The Story Behind the Art - Sue Zipkin
Hello and welcome to the tenth installation of
THE STORY BEHIND the ART
If you are new to my blog, The Story Behind the Art will take you on a little journey into the STORY behind a particular piece of art or collection created by one of my talented friends from around the globe. The stories are posted on the first Wednesday of each month.
Sue and I met many years ago on an icy (and sandy) winter's night when I had an artist gathering at my studio. We have been friends ever since. I am also a big fan of both her and of her beautiful work. Sue is one of the most sharing, giving people I know, and is always there with words of encouragement when needed.
Thanks for sharing your story Sue!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am
so honored that Paula invited me to share The Story Behind my Art.
Being
dyslexic, the written word is always a challenge for me but hopefully this will
make sense!
I work
in a few styles so my head is spinning in
so many directions!
When
I’m creating, I need to think about the market, what clients I will be showing
my artwork to and the different product categories that it could be used for. I
am grateful that I earn a living from licensing art.
I have
been designing dinnerware and ceramics for many years, if you do a Google search
you can find samples of my older patterns. Some I am proud of and others scare
me!
At
times I create art that I feel would look good in my own home and others
homes.
My
dinnerware collection, Tunisian Sunset came about because
I
thought it would be fun to have some dinnerware with medallions in deep jewel
tones to match some furniture I bought.
Having
always been inspired by mixing and matching icons and patterns as well as my
love of Indian motif. I layered in pattern, garden floral’s and some unexpected
surprises.
My calendar for a well-known spiritual teacher, Ram Dass, came from similar
inspiration.
A few
years ago I started to experiment with mix-media. I love that it is all about
getting messy. I am good at that! I got
out my acrylic paints, canvas, textured papers and some of my own patterns to
explore the technique. (I had already been using a lot of textures and
layers in Photoshop.) At the time I was thinking I needed to expand on what I
can put into the mix media. I started to look for sources to find handwritten
ephemera in the public domain. My friend Kathy Alpert (coincidentally she
is also the brainchild of bringing my artwork together with the Ram Dass teachings
in the calendar, thank you Kathy!) has been a collector of ephemera for years.
One
day she shared an ephemera society trade show on Facebook. I met up with
her at the show and I was forever hooked. I love the stuff so much I purchased
some to download’s from Paula's etsy shop!
I am
thrilled to announce that Ganz just introduced a new line featuring this style
of artwork. It is on wood items and the wood marries well to the withered feel
of the art. That’s the other thing I love about this style, I get to mess
it all up. I love withered paint! Sometimes the ephemera dictates my art,
it speaks to me. I wonder about the person who might have created it and
think about all the history in it. I love repurposing it and using it as
background textures. At times I end up painting over most of it. You might have
to look close to find it!
Lately
I have been inspired to create very loose watercolor paintings of flowers so I
search out beautiful flowers to paint! I also paint some of the flowers I’m
growing in my garden. Painting from life is so much fun because you can
really get a sense of the individual flower you’re painting, how it grows; they
all have their own personality. I have a passion to paint them. I’m not
really sure where this art will end up. So far some are on some greeting cards.
Sometimes you just have to break away and create things just because it feels right
without a clear direction of the market. If you would like to see more,
please follow me on Instragam
If my
memory serves me correctly, the beautiful handwriting in the background is one
of Paula’s ephemera downloads.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can find out more about Sue and her work by following these links.
