APP: Where does the name "Black Cat Tips" originate?
APP: So much of the artist's identity has to do with finding a sense of place, whether geographical or communal. When did you find your artistic space?
APP: How do you approach storytelling in your work? What story are you trying to tell?
Part of it is I struggle inside with a lot of things. Painting is fun. It’s happy, it’s always been a therapy to me. It helps me. I would do it even if I didn’t need the money. I would still do it because I feel compelled to. It helps me mentally.
To learn more about Kyle’s work, please visit his website
Words with Friends | Michelle Armas
Colorful Studies: An Interview with Michelle Armas
Elizabeth Stephenson (APP) for Amy Parry Projects
Michelle Armas is an abstract painter based out of Decatur, GA. She works out of her home studio, with her husband and daughter a welcome shout away. A career in graphic design and a stint at Landor in New York City led her to discover her love for painting. With a focus on color, she experiments with what she's termed the "impulse of composition." Her vibrant work has been featured in Sea Contemporary Art Space, Gregg Irby Gallery, and *designsponge, among others.
APP: My favorite of your abstract expressionistic series are the "Totems on Raw Canvas." What drew you to that shape and process?
MA: My husband and I took our daughter on a year-long trip to Europe, spending 3 months at a time in each location. I wanted to be able to paint easily, with bright pigments that had to quickly dry. So I thought, "Bring ink, raw canvas." I wanted to also have a shape in mind to make the process more streamlined. In the Nordic countries, I was moved by the idea of a totem, a shape familiar to us as humans. But I couldn't wait to start the totem series until we went to the Nordic countries. I started painting them right away once we got to Europe! The colors and places moved me, and that's where that series began.
APP: How does landscape impact your work?
MA: I love trees. I love that they work together, as a system. They make each other stronger, and support each other. The sound of wind through the leaves is so beautiful. Even the way the sunlight dapples through the leaves. That's one of the reasons I love Atlanta. So many trees! We have ones in our yard that are over 200 years old. So big you can't hug them, wrap your hands around. I use nature as inspiration for color and organic shape in my work.
APP: You stated, "I create to express what I can not say with words and to feel connected to the impulse of composition." What process do you use while painting to capture these emotions?
MA: It comes from my mantra on life. I’m very inspired by the journey. It embodies my idea of living beyond my limits and not settling, always striving for better. Having the courage to keep going no matter what. With adversity: there’s always something, there’s always going to be something. That dream, or that goal, is still possible. Keep going!
APP: What is a dream you've fulfilled in your artistic career?
MA: I'm moved by color, as much as I am movement and experience. For me, color is 100% emotional, and I'm an emotional person. Painting helps me get it out. When it comes to color in art, we all feel something different. For every person it's different. And I find that to be powerful.
APP: What is your first memory of color?
MA: My father was an artist, and always encouraged me to make art. My first memory of color is him bringing home colored pencils for me to draw with, and me taking them out and thinking "These are amazing! These are the best things!" My mother also would wear a canary yellow jacket with an eggplant scarf, and I thought that was just "Yes!" The women in my Spanish family have an appreciation for colorful things. Every woman has a bright red bag, it's "our thing."
APP: How has the art community in Atlanta shaped your career?
MA: It's shaped it tremendously! Back in 2006-2007 I joined an all group of women artists, mostly pattern designers in Atlanta. We met each month for four years, and called ourselves the Pattern Sisterhood. We supported each other, commiserated with each other, were each other's guinea pigs. It was a round table of design where we became best friends... and that is everywhere in Atlanta. You can find your people, your supporters. It's a place where you can make friends easily, connect, and why I love it here.
To learn more about Michelle’s work, please visit her website
michellearmas.com
Words with Friends | Jermaine Clark
Jermaine Clark: Blurring the Line Between Marks and Text
Elizabeth Stephenson (APP) for Amy Parry Projects
A painter born and raised in St. Louis, Jermaine Clark studied at Alabama A&M University before moving to Atlanta to pursue his artistic career. His work combines contemporary portraiture with text, and reflects studio training and a background in street art and graffiti. Jermaine beautifies our Atlanta not only through his murals and paintings, but with his tireless work ethic and upbeat attitude. He is currently working on a mural in the Summerhill neighborhood, and participated in Amy Parry Projects and The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Art Installation at State Farm Corporate Headquarters. Jermaine recently sat down with APP’s Elizabeth Stephenson to discuss his work and life in Atlanta.
APP: You recently participated in a Basketball Art Project with the Atlanta Hawks and Amy Parry Projects. If you had to pick an “Artist Dream Team,” who would it be?
JC: The best of all time: I’ll start with one of the first people I studied in high school, Chuck Close… his work amazed me. The things he said about “Showing up to work everyday and not waiting for inspiration,” spoke to me. Of course, Basquiat. And Kehinde Wiley, I would put up there as one of the top living artists. Representation means a lot to me, to see another black male artist working at that scale— his work is phenomenal. Going left a little bit, Banksy. I grew up in a world of graffiti and hip hop, his work is profound work on the streets. And my wildcard is Peter Ferrari, that’s my guy. I love his work… he deserves his flowers, he’s very humble…I love to give him his flowers when I can.
APP: As a muralist and painter, do you find one more fitted to your aesthetic?
JC: I don’t prefer one or the other. With outdoor murals, weather is always a factor, and the elements. But it adds to the challenge, and I love a good challenge. I love to tackle things, face adversity, and then complete them. In the studio, I like to crank out a painting and live with that piece in my creative space. But I also like climbing ladders, dealing with the weather, and beautifying the neighborhood… That’s an important part of what we have to do as artist: extend ourselves to our community.
APP: Where does name of your art brand "Still Dreamin'" originate?
JC: It comes from my mantra on life. I’m very inspired by the journey. It embodies my idea of living beyond my limits and not settling, always striving for better. Having the courage to keep going no matter what. With adversity: there’s always something, there’s always going to be something. That dream, or that goal, is still possible. Keep going!
APP: What is a dream you've fulfilled in your artistic career?
JC: Overall, I’m living my dream. So, I am achieving. I’ve always wanted to be a working artist. I didn’t know what it looked like, or what it would take to get here, but I did it…For me, I’m always working on the next best thing, it’s hard for me to see that I’m here now. I’m living my dream.
APP: How does living in Atlanta contribute to your art?
JC: Living in Atlanta was the turning point in realizing my dream. I’m from a small town, where there’s no representation of African American professional artist, I didn’t see that it was a possibility growing up. But I knew I had to do it. Atlanta has a diverse culture that appreciates the arts community. The journey would have been more difficult if I wasn’t here—Atlanta is validating and gives encouragement. There’s something here for everybody. Find your tribe and find your opportunities. If you have a little hustle and networking, the sky is the limit. And I’m here.
To learn more about Jermaine’s work, please visit his website
xmainestudios.com
Words with Friends | Sarah Gee Miller
A message on determination, bringing order to chaos and sharing beauty with a world that may not always deserve it from Sarah Gee Miller
Sarah Gee Miller proves that every boundary we are taught to believe exists in the world of art is in fact mutable. Self-taught and an artist who began later in life, Sarah Gee Miller creates dynamic and vibrant paintings on panel that have something to say in more ways than one. Despite being impatient and messy herself, her precise works demonstrate what you can accomplish when you devote yourself completely to your craft.
Our call caught her in the middle of completing some works on paper; after speaking, I realized that this was something of a full circle moment in her career as paper collages were her first foray into art making.
Sarah is currently creating a large scale dimensional piece for the lobby of the spectacular Wave Hotel we are working on in Lake Nona, FL. The project gave us the opportunity to commission her after admiring her work from afar for several years.
APP: You mentioned that you learned a lot working on this piece for us; I was wondering if you could tell me more about your process? There’s so much layering to it; did you encounter any difficulties related to that?
SGM: I thought it was probably a good idea to make one again. I have made paintings with the raised parts before, but I used a form of plastic that wasn’t stable; within weeks the plastic warped and fell off so I stopped doing that. With my new process, I hired someone who cuts plywood using a laser. I send the files to his computer and he cuts the shapes that I want, from there I can build the panel. I work on a wood panel normally, so I would build up from that wood panel using those shapes. It’s fascinating because once you add three dimensionality to a painting, everything changes. They cast a shadow and everything comes alive. It was very different and now he’s ready to go for this big job. It was very fun to do it and now all I wanna do is add those extra elements onto my paintings.
APP: I saw that you have an interest in paintings that “assume the physicality of sculpture.” That seems to align really well with this technique. Even though your works aren’t sculptural in the traditional sense, they have that energy and presence of sculpture. Is that something you’ve always been drawn to?
SGM: Always! My next attempt is to have paintings attached to a piece of wire that comes out of the wall, not a mobile but a painting that’s suspended in air. I’m really interested in sculptural issues but I’m not a sculptor and I don’t want to be. However, I do find that my paintings are really sculptural in intention because all around me when I was growing up were these totems from the First Nations people. I think that kinda seeped into my brain in a weird way. I remember as a child walking through a museum and being struck with awe at these modernist shapes from hundreds of years ago. I thought, “these people had it all figured out!” I’ve always been trying to get to where they were because they did it so naturally, and with such commanding power. Sculpture and totems and objects in space are all really important to me.
APP: It sounds to me like the art of the First Nations people was hugely inspirational for you. I had also gotten the sense that the city of Vancouver plays a role in your work, would you agree?
SGM: I owe a huge debt to the First Nations people around me. To this day, I walk down the street and see casual graffiti better than anything I could ever do. The Haida people, the Kwakiutl people, we're all living on their lands here in Vancouver. I’ve also been really influenced by the art of the 60s here in Vancouver because Asians were a huge part of it. I have several heroes here [like] Gordon Smith who sadly passed away at 100. He was an early hard-edge Pop pioneer. His buddies were people like Tanao Tanabe and Roy Kiyooka. Those guys were as Modernist and as Pop as anything else. I love that Vancouver is, on its best days, a real melting pot of Asian and British and First Nations. Everyone came together to produce amazing, amazing art.
APP: I was struck by the quote from your artist statement that, “the technique is itself a language” especially in connection to your use of font based forms. Could you elaborate on your unique use of language?
SGM: Yeah! Actually most of the shapes that I paint with are fonts. I have between 1,000 and 1,500 fonts that are weird. I have alien fonts, science fiction type fonts, wingdings, and other kinds of strange computer stuff. I’m really attracted to certain shapes so I import those fonts onto my computer and turn them into compositions. I then take those fonts and use a digital cutter to cut a template out of plastic; once I’ve done that, I can use those templates to make my work. So in a way, my paintings are actual language.
APP: It’s really amazing that you’re able to use language to say something that isn’t “readable” but that our minds still recognize as satisfying, understandable and beautiful.
SGM: Sometimes I’m smiling to myself because I know that there’s a word in my paintings that’s basically hidden in there. I’m really interested in fonts and language generally and I kind of stumbled onto this technique. Because I’m self-taught, no one told me how to do anything so I had to just fall into it in any way I could. Not only that, but I was a bit late in life to start; I started as an artist after the age of 45. I was 48 by the time I made my first art piece.
APP: Wow! So what were you doing beforehand? How did you get to where you are now?
SGM: I had a whole other life! I had a whole lot of shitty jobs and I went to graduate school and got a degree in English and couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. My husband and I lived in absolute poverty, not knowing what we were doing or where we were going. I had a design company that I formed with a friend and we did recycled fashions and furniture and she was really heavy into modernism. I kind of got the modernist bug from her and when our partnership ended I had nowhere to go and nothing to do and I thought, “I’m gonna make the art I want to look at!” I had no idea what that meant, I just started and being one of those all-or-nothing people, I threw myself into it. I didn’t think I could paint because painting is for the big boys, you know, that went to school. Painting is for Picasso, not for me. So I did these little paper collages for a while and got very successful at that and then suddenly decided, “why can’t I paint?! I want to.” I remember sitting in the car with an artist friend and asking her, “how do I paint'' and she simply replied, “pick up a brush” and I did.
APP: That’s so inspiring to hear; you’re really never too late to start. Do you think there have been any benefits to finding your art practice in your fifties as opposed to say your twenties?
SGM: When I was in my 20s I had absolutely no idea what life had in store for me. I wish I had the fortitude then that I do now, but it happened when it happened. In a way, that’s why I work so hard. I’m in the studio 12-14 hours a day. I’m lucky to have three galleries and a bunch of solo shows, but it’s only because I had to make up for lost time. I’m all in; I’m on fire because my time is shorter than it should be and I’m gonna make it happen. I make art when I don’t want to, I make art when I’m tired, I make art when the last thing I want to do is drag my ass to the studio and I don’t know that I would’ve done that in my earlier years, but with age comes this steely determination.
APP: I’m a bit of a believer in divine timing, in the sense that everything happens when it’s meant to. How do you feel on the subject?
SGM: I happen to believe that the universe is entirely chaos. If there’s no order then we make our own order and my paintings are all about that. I impose order on chaos. I’m not really into emotion or expression. I'm really into an iron will. I will turn this terrible, chaotic universe into something that is peaceful, calm, and rational. It’s been wonderful; when I finish a painting and I look at it I think, “yeah that feels right.”
APP: There is so much associated with being an artist beyond what most people envision, such as being your own accountant, keeping up your social media, etc. What kinds of struggles have you personally come up against?
SGM: I can’t really walk or stand. I have to find ways to work smart. I have my physical issue where other artists have mental issues or financial ones; we’re the walking wounded really! I’m not that special but it is another element I have to deal with. Every artist that works for themselves is a hero in my book.
APP: Could you tell me a bit more about the concept “mesotopia” behind why you make what you make?
SGM: That’s pretty much my core belief - mesotopia. It’s not utopia and it’s not dystopia, it’s somewhere in the middle. That’s where I come from philosophically, practically and artistically. I want to love this world and I want to make beautiful things, but I don’t buy into anything. I definitely do not reject anything positive, but I don’t buy into it either. It’s sort of an enlightened agnosticism. I’m not interested in thwarting anybody’s beliefs except for the horrible things. For instance I’ll stand up against racism and homophobia until I die. Mesotopia is sort of a neutrality, but it’s empathetic too. My mesotopia is sort of a land where I come from. It’s where I’m very empathetic to the struggles of the world, but I don’t want to involve myself in them.
To learn more about Sarah’s work, please visit her website
www.sarahgeemiller.com
Words with Friends | Brett Smith
Brett Smith is a self-taught abstract artist, represented in Atlanta by Sandler Hudson Gallery. We've been following his work for some time and just love it. We were delighted when he said yes to the casual interview, seen below. Thanks, Brett!
APP: So why Atlanta? As a South African native, how did you settle on this "city in a forest" and what are some things that keep you here?
BS: I got a tennis scholarship to play for Georgia State University. Back then, Atlanta was going to host the '96 Olympics so I thought that would be a great experience. Compared to other college towns, Atlanta seemed to be an exciting city to live in and had a lot going for it, so it really was an easy choice. Apartheid was ending in South Africa and the future was very uncertain, I had this opportunity and I grabbed it.
APP: I know your current series is called "From Scaffold to Thicket" and is largely inspired by all the cranes and construction chaos that is always scattered around our city. Can you talk about the thicket element and how this body is a progression from past bodies of work that are more obviously about nature?
BS: The full name of the current body of work is ‘the portrait of a landscape under construction, from scaffold to thicket we build.’ Recently the themes and ideas behind my work have shifted. I have become more interested in how we interact with nature not just being inspired by trees, flowers, branches etc. This delicate balance we have with each other and our precious planet, all the systems and structures that make up this complex web we interact with on a daily basis (and for the most part ignore) has become my new muse. All the construction going on around us in urban environments amplifies this idea of a constant need to build and grow. Nature also has a constant need (and struggle) to grow and flourish and this tension is the starting point for the current work.
APP: What kinds of "art tools" do you use that might surprise people?
BS: Lol!! Studio secrets! Well, the new paintings are made with an empty ballpoint pen and sometimes the back of a paint brush. I have also used paint stirring sticks from Home Depot and Popsicle sticks, whatever works!
APP: Can you comment on the trial and error aspect of creating these layers of lines and how you begin/when you finish?
BS: The paintings are really this great combo of painting and drawing. Technically, they are made of paint and a cold wax medium but I view them more as drawings. I just start drawing elements and images from photographs that I have taken or collected from social media or the internet. At some point I will pick up the paint brush and paint over some or part of the drawing. This creates a ghost like quality which for me is evocative of the building being destroyed over time and then I draw new images over the top. Recently I have used oil pastel to make additional images once the paint dries. This can be considered an example of trial and error as you are taking a big risk when you decide to draw over something that you already think is successful, but no risk no reward!
APP: We noticed you experimented recently with a bit of 3D. Is sculpture something you think you will dig deeper into?
BS: Yes, sculpture is increasingly on my mind. It seems like a natural progression for me and I have some ideas when this work gets exhibited, so stay tuned!
APP: You've been doing the black and white thing through this series but we love your past use of color also, particularly the orange. Do you have a color you like best?
BS: That is a tough one, color is so seductive. Orange was a stand out from the LIFE series but I’m not willing to say that is my favorite. I think it depends on the shade and intensity of the color; I mean there is red and then there is REDDDD!!!
APP: Do you ever draw curves? Or doodle in circles?
BS: I do, the first work on paper I ever did was circles drawn with watercolor pencil. It was based on bubbles in water; water is life after all. A lot of my work based on flowers also embraces the curve or looped line. I like exploring line in all its forms I just try and find what will be appropriate for what I’m trying to achieve visually and thematically.
APP: We would love to see your florals!
We noticed that you use the hashtag #globalwarming sometimes when you post images of your work. How does the work comment on this very timely topic?
BS: It gets back to this idea of balance. We need to keep building and expanding our cities, communities and population, (but) the environment is struggling to survive. It really is the war of our time; too many wrong moves and the ramifications can be catastrophic. I’m trying not to take sides just observing and trying to start a conversation. I want the paintings to be slightly overwhelming, hints of scaffolding and construction cranes draw the viewer in as these images are familiar to everyone, and then you can explore the pictures and put your own spin on it.
APP: We loved seeing the recent work alongside many other great Sandler Hudson artists in Summer Thunder. Is there a solo show in the works so we can mark our calendars?
BS: There is definitely a solo show in the works, still working on the dates.
APP: Speaking of other artists, who are some of your favorite mark-makers?
BS: Cy Twombly probably has had the greatest influence on me. I feel like he is ever-present. There has been such a move to take the hand of the artist out of the painting process, for better or worse, I find I always come back to painters who get their hands dirty: Joan Mitchell, Brice Marden, Pollock and Shiraga come to mind.
APP: What are some of your favorite places to get inspired around ATL? In the city or in nature?
BS: I love walking the Beltline. I feel like it is such a great addition to the vitality of the City. The Mercedes-Benz stadium was just incredible to watch as it was being built. Anywhere a building is going up or coming down for that matter. Buildings are far more interesting during the construction phase or the destruction phase, they are constantly changing while they are being built, kind of like watching a plant grow. I took many ‘thicket’ photographs of thorn bushes in Africa last time I was there, and I see this influence in the new paintings.
APP: Do you follow "Cranes of Atlanta" on instagram?
BS: No, but I will!
APP: Do that.
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To learn more about Brett's work, please visit Sandler Hudson Gallery or Brett's website.