CREATIVELY FEATURED

 It's been decided!

Our interview posts will go under the name..........................

CREATIVELY FEATURED!

Now...I came up with a list of questions to ask...which in my opinion are downright boring after seeing Amy's interview questions and those of Andrea's . 

So I want to ask YOU...since this is all about you...What interview questions would YOU like to see asked? Just leave a comment to let me know...ok??!!?? 

And without further ado...Marcia, Artists In Blogland's most talented and generous moderator, has graciously answered some of my questions in a decidedly 'not boring' way.

Enjoy...  From Annie!

1.  Tell us about blogging and how it’s worked for you.

Kindergarten artwork

4th grade Paper Mache Mask

 I began blogging about my adventures teaching elementary art one year ago.  I opened the blog to inspire and connect with other art teachers.  At the time, I was posting about my own artwork as well as the artwork of the children in my classes.  I decided the blog needed more focus, so I separated the two and opened up a new blog about my own artwork.  So far, blogging has been really fun!  It keeps me motivated to make art as often as possible, because I know that other people will see what I am working on.  I follow over 300 blogs in Google reader (many about teaching children art and others about mixed media art) and I have been inspired by so many awesome artists.  I know, subscribing to that many blogs is crazy, but Google reader makes it easy to just glance at each post to see if it is something I'm interested in.   I have borrowed numerous lesson plan ideas for my students and have tried out new techniques for myself. 

2.  How did you discover your favorite art medium?
      My favorite medium is watercolor and inks.  I love to paint with vibrant colors.  I have dabbled in all types of art.  I was an art education major in college and I have taken many types of art classes:  photography, painting, ceramics, sculpture and more.  In the past year or so I have become very interested in watercolor painting.   I think I picked up my watercolors more after seeing some of Alisa Burke's paintings.  I enjoy painting in a loose and fluid style.  Here is one of my watercolor doodles:

This summer I took a watercolor painting class at a local recreation department.  We painted realistically from photographs. This is one of my landscape paintings from that class:

3.  What inspires or influences you artistically?
      I am inspired by repetitive patterns and shapes, maps, natural and organic forms, fruit, leaves, flowers and animals.  I often get sparks of inspiration by reading other people's blogs, by seeing photographs on Pinterest and by using my own photographs.  Sometimes if I am stuck for an idea, I will look through magazines for interesting images to draw or to use in collage.  I really enjoy the following list of artists/movements and consider them influences in my artistic life.  You might not see directly how they are similar to my work, but it all relates to the artistic process.

The Dada Movement, especially the Dada collages
Ray Johnson and the Mail Art movement
Sabrina Ward Harrison
Dan Eldon
Henri Matisse
Cy Twombly
There are so many artists I love it's hard to list them all!

4.  Which aspect of your art do you enjoy most?  I really love bright colors and creating contrast with lights and darks.  I love when an artwork really pops and shows depth.

5.  How do you see your future work and style developing?  This is what I am working on now.  I feel like I dabble in all different types of art, so I don't have a definite style now.  However, I suppose we all naturally have our own style in anything our hands touch, but I guess I am trying to find a focus!  Right now, I've been having fun with lettering:

Watercolor doodling has become one of my favorite pastimes:

Art journaling is also one of my diversions:

I suppose the common link among all these styles is bold and brilliant colors, swirling shapes and patterns.

6.  How do you manage your time? Well, I'm pretty darn busy!  I teach art full-time at an elementary school and have a 2 year old daughter.  I just prioritize, I guess, and get done what I need to do.  I work very efficiently at school and I'm lucky to have adequate plan time at school (which I know many art teachers are not so lucky).  I paint and make art while my daughter is asleep at night.  She generally goes to bed around 7:30, so I have a couple of hours for free time.  Also, I think people make time for what they want to make time for.  For example, I rarely just sit and watch TV.  If I'm watching TV, I'm also drawing or painting.  It helps to have things set up and ready to go so you can just spend a few minutes here and there.

7.  Have you exhibited work or taught classes?  Like I said before, I teach full-time to kids in grades K-6.  I have also taught numerous after school and summer workshops for kids.  Sometimes I give workshops and presentations at art teacher conferences.  I have organized and participated in quite a few exhibitions of children's artwork in my community.   I have had a few of my own artworks in exhibits.  Right now, I am a part of an exhibit at a coffee shop gallery in Chicago.  This is one of the artworks in the exhibit:

Red Configuration, 2011, Watercolor on canvas board

8.  Do you have any ambitions or goals you’d like to see fulfilled in the future?
Right now I am building up a body of work and I have been submitting artwork to magazine in hopes to get a few more published.  I had some published in Stampington and Co. publications but those were a few years ago.  I would love to make prints and greeting cards of some of my artwork and start selling them on Etsy or in craft shows. 

Thank you so much for reading my interview and I hope you visit my blog to say hi!