What’s your background?
I graduated from Pratt Institute in 2012 with a B.F.A in Communication Design. My concentration was Illustration, but I still had a love for design. I started working for Village Copier Inc in 2013 as a Design and Production Assistant for Village Invites. Village Invites focused on custom wedding invitations were I gained experience in wedding etiquette and a love for stationery. From there I got promoted to Brand Manager at Village Copier where I hand all aspects of the store’s internal design and marketing.

What inspired you to start creating art?
When I was younger I looked up to my older sister in the classing younger sibling way of wanting to do everything she did. Once day when she was about 5, she created this self-portrait that she titled Me by Katie. I wanted to create a self-portrait just like hers, and set off to create my own self-portrait. I created many Me by Carries, however I never felt they had the same je ne sais quoi, but that whet my appetite for art and from there I knew that’s what I wanted to do with life (except a brief period of time when I wanted to be detective chef).

What inspires you?
It really depends on what I’m creating. My paintings are generally inspired by my dreams. I have pretty vivid dreams with very strange imagery, which makes great painting fodder. My 0ther work(comics, cards, etc.5) is inspired by my daily life. I enjoy the ironic absurdity of everyday life, and I like to talk about that in my work.

Could you briefly describe your creative process?
Never under estimate the power of a good shower! Usually when I need to come up with an idea, I take a walk or a shower. I need some time to mull it over and let divine inspiration hit. Then I sketch until I get exactly what I want and transfer it to the final paper. To be truthful it’s less thought out than it seems. I have the image in my head and I try to recreate that on paper, but sometimes I find that image doesn’t quite make sense when I start. It’s a lot of experimentation until I find something that I think looks good.

What is your most important artist tool?
Probably my sketch book. I always carry it with me where ever I go. That’s were everything starts from a sketch to just a few notes on something to create, it’s all there. I feel extremely lost when I don’t have it on me.

Why do you like/prefer the medium that you use?
I generally work in pen and ink and watercolors. It wasn’t naturally my first choice to have these be what I work in consistently, but the more I develop my style, the more it makes sense to use them. I have a full-time job and a side-business of my own on top of that. Watercolors are simple and easy to transport, so it became a natural choice. Also, I have the tendency to want to over work pieces, and that’s something that’s more complicated with watercolor because there’s only so much layering you can do before you can’t layer anymore. Futhermore both translate to digital nicely, which is important for my professional work.

Is there an artwork your are most proud of? Why?
Probably the first chapter of my comic Mount (which I going to finish one day). It’s a semi autobiographical graphic novel that’s loosely based on my high school experience. I wrote, illustrated, inked, and designed the whole 42 page book, and I’m have happy with some of the page. Overall, I don’t think it’s my best piece. It’s a project I’ve done over three times at this point, and I feel that I’ll never be satisfied, but it was a large undertaking and I’m glad I completed at least part of it.

Who are your artistic influences, or who are your favorite artists?
Definitely Vincent Van Gogh (cliche maybe?). The way he uses color is amazing. I’m always drawn to painting in which the color isn’t blending perfectly. For example, human skin is a blend of many colors and I like to see splotches of blue or purple in a shadow.

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