ERIN ORNSTEIN

Name: Erin Ornstein
Age: 23

Country: Canada

Website: my website is in construction for now. best to find me @http://www.flickr.com/photos/intothetrees/ or http://users.livejournal.com/_intothetrees_/

At which age did you start creating art? And why do you feel compelled to create?
Ok so I really have been drawing since I could hold a pencil. Often when the other kids were out on loud messy crazy adventures, my father and I spend the day in galleries and museums. With the promise of junk food at the finish, I would sit patiently with him the many quite rooms of paintings, dinosaur bones and period clothing and we'd sketch for hours.
I have lost most of them now but somewhere in the universe there a lot of scribbly child drawings of dead birds, buddha statures, kimonos and renaissance paintings.

What are you inspired by? And who do you look up to?
Everything really, but especially stories, storytellers and strangers I meet in my travels. Also science and the deconstruction of the world around me, and particularly right now radiolab podcasts which explore and discuss everything about life the universe and everything. I can't get enough of them.
I find seeing people (and/or myself) in moments of awkwardness or discovery is really inspiring.
And finding out where science and magic overlap and wind up accidentally explaining one and other. This makes my toes tingle.

Which influential artist would you like to ask for advice?
Most of my favourite artists right now are my contemporaries and are around my age. I would probably be to nervous to ask them anything but if i did it would probably be more about themselves than their artistic techniques. I'd ask for one story about whatever.
It would be nice to watch them all work separately, to be like a ghost in their studios. One of my favourite teachers, Harvey Chan, would do media tutorials with us in many of the classes he taught. He would take the new materials and do a piece or several pieces of artwork, superfast, right in front of us. I loved watching the whole process unfold and I really liked everything he did. I would leave the class full of inspiration and understanding of a new technique.

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?
I could never pick only. There is just too much great art longing to be put up on my walls. I can't say no.
In the interest of saying something I'll say something by Sarah Ferrick, her art is like a thousand stories from a thousand universes.

Tell us about your creative process.
I put my headphones on and draw between dancing or dance between drawing.
I'm working at a law firm now so I draw all over the office supplies when I'm on my lunch or between jobs when no one's watching (shhhhh)

Do you ever find weird connections between life and art?
When I look at people on the subway I am often drawing them in my head
and when I've got my headphones on and I'm walking around, I frequently imagine I am drawing a visual accompaniment to the music.
As far as connections that exist outside of those I create I don't know, I'll have to watch more closely. :^)

As an artist, are you Technical or passionate? (Do you lose yourself in the work or do you make precise decisions?)
I am always passionate, in life, in art, in everything......really a bit of a mess. But a creative chaotic enthusiastic mess. When I am in the earliest stages of art making I usually just let whatever I'm thinking about or feeling drive me. When I move towards the finishing of pieces I often get tense and technical and sometimes a bit overwhelmed with the infinite ways to move forward. This though I think is just a side effect of not enough experience and hopefully will pass with more work, work, work and of course play.

How do you determine when a work is finished? Or is it ever finished?
Sometimes I know and sometimes time runs out. Sometimes I just get dragged off in new directions by new ideas and have to abandon what I'm working on to start something new.

Do you think there are boundaries you would never cross in your art making?
no, at least none that come to mind. There may be some that are so unconscious I am unaware of them. I think art is for crossing boundaries, if for no other reason than to make us aware of what boundaries exist at any given time and invite discussion and provoke thought about the lines we draw and what they mean. I believe it's always a good idea to keep an open and critical mind about the world and it's important to be shaken a little out of stale, static or comfortable thinking every now and then.

What frightens you most about your art?
I sometimes worry about telling too many secrets, but mostly people have their own interpretations of my work, which are usually worlds away from my own.
I also worry about not being good enough or doing too much of the same thing, but it pushes me to try new things and make art constantly.

Do you have any magic cures for creative blocks?
New music, long walks, and I am constantly looking for and collecting inspiration. The internet is good.
I read sua's "find I think and draw well when my hormones are really jumpy." and laughed because this is the same for me. Not that I necessarily think better but that I draw more. I find the spring affects me more and more like clockwork. I wind up doing all these really horny lusty spring drawings. It's always just before the school year ends when I'm supposed to be really focused and instead I'm just distracted and anxious.

Do you dream about your artwork?
Yes, although I only do this when I am really anxious and it is never a good thing. I dreamt I was painting and choosing colour schemes for my grad show pieces most nights in the final months and weeks leading up to the grad show. I would figure out how to finish a piece 10 different ways before the end of the night and as would come up with each I would forget it and have to start over. I was a mess by the end of the school year.
Supposedly it's common for people to solve creative problems through dreaming but I don't think that's happened for me yet.

Which of your own works are you most proud of/ is most meaningful to you and why?
I'm not sure. Perhaps my wolfberry folk remedy piece. It reminds me of the struggle and panic I partially overcame while doing my thesis and graduation show. I still think I could've, should've, would've done a lot better but I learned a lot and tried tons of new techniques and materials. I think even with all that I still like this piece. I like the wolfies and the character and the faces.

Which art mediums and brands do you prefer to use?
Right now, I use a lot of pencil. I like the flexibility of it and the way it behaves well. I love ink and the beautiful accidents that happen with it. I think as I get more comfortable making art I will surrender more control to these kinds of unplannable lovely mistakes, which will make everything better. In recent years I've become more of a control freak than I should be. I need a good hard shake or something to get me out of it. Now is the time!

What kind of art education do you have? Do you think it is important?
I am currently working towards a degree in design and majoring in illustration. I've really enjoyed the experience so far. I think it has helped me a lot but I don't think it's necessarily for everyone. If nothing else it was a great place to meet a lot of really talented people, share ideas and get exposed to a lot of artists I might not have heard of on my own. I had some really great teachers too.


What kind of career do you ultimately want? And what kind of career do you think you'll end up having (or already have) realistically?
It feels strange to answer this question since in my program so many people have already started getting illustration work. That is what I want to do. I'm working on it. I still feel somewhat nervous about it but I'll get over it. I can't imagine myself doing anything not art related.

Is your family supportive of your art? Who influenced and nurtured your creativity most?
Yes, I am lucky. My house has always been filled with art and everyone in my family is and has been very supportive. My dad and I share and trade art supplies, critique each other's work and swap sources of inspiration constantly.

Which direction do you see your art heading in the future?
It's a surprise for me too.

Who are some of your heroes outside of the visual art stream?
Those that come to mind at the moment are Björk, Patrick Wolf, Neil Gaiman, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich...... and Merlin(particularly as he is portrayed in the sword in the stone - yes the disney movie) Ever since I was very little I wanted to follow him around and learn about magic.