Favorite Quotes

==> Purpose: to inspire and uplift, encouraging readers to recognize their own creative potential through the stories of others. As John Cleese said: "Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.”

Monday, November 4, 2024

Y1 E12 - Sarah Heuninck: Investigating humanity's relationship to the Earth

Dust to Dawn; All images are courtesy of the artist.

Sarah Heuninck 

Sarah Heuninck

My painting practice explores ideas of transformation, ecological changes and processes, and the nature and behaviors of materials found in our environments. I work with diluted powder pigments, pouring them over canvas to create a layering of ambiguous forms dusted with sediment. Some of these pigments I make from locally sourced materials that have washed up on the shorelines of Detroit, including bricks, asphalt, soil and glass. By intentionally weathering and crushing these materials I am investigating their temporality and mimicking the sorts of deterioration that were already at play in nature.  

I am interested in humanity’s relationship to the Earth, the materials we have introduced into our environments, and the dichotomy between the natural and the manufactured worlds. One world impacts the other and the two collide, meld and respond to one another. In this nature I approach my work, dancing a line between control and chance, where I am allowing the materials to act freely and deciding when and where to respond or interrupt them. The imagery that results bounces between the micro and the macro, and is resemblant of sublime landscapes, environmental erosion, and the metamorphosis of worlds.

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Sarah - I'm so glad to have this opportunity to chat about your art. I've been watching for some time and am continually amazed with your work. It's as if nature is at home on your canvas.

What do you love about making art?

Making art is where I feel my most authentic self. When I'm not working on something it feels like something is missing from my life. I like problem solving and being surprised by my experiments. 

Which mediums do you like working with the most? What are some of the more unusual ones you've used?

I fell in love with working with crushed pigments and making my own pigments from found materials. Asphalt is probably the most unusual medium I've worked with.

"There is a balance between allowing the pigments to act freely and manipulating them myself." - S.H.


What do you love about that?

I love the process of sourcing materials, seeking materials that will produce vibrant colors. And I love the process of pouring diluted pigments over canvas and watching the worlds they create. 
Life on Mars

How do you evaluate your work?

My work is very intuitive. There is a balance between allowing the pigments to act freely and manipulating them myself. Sometimes it's hard to say when a piece is finished. There's a fine line between not enough and too much. Sometimes if there's too much going on though, all it needs is more to bring it back into balance. 

Where is your studio, and what is your primary work area?

My studio is in my garage in Detroit, [MI]. 

What clues or questions do you use to select an idea to invest time and resources?

Right now my interest is in creating pigments and dyes from organic materials. I invest my time and resources into studying and experimenting with those. 

About your work: what do you hope people notice the most?

I think each person might notice something different. I think that the beauty of art is that it's open to individual interpretation. 

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

My favorite guilty pleasure is napping in the studio. 

How do you define success as a creative? How do you hold yourself accountable?

I think success as a creative person can be defined by a number of avenues. You can seek financial success if you're selling work, you can seek success within your community if you're trying to build a network, or you can seek success of the soul if you simply just enjoy creating and that's enough for you. 

When do you discuss things with your inner critic?

My inner critic is always on the job. Sometimes it'd be nice to shut her off for a while. My work involves many layers and counteracting each layer with the next, so with each layer I'm critiquing the last and trying to make improvements. 

What advice do you have about throwing away work?

Don't be afraid to throw away work. Not everything will be good work, and it's important to be able to let it go and make space for something new. Even if it's not "good" it contains a lesson and you can move forward from that. 

What advice can you share for artists who want to sell their work {online}?

Social media has found many artists' great success. Become good at marketing yourself online. 
Indigo River



What would you tell other artists when they get frustrated with a project?

Walk away from it for a while. Work on something else and let it breathe. Come back to it with new eyes and a fresh mindset. 

Who are your creative influences, and whose work are you admiring now?

I love abstract expressionist painters. That's where my work is currently circulating. Gisela Lazarte. 

How can people follow you and your work?

I have a website, sarahheuninck.com, and an instagram page @sheuninckstudio 

What would you like people to know that I haven't asked?

Your practice should be fun. That's what this is all about. It should feed your soul and if it speaks to you and you keep working at it chances are it will speak to others as well. 

I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me Sarah. I'm cheering for you.  Please come back whenever you have something to share with the ChC audience!






Monday, October 21, 2024

Y1 E11 Martine MacDonald: Feed the Soul

 Martine MacDonald

Lark Becomes Bat, oil on board, 16 x 16;
All imagery is courtesy of the artist.


I’m Martine MacDonald, born a Mid-Century Modern in Motown. My current paintings concentrate on the figure, often using myself, family, and friends as models. The work is not to be seen in the context of portraiture, instead, I strive to capture universal themes found in the real and spiritual world of women.
 
I also work in 3-D mixed media, drawing, and occasional printmaking and the book arts. In 1999, I earned a Master of Arts in Studio Art from Wayne State University. Currently, I serve as adjunct faculty at Wayne County Community College.
 
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  What do you love about making art?

Martine MacDonald
It’s about the beautiful struggle, and the act of using physical materials, and with skill, work, and a modicum of talent, transforming the unformed idea into the tangible. What’s not to love?
 

How do you evaluate your work?

I ask questions: Does the finished work match my intention? Is this the best I can produce at this stage in my artistic development? 
 

Where is your studio, and what is your primary work area?

I maintain a studio as part of Fishnet Artist Studios, a collective of 7 artists located at 4357 Schaefer, Dearborn, MI. And like many artists who have a “public” studio, I also work in my smaller studio at home. 
 
I typically work on paintings on my favorite easel, given to me as a birthday gift from my husband some 20 years ago. Other times I work on a table in the studio or sometimes even in the dining room.
 

"The inward successes—a job well done,
a mastery of tools and techniques—
feed the soul.
I prefer first feeding the soul."

What clues or questions do you use to select an idea to invest time and resources?

I trust my intuition and the gentle persistent voice and insistent vision that says an idea must be made manifest.

The Golden Child, mixed media
 

About your work: what do you hope people notice the most?

I hope the image captures the viewer’s attention, which is then followed by a desire for people to come closer for a more intimate look.
 

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

Oh, if I told you that I would be revealing my deep, dark secrets. And for that you must wait for my best-selling-tell-all-memoir. Okay, it might involve chocolates, foreign mysteries, and Netflix.
 

How do you define success as a creative? How do you hold yourself accountable?

The outward successes—the awards and money—feed the ego. The inward successes—a job well done, a mastery of tools and techniques—feed the soul. I prefer first feeding the soul.
 
The Matriarchs, oil on board, 47 inches

What advice do you have about throwing away work?

The truth is you can’t save everything, unless you plan on making an immense museum to yourself. Save and date the pieces that show your progress and milestones on the journey, or hold great significance for you. For other work, consider altering or pirating parts of them to produce something that might spark a new creative pathway.  
 

How can people follow you and your work?

Instagram: @martimacart 

What would you like people to know that I haven't asked?

Two inspirational quotes: 
 
      To be like Michelangelo who said at age 86:

“Ancora imparo!” Still I am learning!
 

      And to be like the great Hokusai who said:

“When I am eighty, I shall have developed still further, and I will really master the secrets of art at ninety. When I reach a hundred my work will be truly sublime and my final goal will be attained around the age of one hundred and ten, when every line and dot I draw will be imbued with life.”


I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me/us. Please come back whenever you have something to share with the ChC audience!