Name: Meghan Mitchell
Age: 22
Country: United States
Website: www.flickr.com/meghanmitchell
At which age did you start creating art? And why do you feel compelled to create?
I've been drawing and making little things as far back as i can remember. Until I was probably ten or so I drew everyone as cats, I was way into animals.
What are you inspired by? And who do you look up to?
The natural world is very inspiring to me, things like plant life, water, space, and fur. The coolest textures and colors happen naturally, out in the world, it's incredible. I also find communication and all the various ways that people interact really interesting. Lately I've been thinking a lot about different kinds of shelters and homes, and domesticity too. I can pretty much find something that is interesting or inspires me in almost anything. As for people that I look up to, they're all friends and family, for the most part. BT Livermore and Aidan Koch (two of the most productive people I know), Paul Wagenblast (he's got a good eye for things), and two of my favorite professors Tom Prochaska and Yoshi Kitai. I also look up to my parents, which probably sounds cheesy, but they are both really special people.
If you had to put up one piece of artwork on your wall and stare at it for a year, who would it be by and why?
If I could choose anything? One of Kathe Kollwitz's etchings. They are beautiful, very sad, and at the same time somehow hopeful- like the same way a war memorial is. It impresses upon you the gravity of what is represented, which you carry around with you as a totem, that you never forget. By remembering you hold hope that whatever it was, a death, a war, etc., doesn't happen again. Having a visual reminder hanging in my livingroom would be great.
Tell us about your creative process.
Well, I make things in my apartment and at the Pacific Northwest College of Art's printmaking studio (i'm a student there, going into my thesis year). My process is basically a succession of snap decisions based on various stylistic influences. I kind of horde pictures and things that I find interesting, stockpile them (physically and in my head) and then pull them out when I'm ready to make something. Which is enabled by the fact that I work in my school's library. Everytime I work there I make a pile of books and photocopies, while I'm reshelving, to go through at a later date. So when I sit down to draw, or sit down with an etching plate, I can just go for it.
As an artist, are you technical or passionate?
I would have to say I am a bit of both. I create for myself a specific atmosphere or situation in which to be passionate. I work with processes that require a certain level of precise intention to make them work the correct way (etching and screenprinting- they are rather finicky). But having said that, I like things that are repetitive and slightly monotonous because I get lost in them when I draw them, which lets me make aesthetic decisions without overthinking (which always looks better).
How do you determine when a work is finished? Or is it ever finished?
Knowing when to stop working on a piece is half the battle. You have to walk the line between knowing exactly what you want it to look like, and letting it surprise you with what it has turned out to be. Take frequent breaks, step back, ask other people's opinions. Eventually it will just look right.
Do you think there are boundaries you would never cross in your art making?
I'm not really into boundaries.
What frightens you most about your art?
I sometimes worry that it's too cute. I also worry that making really detail oriented drawings and prints will eventually destroy my wrists (carpal tunnel, every artists worst fear).
Do you have any magic cures for creative blocks?
Make bad art. Sometimes you have to make bad art to make good art (you can't win 'em all). Also I go on a lot of walks and bike rides, sometimes it helps to change scenery and it's nice to just go look at things, my favorite places right now are the grocery store, the library, and this cool store that sells buttons and sewing supplies (embroidery thread comes in the best and most highly saturated colors!) Never underestimate the power of a good walk.
Do you dream about your artwork?
No, I don't dream very often, and when I do they're usually nightmares.
Which art mediums and brands do you prefer to use?
The only thing I'm really choosey about is paper. I love printmaking papers, my favorite is the cream Rives lightweight. Everything looks good on it, especially graphite, and it's relatively cheap. Kitakata is nice too.
What kind of art education do you have? Do you think it is important?
I went to a public arts-based magnet high school, the Tacoma School of the Arts, and I'm currently working on my BFA in printmaking at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. I now have only a year left. Look out for my thesis this fall! I think being around art and immersed in the art world is important, it's like learning a language- if you don't hear it all around you it doesn't quite sink in. Whether you go to school to do that or not is irrelevent, some of the best artists throughout history didn't have any formal training at all.
Which direction do you see your art heading in the future?
I'm sure my work in the future will have similarities to past and present pieces, but I try not to plan too far ahead. I like to keep myself open to change.
Who are some of your heroes outside of the visual art stream?
I feel like I have so many of them, but I always draw a blank when somebody asks. Sylvia Plath, Stephen Hawking, Kurt Vonnegut, Allen Ginsberg, Hedy Lamarr, and (if they can be fictional) Doctor Who.
Age: 22
Country: United States
Website: www.flickr.com/meghanmitchell
At which age did you start creating art? And why do you feel compelled to create?
I've been drawing and making little things as far back as i can remember. Until I was probably ten or so I drew everyone as cats, I was way into animals.
What are you inspired by? And who do you look up to?
The natural world is very inspiring to me, things like plant life, water, space, and fur. The coolest textures and colors happen naturally, out in the world, it's incredible. I also find communication and all the various ways that people interact really interesting. Lately I've been thinking a lot about different kinds of shelters and homes, and domesticity too. I can pretty much find something that is interesting or inspires me in almost anything. As for people that I look up to, they're all friends and family, for the most part. BT Livermore and Aidan Koch (two of the most productive people I know), Paul Wagenblast (he's got a good eye for things), and two of my favorite professors Tom Prochaska and Yoshi Kitai. I also look up to my parents, which probably sounds cheesy, but they are both really special people.
If you had to put up one piece of artwork on your wall and stare at it for a year, who would it be by and why?
If I could choose anything? One of Kathe Kollwitz's etchings. They are beautiful, very sad, and at the same time somehow hopeful- like the same way a war memorial is. It impresses upon you the gravity of what is represented, which you carry around with you as a totem, that you never forget. By remembering you hold hope that whatever it was, a death, a war, etc., doesn't happen again. Having a visual reminder hanging in my livingroom would be great.
Tell us about your creative process.
Well, I make things in my apartment and at the Pacific Northwest College of Art's printmaking studio (i'm a student there, going into my thesis year). My process is basically a succession of snap decisions based on various stylistic influences. I kind of horde pictures and things that I find interesting, stockpile them (physically and in my head) and then pull them out when I'm ready to make something. Which is enabled by the fact that I work in my school's library. Everytime I work there I make a pile of books and photocopies, while I'm reshelving, to go through at a later date. So when I sit down to draw, or sit down with an etching plate, I can just go for it.
As an artist, are you technical or passionate?
I would have to say I am a bit of both. I create for myself a specific atmosphere or situation in which to be passionate. I work with processes that require a certain level of precise intention to make them work the correct way (etching and screenprinting- they are rather finicky). But having said that, I like things that are repetitive and slightly monotonous because I get lost in them when I draw them, which lets me make aesthetic decisions without overthinking (which always looks better).
How do you determine when a work is finished? Or is it ever finished?
Knowing when to stop working on a piece is half the battle. You have to walk the line between knowing exactly what you want it to look like, and letting it surprise you with what it has turned out to be. Take frequent breaks, step back, ask other people's opinions. Eventually it will just look right.
Do you think there are boundaries you would never cross in your art making?
I'm not really into boundaries.
What frightens you most about your art?
I sometimes worry that it's too cute. I also worry that making really detail oriented drawings and prints will eventually destroy my wrists (carpal tunnel, every artists worst fear).
Do you have any magic cures for creative blocks?
Make bad art. Sometimes you have to make bad art to make good art (you can't win 'em all). Also I go on a lot of walks and bike rides, sometimes it helps to change scenery and it's nice to just go look at things, my favorite places right now are the grocery store, the library, and this cool store that sells buttons and sewing supplies (embroidery thread comes in the best and most highly saturated colors!) Never underestimate the power of a good walk.
Do you dream about your artwork?
No, I don't dream very often, and when I do they're usually nightmares.
Which art mediums and brands do you prefer to use?
The only thing I'm really choosey about is paper. I love printmaking papers, my favorite is the cream Rives lightweight. Everything looks good on it, especially graphite, and it's relatively cheap. Kitakata is nice too.
What kind of art education do you have? Do you think it is important?
I went to a public arts-based magnet high school, the Tacoma School of the Arts, and I'm currently working on my BFA in printmaking at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. I now have only a year left. Look out for my thesis this fall! I think being around art and immersed in the art world is important, it's like learning a language- if you don't hear it all around you it doesn't quite sink in. Whether you go to school to do that or not is irrelevent, some of the best artists throughout history didn't have any formal training at all.
Which direction do you see your art heading in the future?
I'm sure my work in the future will have similarities to past and present pieces, but I try not to plan too far ahead. I like to keep myself open to change.
Who are some of your heroes outside of the visual art stream?
I feel like I have so many of them, but I always draw a blank when somebody asks. Sylvia Plath, Stephen Hawking, Kurt Vonnegut, Allen Ginsberg, Hedy Lamarr, and (if they can be fictional) Doctor Who.
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