Q)How did your journey as an artist begin?
I was fortunate enough to have a few Artists around me at a very young age (6-9yrs) who encouraged my creativity. They taught me things like how to draw facial features. My Grandma was a huge nature lover, and we would walk the woods by her house and sometimes draw the landscapes as well. So by the time I was in Jr High and High School I took every Art Class I could. Especially enjoying Pottery, and Watercolors. I excelled in those areas, winning some “All City” awards, those were my first Art Shows really. I left home when I was 16, and traveled across the US. I didn’t continue my Art Education, but it never left me. I feel like if you have that need for Creative Expression, you find a way to let it out. I apprenticed Under a Pastry Chef at 18. I was constantly writing Poetry and got very much into Music. Other things like Vintage Fashion, Sewing, and Mosiac. I was a young Mother, poor. One of the unique things about being poor, is you use whatever you can find for Art. People purposely do that now, but then it was “Well I wish I could afford this or that for an Art project” but you substitute, and it can turn out way better than if you would have been able to buy the “proper” tools. I took tables with broken glass tops and would do Mosaic on them. One time I even went to the thrift store and got old beautiful plates and broke them up to do a table top. I would buy clothes at the Thrift Stores and cut them up for fabric, using the buttons, or taking overalls and jeans, then turning them into dresses and skirts. It really opens you creatively to do things in such a way. Skipping forward, I accredit all of those things I did out of necessity to being able to see the bigger picture, and pushing the limits of where Art can take you.
Q)What are the different forms of artworks that you do?
Mixed Media mostly Digital Art, Photography, Digital and Acrylic Painting and Charcoals/Pastels is what I have been into lately. I also have my Art Furniture business on a commission only basis now.
Q)What does your work aim to say?
That’s a tricky one. My reasons for doing Art is therapeutic expression of feelings. It’s like having something build up inside and it just has to come out. I began showing my Art because people deal with so many issues, and can think they are the only ones that feel that way. A person’s pain should always be validated, it’s a way to healing. Dealing with the topics I do, like pain, trauma, or feeling stuck for whatever reason is sensitive. I feel like I try to leave an “Out” in my work, a light at the end of the tunnel to finding your higher self and offer encouragement to those who need it.
Q)Please tell us a bit about an artwork of yours which you like the most?
It’s hard for me to pick favorites, more of a top 10 kind of person. I would say my Series, “The Mannequin’s Mind” I am very proud of. It consists of 5 Pieces and they tell a Visual Story in sequence. It is a tragedy, resulting from a traumatic experience, her spirit unravels. Trauma is very similar to grief in the fact that there can be a lot of different “stages” a person may go through emotionally. It’s also the first Digital Artwork I did, consisting of all of my own Photography, which I absolutely prefer. I created it in 2017, but didn’t show it really until last year. It is such an emotional Series for me, I had to build up to revealing that sort of pain to the World. In doing so I feel like it helped me heal, and hopefully will help others to know they aren’t alone, in whatever they may be going through. It’s also Unique in the fact that it tells a Visual Story, and the artistic process I used, layering the photography wasn’t really thing in 2017. Nothing is cut and pasted, it is layers upon layers of very low transparencies, using my own “filters” to create the depth and light. I still use that method. Some people call me the “Analog” of Digital Art.
Q)How have you been keeping up during the pandemic and what are the new things that you have started?
It’s hard to say why things happen. I think the Universe takes you where you need to go, both good and bad. I have definitely had some major life changes in the last few years. Moved across the Country to Arizona, and are building off grid on 40acres. Very much hoping to have that project finished in the next year. My husband is also an Artist, so we have some goals with our land in hosting Artist’s Retreats and other things. Also I have done more with my Artwork as far as Digital Expression and Paintings. Showing a lot more vulnerability than the Art Furniture I was mostly known for. I think it came out of a need for expression and connection with others. So that’s been a very positive experience.
Q) What are the challenges you face while working on any artwork?
Since we moved and are currently building we are in an RV. That’s a challenge, not having a Studio. At the same time, that also pushed me towards more Digital Artwork because of space issues. I have 2 Painful Neurological Diseases, which are more than any other challenges I have ever faced as far as “doing life” goes in general. My Physical Body doesn’t cooperate with what I would like to do mentally, or I will shut down both physically and mentally after a long pain cycle. So, with my Artwork again, it brings both positive and negative occurrences. I release the pain into my Art, which gives a it that raw emotion. It also has pushed me to the Digital Art side more since it is not as physically strenuous. I always say I am a “Limited Edition Artist”. So yes, my challenges may be more difficult and complex, but that just makes me see the good days as that much better. I take advantage of the times I do feel good, and try to get as much done as possible in those times.
Q) What is the thought process while choosing your next artwork?
My thought process…I don’t particularly have one. I may see or take a photograph that inspires me. Sometimes I just start painting, giving no thought to what I am doing and that’s how it comes. Just a creative urge I suppose. Listening to music and being out in nature mostly is what sparks that urge.
Q)What are the best resources that have helped you in your way?
Moving to a part of the Country that is geared more towards supporting the Arts has been a wonderful thing. I would also say the internet. Having my Etsy Account was extremely helpful with my Art Furniture, someone pinned one of my Pieces and it took off. I had so many people messaging me, that I am pretty much solely commission based with that now. Instagram is a wonderful tool for Artists to get their work out there. I started posting my 2D Art on Instagram in 2021 and it opened up a lot of opportunities for me world wide.
Q)What advice would you give to a young artist following in your steps?
Follow your own heart. Don’t worry about whether or not other people are going to be accepting of your expression. That was an issue for me that took a better part of my life to overcome. Certain people weren’t supportive of my choice to follow my dream as an Artist, so I closed it up. I still did crafty creative things. I wrote and drew privately. I got into Cooking and Furniture in a “Career” sense because that was safe enough to not be considered “Art” (even though it most definitely is). It took a long time into my Adulthood to show that side of myself again. When people you look up to, say an Authority figure for instance, aren’t supportive it makes it hard. So I say don’t get all in your head about things and do you. This also applies to what’s “trending” or not, don’t adjust your expression for what you think others will be attracted to. People will feel your passion and be drawn to it whether or not it’s the popular kind of Art at the time. It’s better to be immersed in your own time.
Q)Who is your Inspiration ?
My husband, Knappy Fogle, is my biggest inspiration. He is a Custom Tattoo Artist and Painter, and was able to make a Career with his Art from a young age. I admire him a lot. He saw the Artist in me and pulled it back out of hiding, is my biggest cheerleader, and is the one I turn to when I am questioning things. Other than that I am mostly inspired by Music and Lyricists. Robert Hunter, David Byrne, Paul Simon and Dave Matthews, to name a few have written so many wonderful songs. I get told my Artwork tells a story. Lyrics, poetry and music often go through my mind as I create. I also find that connection to the rhythm of Music. Bands like the Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, The Beatles.. I really could go on and on about the connection that we have to sound and rhythm, because it’s in everything around us. We are all influenced by the frequencies of the Universe.
Q) Would you like to tell about your achievements ?
Some of my accomplishments in the past year. My Artwork is in 2 Galleries in Arizona. Endeavor Gallery, which I have been with for a year now, and I recently started showing at Stronghold Art Gallery. I am also a M.A.D.S Gallery Artist in Milan, Italy and Canary Islands (Spain) and participated in their first Exhibition of 2022. I received 1st and 2nd place in my first Judged Photography Show in 2021 in the Digital Artistry Division. Then again, 3rd place this year in the Mixed Media Division for the “Celebration of Fine Art” Show in Arizona. I did an Artist Appreciation Poster for the band, RedrumSociety. It was then chosen by Right Chord Music in the UK, and used as the Featured Photo in their article on RedRumSociety’s latest Single release. The Collaboration with my husband “Hearts and Bones” was published in the March Issue of Artstonish Magazine in Vancouver, BC. My art piece, Petticoat Alice, was chosen through a world wide “Call to Artist” to participate in the Gallerium Art Prize 2022 Online Exhibition. Which is going on now until June 30th.
Q)Can you tell us about the process of making your artwork in short ?
I don’t have a set process. Some find that strange, but it’s always so different. I’m Multidisciplinary, and almost all of my work is Mixed Media. I follow that creative call inside of me, listening to music is probably the one thing I could say I use as a process to all of my Artwork. I think once you start with a piece of Artwork, something takes over. Like that saying, after the first brush stroke the paint takes over, you lose control of the process to the emotion of the work.
Q)Whats coming up for you ,what are you working on?
I have 3 Pieces of Art featured in Guto Ajayu Anthology V that is to be released the end of July. It’s an Art Book handed out to Galleries, Curators and Collectors, as well as placed into the Spanish Library in Madrid. To have my Art put into the Library in Spain is pretty exciting. I have 2 new Series I am working on for my upcoming Solo Show in Aug/Sept at The Cochise College in Arizona. I also just began selling my work on Saatchi Art and INPRNT. I have been offered to take part in Paris and Brussels Art Expo’s through a Gallery in Madrid, along with a group Exhibition there. I have turned down a lot of Fairs, ArtExpo NY, Milan, Madrid and some others because they do cost money to be in and with Digital Art you have to pay to print it off and ship, so losing those opportunities were a bit heartbreaking for me. I turned down Art Miami last year too, so I am hoping to be involved with that this year. I am going to be a part of the first World Art Guide 2023, an Art Book published by Bellamonti Art. They are responsible for the Nordic and European Art Guide Books already, that are filled with wonderful Artists. I am extremely honored to be chosen for that. I have another Zoom interview coming up in June with the Azerbaijan State Art Gallery. They have a project going called “ArtCircle” where they are interviewing Artists from different countries, that will be available to view on their site, and YouTube. I have another Collaboration with my Husband for M.A.D.S Art Gallery’s big Gala Event Exhibition, Brain Candy. It’s going to be held in Barcelona, at Antonio Gaudi’s famous building Casa Milà. That building was also inspired by nature, so I’m very thrilled for that at the end of 2022 and to begin 2023.
Thank you .