#mkmARTconsulting – Page 2 – Marianne K. McGrath

March 10, 2020March 9, 2020

31 Women – March 10th: Marie Cameron

**Marie Cameron**
*Peripher*y, 2020
Oil on canvas

An Interview with Marie Cameron

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative? Why did you pursue art?

MC: Although I was born in NYC, I grew up in Maine and Nova Scotia, I had an idyllic childhood full of beachcombing for sand dollars and amethyst, canoeing on lakes and building forts in the woods. I lingered in orchards of apple blossoms, and hillsides of lupine. I gathered wild blueberries, blackberries and picked apples in the fall. In winter there was cross-country skiing and all year long there were crafts! My mother and grandmother taught me embroidery, sewing, crochet, quilting, rug hooking, rug braiding, block printing, refinishing furniture, woodworking and painting – there was always the sense that you could do anything! I loved drawing and painting the most, and though art was not available in our schools, I enjoyed the odd lesson, including watercolor classes by Mi’kmaq artist, Leonard Paul, and I was chosen for a summer art intensive at Acadia University conducted by Jeannie Edmonds Hancock and David MacNeil, culminating in a show opened by Alex Colville! Although I was always interested in going to art school, this one-on-one with these artists made me understand that it was possible to have a life as a working artist. I couldn’t not make art!

MKM: Where did you study?

MC: I earned my BFA from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada where I majored in painting, and minored in sculpture and photography. I graduated with honors and was awarded a Lavina Esterbrooks Art Scholarship and later a Canada Council Explorations Grant.

MKM: Can you tell us about your memorable teachers?

MC: My teachers from University were all memorable in their own way, Thaddeus Holownia (photography), Rebecca Burke (painting), Tom Henderson (sculpture), David Silverberg (printmaking), John Asimakos (foundation), Dan Steeves, (printmaking), Terry Graff (sculpture), David Bobier (sculpture). Mount Allison allowed me the time, space and support to focus on developing my work and style.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns? How has your practice changed over time?

MC: My favorite thing is to have a long stretch of undisturbed time to work in my studio. I can see my studio beckoning me from my breakfast table and I like to get out there with a hot cup of coffee as soon as I’m fueled up! Ideally, it’s a Monday morning and I’m starting with a new canvas full of possibility, reference material (if needed) already printed out and gridded up, creamy paint squeezed out and clean brushes on hand. I like to listen to NPR, it keeps me connected and engaged without being obtrusive, it helps to keep me in the moment and in front of my easel. I am at my best in the morning, so I try to protect that quality painting time by scheduling all the other stuff (research, photography, prep, cleaning, applications, social media, appointments and gallery visits) for late afternoons, evenings and weekends where possible. I take breaks in my garden to stretch my body and eyes, to get some clean air and to see what’s blooming or why the birds are making a ruckus. It’s all about honoring the flow and showing up for it. Routines definitely change over time. When my children were small, I would snatch what time I could, turning artistic pursuits that were more child-friendly, like photography (in which they were often the subject). Currently, I like to rotate through my various series, working on something very large, followed by something very tiny, working with something very familiar, then playing with unfamiliar materials, this helps to keep things fresh.

MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?

MC: I am primarily an oil painter, working in imaginative realism, with the narrative taking precedence over the medium, but I also love to dabble in mixed media assemblage and even encaustic to explore and appropriate the intrinsic properties of various mediums and objects as part of the message, reinforcing the narrative.

MKM: Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?

MC: I was given some exquisite crushed shell pigment from Japanese artist, Hiroko Ohno, which she uses in her amazing Galaxy paintings. I am saving it for something special, perhaps a mixed media painting; an ode to the ocean.

MKM: What themes do you pursue?

MC: I have several themes that thread through my work. I like to reflect on the fleeting nature of life which makes beauty even more precious due to its ephemerality. I bring this perspective to my environmental work, (Critical Masses, Birds and Teacups, All Water is Holy, Fade to White) and human nature pieces (People in my Neighborhood, Florilegia, Tattooed Babies, and portraits in general). I like to lace my narratives with contrasts, wild and domestic, light and dark, life and death, beauty and sadness, holy and profane. White hummingbirds and deer, (seemingly conjured but real) are examples of recurring motifs in my work, symbolizing the startling moments of beauty in an increasing ugly and domesticated world. My lexicon also includes teacups, shells and anything ocean…then there are my portraits. One day they will all come together.

MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

MC: My paintbrushes are my most important tool and it’s criminal how I neglect them, but without them in tip-top condition all is drudgery and missteps!

MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?

MC: Memento Mori (1998) is the piece I’m most proud of. It’s a painting of a visual field of mussel shells bisected by the impression of a barnacle and seaweed covered basalt cross. For me it’s the perfect synthesis of personal and historic narrative, laced with environmental symbolism. The up-tilted, in-your-face perspective and scale, the use of masses of naturalistic shells with a centralized, surreal element (symbolizing a human interaction) all feels unique to me and this piece continues to hold a central spot in my heart and studio, giving rise to the entire Critical Masses series.

MKM: What has been a seminal experience?

MC: I would say I have two seminal experiences; 1) traveling to Pakistan with Canada World Youth helped me to see myself as a global citizen, to grow in empathy and understanding and perspective, and upon my return, 2) making my home in a small seaside church in rural Nova Scotia, exploring how the impact of culture, history and nature would inspire my art making process, throughout art school and beyond. I carry the influence of these connections in my work and life to this day.

MKM: What art do you most identify with?

MC: Imaginative Realism

MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?

MC: Nature is my primary inspiration, I love to spend time by the sea, hiking in the woods or even in my own garden which attracts many birds and deer, reptiles and insects. I take loads of reference photos and mental notes. I also love antiquing, pondering what these objects can say about who we are. I think combining intriguing objects of our past with nature can make for interesting and even powerful representations, harnessing the power of the familiar but in unfamiliar contexts. Gallery and museum going is also endlessly inspirational, I love learning how other artists have approached their work, and feeling part of this [art] community.

MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?

MC: Ha! I am wearing a Frida Kahlo T-shirt as I write this! Frida Kahlo, all day, every day! I love the way she was able to tell her personal narrative through her art in a way that was grounded in her cultural tradition but also universally accessible, using a lexicon of powerful and totemic imagery and color she elevated the personal to the iconic. She painted through pain and love and pain, living her life as art. I draw so much inspiration from her as a person, as an artist and a feminist!

MKM: Is there a specific work from Frida Kahlo that you find interesting?

MC: Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940. I love the direct gaze and all the symbolism she communicates with in this densely packed portrait with its shallow depth of field. I feel her power and passion emanating from this work like an icon.

MKM: As we think about Women’s History Month, who are your female role models from history or present day?

MC: Frida Kahlo, Maria Sibylla Merian, Ayesha Durrani, Malala Yousafzai, Michele Pred, Elizabeth Kolbert, Rachel Carson and Rachel Maddow, Greta Thunberg, Toni Morrison, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Danielle Krysa, Rina Banerjee, Pantea Karimi, Ana Theresa Fernández and Maude Lewis!

Marie with recent work: (left) Unwilding, 2020, oil on canvas; (center) Periphery, 2020, oil on canvas; (right) Hinterland, 2020, oil on canvas

MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

MC: To follow your passion and to believe in yourself. I know how cliché this sounds, but it takes a lot of dedication and perseverance to be an artist. You must deeply love what you do to stay with it through the struggle of each piece and over the larger arc of finding your voice and developing your process. You must have the confidence that what you find authentically interesting and that which resonates fully in your own heart is worth exploring and will speak to others as well.

MKM: What is your dream project?

MC: I would like to see my Critical Masses paintings on exhibit in sea-side art museums with related sculpture installations and a companion series of speakers addressing ocean health and the importance of biodiversity and sustainability.

MKM: What can we expect from you in the next year?

MC: Melting oysters, a bombardment of barnacles and an abundance of abalone.

Marie Cameron is currently represented by Curated in Capitola, CA http://mariecameronstudio.com

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020

31 Women – March 6th: Jeanne Vadeboncoeur

**Jeanne Vadeboncoeur**
*12. Bologna*, 2020
Oil on canvas

An Interview with Jeanne Vadeboncoeur

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?

JV: I grew up in Cupertino, and except for a brief stint in Southern California for college, I have always lived and worked in the Bay Area. I’ve always been creative but have strong analytical side too. I think that’s why my work is so literal and precise.

MKM: Why did you pursue art?

JV: I thought that I had found the perfect blend of art and science in the field of art restoration and was heading that direction when an opportunity came my way to take a more traditional studio arts/gallery artist path. I fully admit [I’m] a path of least resistance kind of gal, and when that door opened, I went through it.

MKM: Where did you study?

JV: Laguna College of Art and Design (called Art institute of Southern California when I attended) and San Jose State University.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?

JV: [I don’t really have a routine or ritual,] except that I make huge messes. Truly bomb-went-off in the studio, tornado passed through, earthquake aftermath, kind of mess, which is very at odds with my finished work. Also, I’m much more productive at night. Working at 10am feels forced and awkward, while at 10pm I am hitting my creative stride.

Jeanne in her studio on a “fainting couch turned painting couch”. Her favorite place to work when the pieces are small enough to permit.

MKM: How has your practice changed over time?

JV: Works have gotten larger. There was a time when I considered 24” x 24” “big”. Also, I’ve embraced canvas, which I used to hate as a surface for painting on. A side effect of working large: 6 foot + hardboard panels become unwieldy and impractical.

MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums? Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?

JV: I focus mostly on oil and alkyds on canvas or panel. I would love to do more with paper. I have files full of papers I have collected but haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with them yet.

MKM: What themes do you pursue?

JV: My work is very object oriented. Sometimes the objects are stand-ins for interpersonal relationships and other times they are just strict glorification of the everyday and ordinary. I like to include a touch of humor or nostalgia whenever possible.

MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

JV: My reference objects. I always start each piece with an actual real-life item. If I can’t find what I want to paint – I make it. I can’t live without an audiobook playing and keeping me company in my studio.

MKM: What has been a seminal experience?

JV: On a personal level I think making that leap to paint larger than life has had a massive impact on my work. Outside myself, the Daily Painters or Painting-A –Day movement, though I never participated in it, really opened my eyes to how everyday mundane items could make interesting paintings.

MKM: What art do you most identify with?

JV: Anything narrative, but you have to work for it. Nothing too literal, but just enough of a hint of a story.

MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?

JV: Surfaces. I love figuring out how to recreate the illusion of a given surface.

MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?

JV: Wendy Pini. She is the artist and co-creator of an independent comic called Elf-Quest. I don’t quite know how she fits in the pantheon of woman artists in an art history context, but I do know I can credit her for single handedly launching me from a child who liked art to self-actualized artist.

MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?

JV: Most of my female role models have been familial or literary. [For example, in my family I admire] the strength and endurance of my librarian paternal grandmother who went back to school for a masters while raising 10 kids. I remember visiting her at the Stanford Medical Library and being shown ancient texts that required gloves to handle. Literary role models were found in the “sheroes” created by Tamora Piece, Joan Aiken, Mercedes Lackey, and Anne McCaffrey. The characters I connected most to were tough, independent, problem-solving girls and women.

March 4, 2020March 6, 2020

31 Women – March 4th: Jennifer Pochinski

Jennifer Pochinski

Jennifer Pochinski is a Northern California based figurative artist. Raised in Hawaii, she earned a BFA from the University of Hawaii and spent much of her young adulthood traveling to the UK and Europe, finally settling near Athens Greece in 2003. In late 2010, she and her two children relocated to California.

Men, women and groups of people captured in moments from everyday life are the subject matter of Pochinski’s paintings. In a chorus of colors, lines and shapes, her paintings are unrestrained and energized, but reflect the discipline of a productive daily practice. She tells us “My studio practice is considered a ‘space to fail’. I have no specific method for painting. As with most ‘expressive’ painting it is never a linear process.”

Pochinski’s paintings are intuitive and honest, balancing energetic, gestural brushstrokes with human narrative. For many years Pochinski has collected photographic imagery – figures, environments and historical paintings to provide information that she cannot get in life, leading her to discover her subjects as she paints. Her improvisation and freedom in using the brush to grab color to define and describe, make overriding marks to correct or emphasize, reveals “being in the moment”. With this spontaneity and authenticity she creates the characters within her paintings like an author, each day “writing” something that feels true to her, at the end putting it together to make a story.

The stories of other women artists inspire Pochinski. While reading Ninth Street Women, she was reminded of her love for the work of Lee Krasner, which in person always “stops her in her tracks.” In particular she recalls a story about Krasner being so fed up with her work, she ripped up the canvases and shed them on the floor. A few days later Krasner came back to her studio and found them together looking like collages and it set her on a new, powerful path. In dealing with the emotion that comes when something doesn’t work, it heartens Pochinski to be reminded that “some good can happen when you get to the brink!”

Jennifer Pochinski is represented by Dolby Chadwick, San Francisco; b. sakata garo, Sacramento; Tregony Gallery, UK; and Baker Schorr Fine Art, Midland, Texas.

March 3, 2020April 3, 2020

31 Women – March 3rd: Rozanne Hermelyn

**Rozanne Hermelyn**
Unrepeated, 2020
Monoprint, oil on paper

*“They say identical, but we are not. They say interchangeable, but we are individual.”*

*Unrepeated* honors human diversity and expresses the tension and duality between what is universal and what is unique. As with every human life, no one-paint stroke is exactly the same. We may all share a common form, but we differ in race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, skills, and many other attributes. Collectives have flourished because of the innovative alchemy that occurs when diverse people and ideas merge to collaborate and create. However, in many diverse cultures the history of intolerance is long and callous. To heal intolerance, it is critical to develop prosocial skills like empathy and forgiveness, to cultivate relationships across differences, and to value individuality. Diverse communities thrive when they appreciate and protect what is universal and unique. – RH

Rozanne Hermelyn is a San Francisco Bay Area artist working in printmaking and mixed media. Since she can remember, she has painted, drawn and followed her passion for the arts. Hermelyn tells us “I’ve been creative every day most of my life. It’s like breathing – not a want, but a need.”

Growing up in Los Angeles, Hermelyn attended UCLA and Art Center College of Design, receiving a BA in design and BFA in graphic and package design, with distinction. She moved to San Francisco to begin her career and within five years became owner of Arc & Line Communications.

After twenty years in her successful design business, Hermelyn has now transitioned to focus full-time on fine art. She has been awarded Best of Show and 1st place in numerous exhibitions, her work is shown nationally and abroad, and can be found in the permanent collections of the Harvard Art Museums and the Library of Congress.

Rozanne at the Boston Printmakers 2019 North American Biennial. The Boston Printmakers 2019 North American Print Biennial presents the best in contemporary and traditional printmaking, and has long been recognized as one of the most prestigious events in printmaking. Her piece, “*Facts Are Stubborn Things*“, was selected to be the featured work to promote the event. “Facts Are Stubborn Things” was acquired into the permanent collection of the Harvard Art Museums.

31 Women – Artist Interview with Rozanne Hermelyn

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up?

RH: I was born in an English colony called British Guyana in South America. My mother is Portuguese and my father is Dutch and Chinese. My parents moved our family to Los Angeles for education opportunities when I was one. You could say my life was that of a stereotypical “California Girl”; school and beach on the weekdays, and beach and work on the weekends. For my college years, I lived in Westwood, studied at UCLA and explored the Hollywood scene. Two years after graduation, I went back to art school at Art Center College of Design. Both were very exciting and explorative times in my life.

MKM: Were you always creative?

RH: My mother was an amazing and talented fashion designer and seamstress, so I was surrounded by creative energy my entire life. I remember drawing a lot when I was young and making my own clothes with her through middle school. Around 12 years old, I dragged my entire family to the Getty Museum to see the Queen’s edition drawings by Leonardo Di Vinci. Soon after, I begged my mom to let me take the life drawing class at the adult education center where she took a painting class next door. I recall being the only youth in the class and I would sit in the front row without any thought, just like a pro. I laugh now because it would not be allowed today.

MKM: Why did you pursue art? 

RH: After a very successful career in design, I felt it was time to speak with my own voice.

MKM: Where did you study? 

RH: I enrolled in UCLA as a math major to appease my father, but a year and half later, I secretly applied to the Design department. I ended up graduating in design without him even realizing it. Actually to this day, I have never even told him about that. After graduating, I worked for a few LA design agencies. I soon learned the fastest way to get where I wanted was to go back to art school because, of course, I wanted to be a top creative director. I was so motivated that I again secretly applied to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Believe it or not, Art Center would not allow me to enter a Masters program because they did not accept the BA design degree I received from UCLA. I was required to enter the undergraduate program again to earn a BFA. At the time, I didn’t care what I had to do. Fortunately, they allowed me to enter as a sophomore, which was never heard of at the time, with a full scholarship.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?

RH: There is no routine in my creative process, especially in the conceptual initial phase. Sometimes an idea will come from experiences or contemplating the daily news. Sometimes it’s during a run, or in the state when I’m half awake, or in the shower. Sometimes it develops in an instant, or in a few days, or at times over years. I need to visualize the image first in my head, and it often develops right away, or sometimes over time like slow motion viewing. With every project it seems there are times I just hate the piece so I have learned to walk away, to absorb, stew, stew some more, and then jump back in. I can’t say how or when but my work always seems to need time to percolate and just become.

MKM: How has your practice changed over time?

RH: I have learned to accept and trust the images in my head and also the surprises that happen along the way. It’s all about following my gut that always leads.

MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?

RH: I wasn’t trained as a “fine artist” in art school, but I have always studied life drawing and much later, oil painting. At some point, I came upon a book about Russian-American painter Sergei Bongart whose work just spoke to me. I would study the small red book I found with his recorded lessons. I remember his words “There are two kinds of artists, the emotional painter and academician…The academician always creates something acceptable, boring, but acceptable. The emotional artist often misses, but when he/she hits, it is breathtakingly beautiful…touched by the gods!” It all made sense to me, that a great painting should express an emotional message, and that the emotional connection was equally important as color relationships and values, painting passages, and modeling light. This drew me toward the monoprint printmaking technique that I love. Every stroke and mark made is recorded and the process is full of unknown surprises.

What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

That’s easy, my hands and eyes, but it would be difficult to live without my etching press.

MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?

RH: Today, I am most proud of my “Facts are Stubborn Things”. It might be because it’s my newest piece. The image speaks of my worst frustration of today’s struggle between facts and truths. Rather than factual evidence, today unwelcome truths have become the narrative of reality. Facts have become overwhelmed by false information so it’s difficult to believe that the truth will overcome. Trust has been lost to fear.

What has been a seminal experience?

My mother’s death was a seminal experience. It marks the first time I entered a series of monoprint paintings into a juried show that won the Best of Show award for the exhibition. The images portrayed moments of the experience and suffering that comes with terminal cancer. They were my tribute and my final goodbye to my mother.

What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?

Sadness, fear, anger, happiness and joy inspire me. The emotional connection when making, seeing and experiencing art is universal. It is what makes art, art.

Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history? Is there a specific work from this artist that you find interesting?

I feel most connected to the pop art movement, maybe because of my design background. I appreciate the hidden messages, graphic contemporary style, use of typography and simplicity of image. Idelle Weber, an American pop artist, who later switched to photorealism, is known for her figurative silhouette paintings with bright colors (think Mad Men) and later her photorealist trash and litter work. She also went through phases of monotype works and collage. I really appreciate how she reinvented herself/work from one extreme to the other. Corita Kent also did some interesting things. She was a LA pop art screen print artist in the 50s and 60s, she juxtaposed ads, street signs, billboards with poetry, scripture and song lyrics, transforming them to hopeful messages and call for action. I love anything type.

Who are your female role models from history or present day? 

I respect Angelina Jolie because she’s owned her bad-girl reputation while growing into an amazing humanitarian, aiding those in need and traveling to visit those suffering in places like Pakistan, Kosovo and Syria. She confronted her risk for cancer publically and then became a poster woman for breast cancer-related issues. Did I mention, I was the ‘bad girl’ of our family, following in my older brother’s foot-steps. My two sisters were rule followers while I was forging my own path.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? 

Don’t waste your time and energy convincing yourself you can’t do something, instead spend that energy doing it. Believe you can and it will happen.