Artist Interviews-Where are you going? Where have you been? How did you get there?

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Artist Interviews-Where are you going? Where have you been? How did you get there?

About this blog--As a recent graduate and currently in a one-year residency the question of what’s next and how to get there is always on my mind. For this blog I will be interviewing artists who have taken varying paths and pursued different careers in or out of the arts to see what they are doing now and the steps they took to get there.

 

Special Note--I want this to be a way to share how we are all trying to figure out the paths to what’s next and where to go, not answers or things to do, but a look into how others are making it and what has helped along the way. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for questions to ask or artists to interview. 

Website: http://melissawalter.us
Location: http://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/MelissaWalter
Members: 52
Latest Activity: Jan 4, 2017

Discussion Forum

Thank you

Started by Melissa Walter Apr 8, 2013. 0 Replies

I have just posted the final artist interview for the blog- Artist Interviews-Where are you going? Where have you been? How did you get there? and just want to thank crafthaus for giving me the opportunity to have a blog featured on the site. Thank you to the artists who took the time to answer questions and share their insight and experiences and thank you to everyone who took the time to read their stories.

Interview #11 - Erin Daily (FINAL INTERVIEW)

Started by Melissa Walter Apr 8, 2013. 0 Replies

Erin S. Daily is a metalsmith who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Erin holds an BFA from the University of Kansas and a MFA from SUNY New Paltz.  She has extensive teaching experience, as well as experience as a bench jeweler, free-lance work, and working for a gemstone dealer. Erin is most recently spending her time as owner and educator at Brooklyn Metal Works- a metal arts studio that offers studio rental space, classes, lectures, and has a gallery to promote artists- that she recently…Continue

Interview #10 - Brian Weissman

Started by Melissa Walter Feb 25, 2013. 0 Replies

Brian Weissman is a metalsmith, educator, and technician for the Fashion Institute of Technology Jewelry Design department living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Brian holds an MFA from SUNY New Paltz. He has extensive experience in technical theater, electrical work, working for other artists, and as a studio technician, this experience helped him form Brooklyn Metal Works- a metal arts studio that offers studio rental space, classes, lectures, and has a gallery to promote artists- that he…Continue

Interview #9 - Aaron McIntosh

Started by Melissa Walter Jan 7, 2013. 0 Replies

Aaron McIntosh is an fiber artist and professor at Maryland Institute College of Art’s (MICA). He received a BFA from the Appalachian Center for Craft an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Aaron was one of first ten recipients of the Windgate Undergraduate Fellowship in 2006. His extensive experience as a professor and artist and has exhibited both nationally and internationally.Please give a short bio of the path you have taken to your current state in life through education,…Continue

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Comment by Louise Tessing on August 4, 2012 at 11:43am

Tom, like minds meet! I started out as the usual "arty" type with some undefined, yet undeniable, need and talent for the expression of my personal ideals of beauty and/or order. I had zero plans for how to go about this expression, however. Of course, I tried ever method and material I could manipulate (must be the aboriginal in me!) to get to that place. But by myself, I became frustrated. Although I often deny the value of my Bauhaus education, (I went to the Institute of Design in Chicago) the better part of me knows that it opened the world of ideas and standards of creativity and excellence to me and made me more disciplined to create. Obviously I needed that, too, but as you say, not everyone does. After a 35 year career as a graphic designer, I am thrilled to become that savage again, off on a journey to the worlds within me, to that universal place of peace and beauty, and better prepared and much more grateful for the opportunity. Goodbye two dimensions, hello third!

Comment by Roxy Lentz on August 1, 2012 at 5:01pm

I have been making jewelry for about 20 years. Because of circumstances beyond my control I have never had a formal education in art, let alone metalsmithing. It has been a long hard straight uphill climb. However, if I had had training when I first wanted it, my work would look like a version of the teacher. I love to make jewelry from re purposed metal, like silver plate trays. I would love feed back on my website www.quattra4.weebly.com, and also look at www.roxylentzjewelry.weebly.com

Comment by Melissa Walter on June 4, 2012 at 11:39pm

Thank you all for your comments. Please also let me know if you have any suggestions for questions that would be good to ask artists as I interview them and be sure to check back when the first interview is posted.

Comment by Tom Supensky on June 3, 2012 at 12:13pm

There are many who were educated in one field and later began some other career.  In the arts, the fundamental thing is the desire to create and express oneself visually.  Learning how to is the easy part.  We can all learn about techniques and materials on our own.  The "school of art" for those many years ago was simply passed down from parent to child.  Even to this day, look at current aboriginal art.  Those artists didn't go to school to learn their art form.  As I have said before, I often think that art education can block true creativity depending on how the program is designed and taught.  However we get involved in craft/art, our true growth will come from a persistant exploration of the unknown.  Out of that we will find exciting discoveries and endless creative possibilities.

Comment by Roger Rimel on June 3, 2012 at 9:52am

Our paths often do not follow a straight planned line,but are influenced by seemingly unrelated circumstances and relationships. I began with a degree in art education and I never had a course in jewelry making. I put my first studio together in a spare bedroom (I married in college) while my wife (also an artist) got a teaching job. I taught myself enough to take a sabbatical replacement job teaching jewelry at a high school,only a 3/5 pay but used the studio to keep working. That was a 3 year job and I then landed an apprentice bench job with a small family owned jewelry store. I have worked continuously for the last 30 years as a goldsmith with small jewelry shops,learning along the way wax model making, casting, stone setting and putting in my 10,000 hours.I have also always maintained a studio and produced work for fairs,art galleries and exhibition. I would say there are pivotal points along the curve of our work/art life,but one must be prepared to respond to them when they come along. The things that have made a difference in my work/art life:1) Always maintain a studio,no matter how small or ill equipped  2) Keep working  3) Bring content into the work 4) Go to Penland,Haystack.... Words above my bench: "Inspiration exists,but it must find you working. "It is time to begin." "The poem fails when it strays too far from the song, the song fails when it strays too far from the dance." Our work may not be our best source of income,but it can be the most important.

Comment by Sophia Georgiopoulou on June 1, 2012 at 4:59pm

I have a Ph. D in the Classics and in Byzantine Literature. After teaching for 18 years in the Humanities, I felt it was time to listen to everyone who was telling I should have never given studies in Art up to follow academia. I have always made things with my hands and during my years of teaching I experimented with making jewelry...One thing led to another, in 2004 I took a metals class and have not looked back ever since. Despite the setbacks and the difficulties, in December 2010 I established my little studio and started to put into metal all the ideas that were in my head for years. I love the inspiring quiet of the studio and the wonderful moment when the idea dons its metal garb and becomes a tangible, tactile reality.

Comment by 2Roses on June 1, 2012 at 1:29pm

Even though I have thought of myself as an artist, it seems that what I really do is creative problem solving. I have applied this philosophy to my own art and to every opportunity that has crossed my path over the last 40 years. This has worked out pretty well over the years and allowed me to participate in projects ranging from the Mars Rover to curating a Southern California historical museum to a comfortably successful studio practice.

My sense of self as an "artist" is not defined by media, or method of expression, or field of endeavor for that matter . I get just as much enjoyment out of developing a business strategy, or a computer program, as I do delivering a jewelry commission.

Yes, I have heard all the arguments about "lack of focus", but frankly, if all I did was jewelry design, as much as I love doing it,  I'd be denying so many other exciting opportunities to grow, learn and participate more fully in life. The best part is I get to apply my creativity in lots of different ways and gain a better understanding that there is an art to everything.

Comment by Lorena Angulo on June 1, 2012 at 12:13pm

Follow your heart and most definitively work beyond the material (agree with this 100%.)

I did not study  arts or metal arts. In Mexico I started my major in Architecture but after one year I knew this was not for me, I change my major drastically and went to study Mass Communications (journalism). Destiny moved me to continue my studies in Texas and I had my Mass Communications and  my minor in French. I owned a printing shop with my family and spent a lot of my time working in the family business and designing logos and marketing people's business but I was not 100% happy, something was missing. After getting married I decided to open a retail shop focus on hand crafted items, I was so happy to meet new artists and to sell their work. This took me to go back a take classes at Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, since the first day in the Metals Department I knew this was what I wanted to do. On time I had to make a difficult decision and I closed my retail shop to focus on my work and to start making my dreams come true. 
I follow my heart and even though I do not plan everything; I do keep my goals in my mind all the time. Having my goals in mind helps me to keep moving forward and little by little opportunities and projects are coming my way.
Take any opportunities no matter how small or how big they are. 

Comment by Francesca Vitali on June 1, 2012 at 11:04am

Fantastic, these two senteces wil go right away on the board of my studio:
Inside, you know who you are and what you can do
Work beyond the material, define your work by what you bring to it and not the material

Comment by Brigitte Martin on June 1, 2012 at 10:26am

Thank you. Great comment, Tom:  "Inside, you know who you are and what you can do. " Everyone should post this one above their desk or work station.

Now go out y'all and DO YOUR THING people! :-)

 

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