Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Anne Mathews

OMG, OMG, third tuesday of the month how did that happen??

Somebody put the clock on stop for a while please, I've got art to make tee hee so this is a quick post from me, so I can get jiggy with it (*it being paints!), enjoy this weeks TAT =D

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
Recognising myself as an artist gives me happy butterflies, but it also scares me too. As a young girl I admired people who could draw, and I even managed to get to a level in my drawing I was happy with. For a number of reasons, I left school and started working in an office at 16. Any artistic ambitions I had were put to bed, and it stayed that way for 20 years. That fact used to make me sad, but I’m a firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason, even if we don’t know why at the time. About five years ago I came across a book by Danny Gregory, “The Creative License”. Discovering that book was quite a moment for me, the tagline “giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are” resonated quite deeply. I realised I hadn’t given myself full permission to pursue my artistic self. I create art for my own amusement, and as I’m easily distracted I like to create in many ways, such as drawing zentangles/doodles, hand lettering, collage, manipulating images in photoshop, and making messy marks with inks and gesso on copy paper. I love the fact that I can start with a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and after an hour or so I will have created something that previously didn’t exist. How exciting! Of course, often times the vision in my head will not be properly translated onto the page. It’s times like that when I have to pause and not throw it in the bin, but to work with what I’ve got and see if I can make something of it. When I’m not making art of some description, I might do a bit of crochet or knitting, something not too mentally taxing that keeps my hands busy. 

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it? 
My biggest challenge is overcoming my impatience. Because I re-discovered art later in my life I put pressure on myself to be productive with the time I’ve got. I know there are no short cuts to developing as an artist, and I have to remind myself on a daily basis to just do what I can. I am getting better at accepting that I have to interrupt my creative time to wash dishes, do laundry and even feed myself. I also remind myself that I am not a robot capable of operating all day and all night! 

What is your heart’s greatest desire for your life as an artist? 
To continue to grow as an artist, and have the time and resources to devote to it. I recently designed a couple of t-shirts for my hubby-to-be and got them printed through Zazzle, it’s quite a thrill to see my images on a real product. The giddy heights would be for others to find my designs attractive so they want to buy it too. For now, I’m happy to create just for me so I can see what it is I actually enjoy creating. 

Do you ever lose your mojo, and if so, how do you get it back?
For sure! Sometimes I lose it several times a day, how careless! That’s when I find my need for several projects a bit of a lifesaver. If I’m staring at a blank sheet of paper and my creative muse has gone awol, I’ll do some mark making using copy paper and black gesso, splat ink onto wet paper, crochet a granny square, watch a video tutorial, anything to get the creative wheels turning. If there is still a lot of resistance then I’ll stop, maybe take a short walk, or have a lie down, and listen to a guided meditation for half an hour (this is a new ploy I’ve been trying). Sometimes we do need to step away, so rather than fight it, accept it and know that the creative urge will return in some form or other. 

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art? 
I’ve been posting work on Flickr for a few years, so that’s the main place where my images are. However, I’ve very recently set up a wordpress blog, so am getting to grips with it slowly. It will be place for me chat a bit more about my creative journey and process. Also here's a link to my tentative steps into the world of print on demand.

Thank you so much for sharing your interview and beautiful work Anne =) a lot of what you have said had resonated with me, especially 'overcoming my impatience' being your biggest challenge. I too have that challenge and put too much pressure on myself to 'be creative' during every god given free minute that I have, but I am learning. I am learning to be more caring of myself than that. I am learning that it is our self-care, just like hot showers and bad tv and retail therapy and lattes and long letters & emails to friends and trashy novels and fur baby time. I am learning that art is a tool to be used when we need it; it is not art that needs or demands anything from us.

PS If you haven't entered my current giveaway for one of my 20 prizes yet you have one more day to do so, good luck =D

Do you wana join in the TATiness ... ???

Email me or click the link to find all the details here =)