Indie Interview at Hey Paul Studios

I really enjoyed doing this interview for Kristen over at Hey Paul Studios as part of her Indie Interview series. "The purpose of this series is to create an opportunity for independent embroidery artists to connect, tell stories of their creative ventures, and to share their art work." I really appreciate that she takes the time to ask relevant questions about my work and process that drives what I make. I also really appreciate that she emailed the questions to me so I would be able to take my time and give more thought out answers. I sometimes struggle with live interviews, or even questions at an opening. I struggle to find the right answers, or just feel nervous that someone is waiting on my answer... which is a little strange since with people I know well, I will talk endlessly. I think there is something so personal about creating artwork that when I need to explain it, it feels like I'm reading my diary or something (I don't actually keep a diary). It's just a very personal experience. However, the more I write about my process of creating and my intentions for my work, the more comfortable I a with it and the more I learn about my own process - I work very intuitively and don't always have a finished product in mind, but after things are finished I can more easily see a direction or a theme and look at the work critically to understand what I was doing. I'm not sure any of that makes sense. Anyway, go over and read the interview!

Roadblocks for women artists?

"Expected" - collage 2010

I was recently interviewed by TheDetroiter blog for a series about women artists, since March is national women's month. One of the questions was "do you see any roadblocks for being a professional artist that are particular to women?" My answer leaned toward the idea that women are (generally in our society) expected to be everything to everyone at all times - happily and without question. I know logically that I am just as capable as a man to be a successful artist but for some reason I still feel a bit insecure. I feel confidant about my work - especially the fiber pieces I'm doing now - so I know the quality is there, but I still feel a little bit like I need permission. And that bothers me.

I was also curious about my children's perceptions of women. So I asked them. My daughter is 9 years old and I asked her if she thought being beautiful was important - "No" in a sarcastic, duh kind of way. And then I asked her what she thought about so many girls thinking beauty is more important than being smart - "That is crazy!" We talked about how women should be able to have any job she wants - to which my daughter added that it isn't fair that men sometimes still get paid more for the same job. I wonder what she would think of the current political mess over womens rights. And when I asked my son (6 years old) if he thought women could do whatever a man could do, he said "Yes. Except a woman can't lift up a car". I'm not sure why he thinks a man could lift up a car... So I clarified my question to whether he thought a woman should be able/allowed to try anything and he said "yeah",  kind of like I was asking a stupid question. So, it seems that so far my kids pretty much believe in equality for men and women and I hope it stays that way.

I would really like to hear more discussion about how other women artists feel about this question.