What are your earliest memories of art? How did you become an artist yourself?
I was mainly inspired by a painting I found by my mother after her passing. I had no idea that she had such a talent and decided to further my curiosity and interest in art I always had. I wondered what she would have been able to accomplish had she had the opportunity to study art. My earliest memories are how much easier it was as a child to express yourself through painting.
Read MoreWhat are your earliest memories of art? How did you become an artist yourself?
I was lucky enough that my mom opened my senses to both art and music at a young age—but the moment of discovery which sticks in my mind is a high school field trip to the Art Institute. I saw “Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper and ... wow.
Read MoreWhat are your earliest memories of art? How did you become an artist yourself?
My earliest memories of art are times with my grandmother back when I was seven or eight years old. She decided to take some private painting lessons for fun and invited me to join her. That sparked a passion. My grandmother and I spent lots of time over the years under the tutalage of various local artists until I went off to college and she eventually passed away. If only she could know the lifelong gift she gave me!
Read MoreWhat are your earliest memories of art? How did you become an artist yourself?
There was no specific starting point in my life for creating art…it was just always a part of it. As a child my favorite activity was working in my coloring books and the “toy” I coveted the most was the big box of 64 Crayolas.
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What are your earliest memories of art? How did you become an artist yourself?
LG: One of my earliest art memories is of selling my homemade coloring books to kids in the neighborhood. My feet didn't even touch the ground while I sat behind my little snack table filled with hand drawn books. Kids would snatch them up and then I'd run back inside to make more.
Read MoreWhat are you earliest memories of art? How did you become an artist yourself?
As a young child I remember my oldest sister loving to paint and draw and seeing her work made me want to be an artist, too. I was always fascinated by the human figure and continued to draw and paint from books, magazines and from life.
Read MoreWhat are your earliest memories of art? How did you become an artist yourself?
I was one of those kids that when asked, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I always said ‘an artist.’ There were sketchpads and pencils along on most family camping vacations. And I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have memories of the Art Institute of Chicago. I didn’t necessarily have a wealth of art supplies growing up or a fabulous art program in my early schooling. But I have always been an observer of the world around me and felt a need to record it.
We like to talk with our artists to get a sense of their beginnings and inspiration, as well as their current work and where they see their work evolving in the future. Today, we’re speaking with abstract painter Allison Svoboda, who is the Featured Artist of May.
What are your earliest memories of art? How did you become an artist yourself?
As a child, I was always building things like forts in the woods, exploring the outdoors and collecting objects from nature. I always loved drawing and painting. In high school, I was obsessed with photography. Some kind of artistic expression has always been a part of my life.
Read MoreWe like to talk with our artists to get a sense of their beginnings and inspiration, as well as their current work and where they see their work evolving in the future. Today, we’re speaking with abstract painter Debra Delbecq, who is our Featured Artist in April.
What are your earliest memories of art and how did you become an artist?
I am a twin and one of seven children who grew up on a farm. We had a unique, beautiful thing about how we worked together and played together. If we were canning or if we picked a bunch of raspberries, we always had all these colorful visuals sparking our imaginations. I did barn chores and drove the tractor, always helping my Dad. That’s how I fell in love with the Indiana landscape.
Read MoreWe like to talk with our artists to get a sense of their beginnings and inspiration, as well as their current work and where they see their work evolving in the future. Today, we’re speaking with abstract painter Amie Campbell, who is the Featured Artist of March.
We’d like to learn more about your beginnings. What are your earliest memories of art and how did you become an artist yourself?
“My grandmother was a painter and so I remember seeing her painting and I remember seeing her paintings. Most of that was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so she would paint lake scenes and sunsets and beautiful things like that. I went to a liberal arts college, Kalamazoo College, and at first art wasn’t my emphasis. I got very interested in art history there and I had taken some art in high school but not a lot, and I just got interested in making art. I also did theater, and it all kind of worked together.”
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