November 2017 interview look-backs

As we head into the month of giving thanks and toward a new year for PSST,
our November interview features all of you who have given your time to answer questions and to help other artists along the way.
The Years 2014 - 2016. Enjoy the full interview of each artist with a click on the navigation bar.

learning color freedom

Rae Andrews:  If I am painting a landscape for instance, and the colors are all mixes of greens, browns etc, boring! I will often begin with a saturated magenta, red, yellow or even orange; totally the opposite to that overall green cast we see all the time in nature. That way all that gorgeous underneath color shows beneath the overlays of green mixtures, giving the painting LIFE.
 
Christine Swann:  It is so tempting to jump right into all those lovely colors, but I have learned the hard way that careful planning of color, composition and intention make the entire process so much more enjoyable. Not easier, because this painting thing is tough, but definitely more enjoyable.
 
Karen Vernon:  For me, it’s about the stroke, the immediacy of the emotion, the richness of color and the ability to quickly strike the surface with passion and a pure visual voice.  What other medium allows you to grab a chunk of raw color and drag it across a surface, laying down a path that voices, “I, the artist, was here.” 
 
Debora Stewart:  You have to take risks. It is important to do the best work you are capable of doing and then try to get it out there by entering shows, competitions and the like. If you get rejected do not get discouraged but keep trying.
 
Sunny McKinnon:  The process is the most important aspect to me. I enjoy the puzzle, the problem solving of finalizing the composition.

Learning thumbnails

Carolina Dalmas:  The Inspiration for my works comes from nature, especially by the incredible world of flowers. I think that the elements of design are best depicted by nature through flowers. They show us a great variety of shapes, textures, tones and amazing colors.
 
Pam Markham:  My style is still evolving. That makes me smile because I have always known how I wanted to paint, but have been sidetracked, from time to time, trying to paint like this artist or that artist that I admire. I love loose, painterly work and strong color and, although I use a lot of neutral color, I really enjoy making broad strokes of bold color.
 
Barbara Jaenicke:  I find it to be a fun challenge to create eye-grabbing artwork out of the mundane…it can sometimes be more fulfilling to do that rather than trying to replicate an already beautiful vista into a painting.
 
Betty James:  I will be happy if people viewing my work feel just a small amount of the pleasure It gives me while creating the art. 
 
Enid Wood:  Black and brown were my least favorite Crayola Crayons when I was growing up. When I discovered the Impressionist palette in college, I was hooked.
 
Patsy Lindamood:  I push color beyond what is realistic in order to heighten the excitement and drama of a work.

Cheng Lian:  Art was everywhere: spoken about, created and dispersed.

working for PSST

Anne Maree Healey:  Is a red apple really completely red?   Is could be several shades of red with blue or green mixed in for a shadow, or gold or yellow hues to create the illusion of warm light?   Or maybe it is turquoise leaning to tinted blue to create the illusion of cool light? 
 
Carolyn Hancock:  Own your art world: Get a website and write a blog. Websites are incredibly inexpensive and easy to create. Nothing else gives an artist such long-term exposure and credibility.
 
Rita Kirkman:  About every 10th painting is the best one I’ve ever done, because my skills improve the more I paint. The gap between gets smaller as the years go by, so I keep painting to see what will happen.
 
Linda Dellandre:  The way light affects the land in so many different ways is a neverending quest for me to try and reproduce not necessarily photorealistically, but more what it felt like.  Because you know, the camera never quite gets it.
 
Brenda Hash:  I don’t just copy what I see. I tend to saturate the color a bit more than I see it. I might even put colors that I only think I see, because I really like beautiful color. In my portraits you can see lots of color. In what might seem to be brown skin you will find green, blue, violet, orange, pink, rose, anything I think I see. 
 
Caroline Ratliff:  Landscapes look so easy, but they can be overwhelming. I've learned to focus by choosing boundaries.

Sharon Haney:  Developing my own personal style is something that I continue to work on.  I feel my style will come with time after I have worked my way through the thrill of trying new and different techniques and have settled into my own unique pattern.  
 
Nancy Thyre:  Tell people to like your FB and visit your website like I just did.  Be prepared. Do the work!  Be disciplined, consistent, persistent and put it "out there" locally and on line.   If you do the work, you'll be prepared when opportunities to exhibit and sell arise.  Network with other artists and listen. 
 
Liz Czerwaty:  Ironically, my "informal" art background has taught me more about art than I ever learned in "school".  And, I have PSST and a scheduling error to thank for that chance happening!

Joan Eure:  Painting offers me the opportunity to create for myself, to allow others to see how I perceive life around me, and to totally escape from the real world for a while. I encourage each and everyone to find what gives you a spark in your life.
 
Christy Lovelady:  A technique that I have used a lot lately that I have really enjoyed is putting a thinned oil underpainting underneath my pastel paintings.
 
Elaine Monnig:  layering hard pastels like NuPastel with Senneliers.  The thin harder NuPastels are covered brilliantly with the softer Senneliers -  creating distance with the use of softer greyer colors and bringing objects closer with brighter, clearer colors.
 
Lynda Hughes:  I have learned over the years to start with a sketch to work out composition and values. These sketches are so important to a painting to hold it together no matter what colors you use
 
Cornerstone Framing:  Quality is everything. I can't emphasis enough. I mentioned before that if you use top quality products in creating your artwork that you should do the same when creating your frames. I have heard judges say that they don't base their decision off of the frame, but how could they not?