bentenlaughing

  Janice: Before you've put pen to paper or whichever medium you're working with, do you have a good idea of the end result?   Jan Melville:  I do not always know the end result of some of my works, mostly the ones that I know are my etchings as I do sketches of the ideas before making the plates to work on. I seem to get the ideas in my mind and when working them up into sketches, I can change parts of it as I go. Or even start all over again if not happy with how the end result is looking.  Janice: Which are your favorite mediums to work with?  Jan Melville:  I like to work with collage, mixed media and etchings. I like the freedom that say collage and mixed media bring. When working with them they allow me to be a lot looser when I work, as against when I work in printmaking I get tighter as there is only the one go to get the work right.  Janice:  Your work resonates with a connection to nature. Has this always played a part in the themes...

Janice: Dannielle, I believe you have a love of mid century modern design. When and where did that passion begin and why does it inspire you?  I think the love for MCM aka Mid Century Modern began in my childhood. That is the furniture and style of the times. I think it was reinforced by the programs I would watch on television and film as well; Thunderbirds, Get Smart, The Man From Uncle, James Bond, The Italian Job, etc. Also my play time from toddler years up was all about drawing, and building with Lego, and I recall rearranging walls, designing multi story homes in great detail. I still love watching those old films, and never get tired of that era. Having said that, I have a real appreciation for many styles of architecture and art. Georgian homes, for instance, are very livable for today. You can find inspiration from every era of architecture. Janice:  As a designer you must be always looking forwards. What would you would like to explore in the ne...

Like stormy nights lightning strikes zig zag movements running across the sky my dance is my drawing (excerpt from I am a dancer: janice slater (c) 1990's) Drawing: (c) & courtesy of Jacqueline van Leeuwenstein. Arnhem, Nederlands

Artist and Art Historian living in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Sherrye Lantz is an internationally known artist with works in private and public collections in the contiguous 48 states as well as Europe, Australia, and Turkey. She has won numerous awards throughout her career for intaglio printmaking, drawing and painting. She was included in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Biennial of Prints and Drawing, exhibited in Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts: Minds Wide Open, she received the 2010 YWCA Women of Achievement Award for Arts.   Janice:  Sherrye you've been creating artworks for a variety of mediums over a number of years.  Sherrye: Yes Janice, I have worked in different mediums beginning as a printmaker and moving to painting luckily finding joy in all. Janice:  Recently I viewed a couple of very playful photographs you'd taken in Paris, perhaps in the1980's? Can you share with us the context of the images. Sher...

Jacqueline van Leeuwenstein lives in Arnhem, the Netherlands and works as an artist/illustrator. She illustrates for various publishers, children's books and books for adults. She also makes wooden objects and drawings/paintings. She hopes to have her own original style and I assure she has! Janice:  Jacqueline you create drawings which are whimsical and yet over brimming with the realities of life!  Where did your particular focus for these characters begin? Jacqueline: That is difficult to say. If it is an illustration I focus on the story. But if it is a drawing for my self I start with an idea and when I am working that always changes.The end result is never the same as the idea I had. So there must  always be a next one. Janice:   Your output is prolific! Do you draw every day? Jacqueline: Almost every day. I try to work as much as I can. I also make wooden sculptures and smaller objects and brooches. When I don’t want to w...