Interview with:Karl Andrews [karlandrews]
ART
 | What do you do? How do you define yourself as an artist? My name is Karl Andrews - I am a realist who likes to pull back from being so 'real' in my style. |
| What is your message? To uplift your soul and the place in which you dwell! |
| Your biography in four lines. I was born in Wellington New Zealand. I studied art and design for 5 years and don't have a certificate to show for it (excellent grades however). I ran out of money, could not afford to study and further so started selling my work online for a living... |
| Do you upload your work to the web? If so, where could we see it? |
| How is an idea born? For you, what is inspiration? It depends on whether it's illustration or art we're talking about... but with my free spirited art ideas come from where I live. Fow example, my sunset paintings all started one night when I just looked up. The sky was on fire... I was completely taken by it's beauty! And I guess that's just it... romancing the sky... romancing the canvas, the brushes.... I enjoy creating work which has a positive vibrant feel... who needs to be dragged down today with extra negative connotations in this world we live in! |
| What is art? Good question! |
| When do you get your best ideas? Early in the morning.. I wake up at 5am every morning... it's the best time, no one else is up.. it's so peaceful! |
| How do you evaluate whether an idea is good or not? When I've finished painting it I know! |
| When and how did you begin to see yourself as an artist? When I was very young I used to sit in my grandads studio and watch him paint... It never really dawned on me that he was an artist... he was just doing his thing. I started painting full time when I was 23. I guess that's when I thought I could give my grandad a run for his money! |
| Why do so many artists and creators have such volatile personalities? It's an up and down field... one day your flavour, next it's a favour! Wow... All I can add to this is that at the end of the day we all need money to survive. If I was rich, my only woes would be what to paint next... would I be a more diverse artist... I ask myself this. But as I'm in a situation where I do sell well, but not for squillions - I have to perform well to survive. Create something new each day... this can be frustrating and I can be tough to be around. |
| Do you consider yourself postmodern? I do although much of my work is based on older styles... mainly the media I use. But the style of work is mine and I own it... I'm sure people can recognise my work just by looking... that's cutting the edge! |
| Must an artist reinvent him/herself everyday? Yes... If not moving the style right away, keep something on the burner in the background for later! |
| Which artists do you admire and how do they influence your work? Too many... I really love Van Gogh... I know he's thrashed and nothing extrodinary but I admire his commitment and although I would not shoot myself I think I will be painting right until the end. When I look at styles of work, it could be anyone from Michael Angelo to Jackson Pollock... Only because I appreciate the realist but also admire the energy of the abstract artist as well. |
| What do you think about public funding for the arts? That's fine - I think it's important and I wish there was more of it... but at some point the artist must take control of their own destiny and not rely on hand outs... But once or twice to take a hand out to help out can be good and taken as a compliment for the artist as well. |
| Is a work of art purchased, or is it better said, that it is the artist who is bought? Depends... I have had people mention they want a 'Karl Andrews' ... And I have had people buy simply because they like the painting itself... that depends on who's buying and why. |
| In art, there is no guide. How do you know what the next step is? By keeping within a style I am familar with and giving it a twist... making each new painting a different rebirth of my original inspiration! |
| How do you feel about the fact that the pieces exhibited in contemporary art museums are often of artists already deceased? The artists exhibited are obviously ground breakers and earned their place in history.. I prefer to see the dead artists, they are what influenced me to begin with... their time was so much harder than ours today. Communications today - upload to the internet... online portfolios, setting up exhibitions in galleries overseas is so much easier than 50 years ago... I wish the older artists where around to see todays world. What would they think? My grandad and his work - well... he would have not become a commercial artist in todays world I'm sure. 'His' work was unreal... but he found it hard to find a market. Would he have been selling art like me today with the internet around 50 years ago... I keep asking myself. I really enjoy the fact that art is remembered and the older artists are appreciated! |
| What role have the figures of art dealer, gallery owners, representatives, and intermediaries in general played in your career? Not much - I am a solo artist who does most of his own marketing. I have exhibited on street level (galleries & cafe's) 15 times now... so it's not like I have not tried that scene. My last exhibition in town I was told if I sold my work online the gallery owner would exclude me from major art events in Wellington City... this was a few years ago and this lady is respected in the art circle in New Zealand. I went ahead anyway... she was not selling any of my paintings... they where sitting on her gallery wall just dying!
I took my stuff off her wall and sold it online right away... then sold more and more.
I guess the gallery can either make you rich or strangle the hell out of you and your work... I would still exhibited in town but would like to have a place of my own where I worked and exhibited. This is the next stage in my career as an artist I believe. |
| What types of jobs do you usually do? Paint paintings. |
| What advice would you give to those just beginning? Get ready - make sure your parrachute is properly set up before you make that jump.. it's a rocky road sometimes and everyone is out for themselves... so forget about the negative and concentrate on the positive things art can bring into your life... it's not about the money... that's what the galleries want you to think... it's about you and what you want to contribute to the art society! EnJoy yourself! |
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1138 visits Whohub
Karl Andrews
Wellington New Zealand
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95720 interviews created
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