Thought I’d share some of Charles Bergquist‘s work. I really love his style.

This week I’d like to introduce Elizabeth Schuppe. Elizabeth is fine artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. I have always been a huge fan of her paintings and so when she agreed to participate in this series, I was floored. Here is an excerpt from her site :

“Color, line, shape, texture, and light are the media that express the emotion in my work. Rather than creating a recognizable object, I use the elements of painting itself to allow the story to unfold. There is no plan in my painting, yet there is process. I let a color, a line, a shadow dictate what comes next.

The purpose is to create expression and emotion strictly out of shape and color – completely abstract. My best works are the ones that just happen, when I allow myself to be surprised.”

1. How long have you been painting? I have been painting since I was a kid but I really didn’t learn how to paint seriously until I was in college. I’ve been professionally painting for about 5 years.

2. Have you always painted abstractly or have you ever painted realistically? I only painted realistically when I was in school. As soon as I was allowed to paint freely – I went abstract. Even my realistic pieces were on the abstract side – it as just in my nature.

3. You mention on your site that there is not a plan in your paintings but can you expand on what your process includes? I always start with a color that I’m into at the moment. Once I put down a color and shape, that tells me what to do next. I just keep building from there – more colors and more shapes, always responding to the mark I made before.

4. A lot of the work on your website was created on a larger surface. Do you ever work on smaller canvases or paper? I haven’t worked on paper, or small, in a long, long time. Up until now. I had to give up my studio and have been forced to work at home so I started to work on small blocks of wood. But mostly my style of painting works better larger.

5. How do you spend your time painting? How long can the process take from start to finish? It’s really hard to say how long the process can take. It depends on so many (primarily) internal factors. Sometimes I can finish a piece in a week, other times it will take a month or two. I usually get to the studio in the morning. I work much better then. I’ll often work for four or five hours without much of a break except for a coffee or lunch. Once I’m into something I don’t want to stop. Things outside are so distracting and I always listen to music. Always. It keeps me company in an otherwise lonely profession.

6. How is the process different when creating a mixed media piece (compared to a painting)? I tend to be more careful when doing a mixed media piece. Maybe it’s because of the reactions that different materials have to each other, or maybe it’s because I feel less free with different materials. Other than that the process is quite the same.

7. How influential was your time in school compared to your time after school? I learned so much in school about how to paint the “right” way. How to mix colors, to see proportions but it wasn’t until I got out of school that I found my own voice. It’s a hard question to answer but I think I’d have to say my time out of school shaped more of who I am as a painter.

8. Do you sell the work that has already been created or do you take custom commissions? I only sell work that I’ve already created. I’ve done commissions in the past and they never have turned out how I wanted them to. I hate to make paintings that I’m not proud of at some point. It’s really hard when you don’t have control over the decisions.

9. If you could give one piece of advice to a fine art student, what would it be? Sometimes you need to take what professors say with a grain of salt. I once had a painting teacher that told me “never use white.” I didn’t listen and that was the right choice.

This week on MEET, I am able to share the amazing work of Ashely Peifer! I was able to see Ashely paint throughout a semester at college and it was such a treat. Her work is phenomenal and I hope to place a piece of her work in my home in the near future. I started this series about two months ago and it is definitely starting to evolve. From this point on, you’ll see more specific questions being asked to bring a greater understanding of what these incredible artists do! Enjoy this interview!

1. You’re an extraordinary painter. Have you always painted? When did you start? My mom would say I was painting faces when I was three, but I didn’t start seriously painting until junior year of college. I had a really discouraging art teacher when I was in sixth grade, so I lost my childhood dreams of becoming an artist until I was a sophomore in high school. I remember drawing a bird with Prismacolor colored pencils, and it looked just like the picture. That was probably the moment when I got my confidence back.

2. I know you, at one point, studied graphic design in college. What made you switch to fine arts? Well, two reasons. One: to get out of the Dreamweaver class that I needed to complete to graduate; Two: because I found something that I was so happy doing.

3. Do you still enjoy graphic design? What types of design projects do you still work with? I do love graphic design! I usually just help my friends and family with logos and business cards, but I still occasionally take on a client. I really appreciate good design, but it’s so nice to sit back and be on the other side of it sometimes.

4. What is your favorite type of paint to work with? I love watercolors, acrylics, oils…basically all of them. I love experimenting so my pieces usually end up being mixed media. If I don’t like the way a painting is going, I usually just cover it in gesso. That’s where my most interesting pieces come from, I think.

5. Do you have any other favorite types of materials? YES. I love collage, so I am always on the lookout for really cool old books to tear apart, antique stamps, and plenty of mechanical pencils for some nice line quality.

6. Your collages are some of the best I’ve ever seen, what does your process look like when you’re creating a new collage? There’s a lot of layering, tearing, sanding,painting, and strategic placement of items. It looks like a disaster zone when I’m collaging!

7. Who are your biggest influences? For inspiration, I study a lot of Cy Twombly’s scribbly paintings, Terry Winter’s collage-like paintings, Robert Rauschenberg’s collages, and the minimalist drawings and paintings of Richard Tuttle. Also, whether it’s subconscious or not, my best friend (Kayla Plosz) and favorite professor (Bruce Campbell) influence my style quite a bit.

8. Do you have goals for 2010 as an artist? What are they? YES. I’m trying to find balance between working 60 hours a week and still making time to paint and build frames. Also, I’ll be applying to grad school for my MFA in the fall, so I need to get everything together and write a killer purpose statement.

I recently helped the talented Ashely give her a blog a little facelift! I customized the theme Handgloves by adding a custom header, a contact form, a stylized background pattern, an Etsy tab, and changed the font colors. The theme, which screams Helvetica, is a great place for Ashely to post her beautiful work, sell paintings, and connect with her audience. Take a look!

MEET is my Tuesday series where I am able to feature an artist, their work, and share a few thoughts from them personally! This week I’m excited to introduce Megan Cook! Megan is a twenty-two year old illustrator and graphic designer located in Indianapolis. I have always been a huge fan of her illustrated books and large collages & paintings. I can’t wait to see the work she will continue to produce! Enjoy meeting Megan!

01. At what point in your life did you know you’d be an artist? I’m not sure, but I fell in love with art in kindergarten. I had an art teacher who would make us popcorn to eat while we worked and would tell us stories about artists like Van Gogh and Georgia O’Keefe. She had a really profound impact on me.

02. Do you have another talents, passions, or hobbies? I really enjoy writing and reading the work of great writers. I have written a couple children’s stories and hope to continue my writing career alongside my design future. I have always loved stories and I think that is why I love art/design: everything has a story and you can choose to write it, or describe it visually.

03. Who has been the most encouraging person in your life? My husband and my parents.

04. What inspires you? I find inspiration in a lot of different places: through other artists’ work, through reading, and through pictures or memories.

05. What medium still intimidates you? 3D mediums are hard for me to tackle: I’m a 2D thinker.

06. What artistic trend do you dislike? I dislike the returning 80s trends and colors: too many gross colors and patterns put together in thoughtless ways — but that applies more to fashion design right now.

07. What has been your favorite piece of someone else’s art up until this point in your life? Tough question! I think I have lots of favorites. I really like George Braque’s collage work, and Paula Scher’s posters for the Public Theater’s New York Shakespeare Festival.

08. Do you create art full-time? If so- where and what has that experience been like? I have been doing art on the side right now, while searching for a way to do it full time. My experience in working other jobs that don’t literally relate to art has been an affirming one: the longer that I don’t work in the design world, the more I realize that it is what I want to do full-time.

I’m excited to featured Aldan Shinault, a twenty-three year old designer originally from Illinois. Aldan and I went to high school together and we were able to reconnect this year. It’s so awesome to see how Aldan has grown as an artist. Enjoy looking at his work and reading some of his thoughts about life and art.

01. At what point in your life did you know you’d be an artist? I’ve loved drawing and have been more of a visually stimulated kinda guy since I was a little kid.  It runs through my veins, and thus my being an artist was never really a decision.

02.  Do you have other talents, passions, or hobbies? I have a passion for interior decorating and Ferrari automobiles.  As a hobby, I buy clothes.  Lots of clothes.  It’s becoming a problem.

03. Who has been the most encouraging person in your life? My mother has always been the most encouraging person in my life.  Since day one she has gently guided me, but has always given me enough room to make necessary mistakes.

04. What inspires you? Artistically, I’m inspired by:

• the complexity of God and Heaven
• geometry
• The Godfather part 2
• Louis XIV style furniture
• 1980s fashion
• alignment and symmetry
• palm trees
• the subjectivity of beauty

05. What medium still intimidates you? As far as intimidating mediums, I’ll have to stick with traditional film movie production.  I mean, I got my degree in that sh*t… but it kicked my ass through-and-through.  I don’t wanna be anywhere near a film camera ever again.

06. What artistic trend do you dislike? Pop art — simplistic approaches to appropriating images.  Just… unoriginal in every sense.  Andy Warhol is f*cking evil.

07. What has been you favorite piece of someone else’s art up until this point in your life? The photography of my buddy Kristina Bereolos.

08. Do you design full-time? If so- where and what has that experience been like? I used to design full-time when I lived in Chicago.  At present, I work at a private greenhouse / flower garden.  There I maintain orchids & roses, feed chameleons, and read.

09. Do you think you have a specific style? What is that style and do you see yourself evolving out of that anytime soon? I’d say my style is sexy, subtle, in-your-face, and smooth… all jumbled into one well sewn, highly detailed package.  I ain’t never gonna change!

Here’s the story. I never use Bing. Until the other day. I used Bing to find some images of vintage pattern and boy am I glad that I did. I came across Aprile Elcich’s collage blog and I really loved looking through it. On her site she states, “My goal is to feature every single collage artist (that exists!) here on Notpaper,” and I’m glad she’s up for the challenge. Below is a piece by Mary Virgina Carmack.

Click here to visit Hello Tiger.

I “star” my favorite blog posts in Google Reader and then I tend to share them here on my own. Recently, I saw a theme developing in my favorites. Take a look. You can click on the image to take you to it’s brilliant source.

The other day I realized how much I missed being surrounded be people that I admire. It has taken a long time for me to digest what my college experience really meant and how it affected me. During those four years, I was blessed to work, create, and spend time with some of the most talented people I think I’ll ever meet. There are many more but I decided to feature these 7 artists today. Now let me introduce you…

photography by Erin Geyer : Seattle

photography by Christine Sullivan : Italy

piece by Ashely Bourque Peifer : Texas

design by Karmen Low : Grand Rapids

piece by Bree Tsuleff : Fort Wayne

piece by Kaye Patton : Chicago

collage by Kellyn Walker : Indianapolis