03 May Interviews With Two Painters in WEST Austin Studio Tour!

Join me in kicking off the West Austin Studio Tour at Due WEST on May 11! My artwork will be featured, along with the work of nearly 300 other local artists. Tickets on sale now: west.bigmedium.org/duewest.html 

The 4 images above are pieces you’ll see at the Group Exhibition Due West at the Dougherty Arts Center in Austin on Thursday May 11th, from 7 – 10 p.m. Clockwise from bottom left: sculpture by Judith Simonds, encaustic painting by Annie Darling, floral painting by Denise Jaunsem and textile pillow art by myself, Deborah Main. To view a list of all 300 + participating artists on the WEST Austin Studio Tour, please click HERE.

For this week’s Texture Tuesday I bring you interviews with TWO of the four guest artists who will be showing their artwork at my studio, Deborah Main Designs, for both weekends of WEST: May 13 – 14 and May 20 – 21, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. all four days.

On the tour my studio stop number is  #224 (guest artists are #225, #226, #227) Click HERE to see descriptions of our work and the WEST website provides you an online catalog and map as well. It’s a wonderful walking tour and if you hurry you can get a copy of The Catalog at all branches of Austin Public Library.  Note: The Catalog is highly coveted and copies run out quickly!

Below is our postcard that you’re hopefully seeing in your mailbox or out and about at local galleries and shops. Many thanks to guest artist Annie Darling for creating this postcard for our event.

We’re getting pretty excited over here because this is my first West Austin Studio Tour!! I’m incredibly honored to be exhibiting my work alongside such talented artists in Austin, and particularly my four guest artists: Judith Simonds, Annie Darling, Denise Jaunsem and Yuliya Lanina. Each of these amazing artists create their own bodies of work and accept commissions.

You’ll see amazing sculptures, wooden music boxes, encaustic paintings and pet portraits by this talented group of artists, along with an inside view of my studio and textile pillow art. For me personally, I’m excited to be showing many of my newest pieces that have been in recent gallery exhibitions at Round Rock Arts and not yet on my website.(NOTE: If you are a collector of any of the artwork by the above four artists, please contact me at inquire@deborahmaindesigns.com for an invitation, as we have a special preview party coming for you!)

Please enjoy below the interviews and paintings of encaustic painter Annie Darling and pet portrait painter Denise Jaunsem. Stay tuned for next week’s interviews with the two sculptors who are also exhibiting as guests at my studio.  Till then, get your walking shoes ready for an awesome WEST Studio Tour, 11 – 6 all four weekend days!  XO PG

Interview with Encaustic painter Annie Darling and samples of her paintings below: (Stop #225)

DM: You’re an artist in the upcoming WEST Austin Studio Tour, what events in your life prompted you to become an artist?

AD: I was going through a rough period of time and I found painting to be a creative way to process my grief.

DM: What inspires you to create?

AD: I am inspired by nature, architecture and other works of art. I love design fundamentals such as line, form, contrast and color and am drawn to dynamic compositions.

DM: How much time do you devote in your studio to your craft? To one piece?

AD: I typically paint 6-8 hours, most days of the week. Every painting is unique and takes the amount of time it takes for it to be a painting I want to put out in the world. That said, every piece I create has taken my whole life to paint, because each work includes what I have learned up to that moment.

DM: What’s the best thing about being an artist? The most challenging thing?

AD: The best thing about being an artist is that I am free to choose how I live and what I do every moment of my life. The most challenging thing is figuring out what to choose.

DM: What one tip would you give other artists just starting out about creating and exhibiting their work?

AD: Your work is everything. Focus on growing your body of work and honing your skills. Go out and be with people and engage in conversations with like minded people. The rest will follow.

Interview with pet and landscape painter Denise Jaunsem with samples of her paintings below: (Stop #226)

DM: You’re an artist in the upcoming WEST Austin Studio Tour, what events in your life prompted you to become an artist?

DJ: I grew up in a family of artists.  My grandmother was a painter and photographer,  My Dad is a painter and sculptor, and my Mom a weaver.  My parents collected art from many other artists, so I was always surrounded by many different styles of art.  I pretty much couldn’t help myself from becoming an artist.

DM: What inspires you to create?

DJ: I am very inspired by nature, the colors, the life, the light.  I am always seeing things I want to photograph and paint. I’m also inspired by looking at other artists work. Seeing great art makes me want to make better art.

DM: How much time do you devote in your studio to your craft? To one piece?

DJ: I spend a lot of time in my studio.  I work a full-time day gig, then come home, walk the dogs, then paint.  Frequently until the wee hours, even though I get up before the crack of dawn.  This is a relatively new thing in my art practice. About 2 years ago I decided to get serious about my art career, and I’ve found the more I paint, the more I want to paint.

It takes me a great deal of time to create each work. I paint with many layers of color and things usually change during the process as I get new ideas.  Unless I’m working on a commission which needs to be very specific,  my original vision and end result evolves while I paint.

DM: What’s the best thing about being an artist? The most challenging thing?

DJ:  That’s a difficult one. The best thing I’d say is being able to use your creativity and vision to make something unique that didn’t exist before, and that others can appreciate, is very rewarding. The most challenging is making a sustainable living at it.  It can be done, but it’s a lot of work to get there.  I’m still working to achieve this goal.

DM: What one tip would you give other artists just starting out about creating and exhibiting their work?

DJ: Keep doing it.  Make time to work on your art.  Get out and see art and meet other artists.  And a really important thing is to learn the business and marketing aspect of it.