Interview with:Stephanie Bolton [wildflowr]
ART
 | What do you do? How do you define yourself as an artist? I am a visual artist working in mixed media. I specialize in portraiture. The portraiture I do is a lot more like an interview than a snapshot. I take aspects of a person's personality, choices, history and include references to these unvisual aspects of a person in the paintings that I make of them. My goal is that if someone sees one of my paintings they would learn something true about the person in it. |
| What is your message? Stereotypes abound- and they cannot be avoided- but it is important to see through them and listen to each individual's story because no two people are the same and everyone has a very interesting & unique story to share. |
| Your biography in four lines. I am a third generation artist; both grandmothers were painters, my father is an architect & sculptor. I grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii where I still live. I have my BA in Fine Art having studied in Santa Barbara, California & Orvieto, Umbria, Italy. You'll find my work in select Big Island galleries but I also illustrate and write for various international Art and Dance publications. |
| Do you upload your work to the web? If so, where could we see it? You can see my work at www.stephaniebolton.com where you can also access my facebook page/twitter/blog and actually see some of work in progress as well or get updates on shows/events I will be participating in. |
| How is an idea born? For you, what is inspiration? I really love people and am inspired by the wonderful individuals I seen to attract- I loved not having a car in college and riding the bus, getting to sit with and talk to different people everyday. Capturing and sharing a beautiful person is one of the joys of my life and I really enjoy this kind of work. |
| What role does technology play in your creative process? I am pretty old fashioned when it comes to the creation of my artwork however technology has been a wonderful way for me to meet new interesting people I might not otherwise have met, keep in touch, and share what I am doing. |
| What is art? Art is the communication of a highly thought-out idea or aesthetic. We can measure it's success in the response other's have to it. Are they clearly understanding what we expressed? Art does not have to be universally understood or even appreciated but it would not exist if we did not have things in our hearts that we needed to share with or communicate to others. |
| When do you get your best ideas? I can't seem to turn off the abyss of ideas that is my mind (I feel like most - that I have an unfair share) and ideas come at me from everywhere unexpectedly- I cannot control their quality nor frequency, nor can I trigger them on demand. So enter with caution if you ask me for one- you may get 1001! LOL |
| How do you evaluate whether an idea is good or not? Discussing it usually reveals that- you need to trust your own heart because some of the best ideas are not going to sound to others, as good as they can be. However, I find that hearing your thoughts aloud is enough for you to decifer whether or not an idea is worth pursuing & the reaction you receive can be a strong indicator as well. |
| Why do so many artists and creators have such volatile personalities? we eat a lot of paint |
| Which artists do you admire and how do they influence your work? Matt Abraxas for his loose yet acturate stroke, Jia Lu for her magical realism, Alex Gupton for his genius, Nick Bantock for combining my two loves text & image so impeccably, Alphonse Mucha for his beautiful aesthetic,... oh brother, we could be here all day... there isn't much I DON'T like- let's put it that way. |
| What do you think about public funding for the arts? Essential |
| Is art necessary? Absolutely - we tell our story, we work through our experiences & emotions, and develop who are through art. |
| Does it pain you to let go of a piece you have sold? If a piece of artwork isn't hard to part with- it isn't a good piece. That is, for me, one measure of a paintings' success. |
| Is a work of art purchased, or is it better said, that it is the artist who is bought? Depends on the person who bought it- that is the only one in control of the answer to that question. |
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194 visits Whohub
Stephanie Bolton
Holualoa Hawaii USA
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99760 interviews created
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