll be doing Open Studios at Fort Mason (San Francisco) this year. I've also given interested parties private tours of my studio from time to time. Otherwise, I usually have one large piece displayed at Kaleid gallery, 88 4th St, downtown San Jose. I had a window spot but that may change. Then of course there is my website: zoyart.com. 

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
hmmm motivation. Seeing other art I like is inspiring. I make a point of going to see art in galleries and museums. Lately I really like the Oakland art Murmur. Looking in books, magazines or websites can get me excited too.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
Content and process are inseparable and equally important. One without the other might not even be art. 

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
All the great painters from Velasquez to Cassatt to DiebenKorn, Joan Mitchell, Klee I could go on and on. Lately I'm interested in Jessica Dickinson, Maya Kabat and Howard Ikemoto.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Fictional character? I don't read much fiction anymore except the short stories int he New Yorker. I don't think I can answer that question.

When do you get your best ideas?
My best ideas come as I'm painting. I can start with an idea but it always changes in the process. I welcome that.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
I love oil paint with plenty of stand oil mixed in. It makes a delicious texture!

When I paint with watercolors I like to use atomizers and stencils, and Mop brushes. I wrote a book about it, Tape and Spray Watercolor, available on my website.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I have a BA in Studio Art from Cal State East Bay. It was a great time but only so much can be taught and I hate being told what to do, especially when it comes to art. This is ironic because I teach art. I think maybe 20% can be taught mostly by demonstration. 60% is practice and learning from ones own mistakes which can be supported by a good teacher, and 20 % is Divine inspiration.

What would your creative work taste like?
Oils, like salted ice cream, watercolors, like water mellon. It occurs to me, in winter I might have a different answer.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
It takes faith. Art is my religion.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
Take workshops with artists you admire and remember, copying may be challenging and fun but it is not art.

Jenifer J Renzel

Name: Jenifer J Renzel
Website: http://bugatha1.deviantart.com/

What do you do?

Full time technical writer, part time artist.

Where can we find your work?
 Kaleid Gallery (downtown SJ) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Assemblage-Art-by-Jenifer-J-Renzel/213055888709223

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
Sometimes ideas or images just pop into my head and I’m ready to go. Other times an old object will be the catalyst. I go to a lot of estate sales and flea markets, and I get inspired by old toys, broken hardware, rusty garden tools, and so forth. Sometimes an object is just crying out to become part of an art piece.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
That is a tough question. I think they have to go together.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
Joseph Cornell, Jean Michael Basquiat,
Alexander Caulder (his ‘circus‘ puppetry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIQbjbbNq0Q),
Hieronymous Bosch, and Wladyslaw Starewicz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ed8Hbh5XK0).

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Maybe James West from the original Wild West TV series.

When do you get your best ideas?
I get good ideas when I’m working out, or right before I fall asleep. Traveling and seeing new places also fires up my creative juices. I keep a little notebook where I accumulate these ideas for when I hit a creative dry spell.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
All sorts of found objects plus lots of wire, two-part epoxy, and crackle paint.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I don’t have any formal education in art, but I’ve taken various miscellaneous classes and workshops over the years. I’ve also been lucky to have artistic friends who have shared their techniques with me. I sometimes wish I had some formal training in art because I think it would improve aspects of my work. Maybe someday I’ll go back to school ....

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
Watch scary movies, scrounge for art materials and found objects, read mysteries and thrillers, play with our kitties, and go on weekend trips with my partner.

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

The Kaleid Gallery was really important for me -- it gave me an outlet for my art, and got me connected with the local art community. Cherri Lakey and Lacey Bryant get a big thank you from me for all the work they do to keep this gallery vibrant.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
I think it’s important to make the art that you love and try not to worry about what others think. If you lose yourself in it, it’s probably good. Some people will like it, some will be neutral, and some will dislike it. That’s OK. I once had someone tell me that one of my pieces caused her to have a visceral reaction and made her slightly nauseous. That’s not necessarily the reaction an artist seeks, but I think it just shows one range of impact.