our Friend

Our Art Community loss our friend Raine Phoenix, Oct. 18, 2016. In honor of Raine I am posting here the HOT mess ART gang interview I did for the gang newsletter in July of 2015. Raine we love you and miss you.

 Spotlight Corner

We are happy to present our first member Spotlight, RainePhoenix from Massachusetts.She loves the changing seasons and lives in a house that her family built in 1847. Raine’s grandfather was born in the home and as a child she spent a lot of time there with her grandparents, even then it “felt like home.”

Raine currently does her arting from a comfy recliner, but plans on reorganizing her studio space. She loves acrylic paint and also dabbles with watercolors of various types along with colored pencils. She’s happy with a diet Coke, Word Search puzzles and has been known to “go on scarf-knitting binges.” Just don’t ask about her washi tape collection.

Raine enjoys music some favorites are Rufus Wainwright, Shinedown, Jethro Tull, Green Day and most classical music, especially Mozart. She gave up TV about 3 years ago, but likes the occasional DVD, comedies, classic chick flicks and superhero movies (Robert Downey Jr.). Raine LOVES Trivial Pursuit, when she can get someone else to play. She appreciates ALL art and finds it inspiring even if she doesn’t understand it, it’s the experience that stays with her. Raine’s preferred surface to art on is one found in a journal so without further ado we present the delightful RainePhoenix.

Please tell us about your art journaling; I've been doing it since my very first class with Kelly Kilmer in late December of 2007. Since we made our own journals for that class, I have almost always made the journals I work in. I've made about 50, 45 or so of which I have filled. I get annoyed when I can't get a nice watercolor journal in portrait form. Another good reason to make my own! My art is very eclectic. I don't really have a "style" or have any particular topics or themes. I do have a lot of vintage photo collage sheets that I like to use now and then. I suppose that my art sort of reflects my own life at the time. I really love the freedom of art journaling and that there is no "wrong" way to do it!

After you finish a journal spread, do you see things about it that are relevant to your life or history that you didn’t realize while you were working on it? Absolutely! It happens a lot. I work very intuitively, so I'm not always aware of why I'm making the choices that I make. Frequently in hindsight, things become obvious references to my life and/or what is going on around me.

Is there a non-art thing that you do, that seems to give you art ideas? I am a voracious reader! Last year I decided to keep track of them and it turned out that I had read 239 books. I also read a lot of art magazines and didn't include those in my book list. So far this year I am on my 89th book. Reading takes me to other worlds, other realms. How can that not inspire me? I read a lot of fantasy and paranormal novels. They inspire me to take my art out of the box. There are no limits to what I can try, if I so choose.

Do you have a specific routine for doing your work? I try to make art every day. I used to go up to my studio around midnight and work/play until about 4:00 am. My friends and I used to joke that I got up "at the crack of noon!" Unfortunately, I've had to modify my hours and haven't yet found a new schedule. I'm hoping that once I've made my studio more comfortable and functional, I'll fall into some sort of routine.

Do you ever procrastinate, and if so why do you suppose that is? Oh, I am a very gifted procrastinator! Hence, all the reading! I think that it's the fear that I won't know what to do, that "blank page syndrome" that affects so many of us artists. But I love making backgrounds so I guess that most of my procrastination is fear-based. Fear that my art won't be "good enough." I try not to compare myself to other artists but it's difficult when the Internet makes finding other artists so easy. But I will even pull out my own previous journals and feel like I can no longer produce work like I had in the past.

Do you have a favorite artist and What about them do you admire? Monet! His water lilies are amazing. I was fortunate to have seen some in person a few years ago. I had gone to an exhibit with a friend. At the end of it was a gift shop but it was too crowded and I became uncomfortable. My friend suggested I go into the next room where there were benches where I could rest and wait for her. Well, as it turned out, the room held several of Monet's painting! I was overwhelmed! In person, they actually seem to glow from within. I was literally moved to tears. I just stood in front of one of them, gazing at it with tears streaming down my face. They are just such peaceful images and I'm fascinated by the fact that he was able to paint so many paintings of the same subject without the artwork becoming stale.

What type of art stuff do you collect? It might be easier to say what I DON'T collect! Actually, I tend to collect paints of all kinds, stencils (over 600! Don't judge! *wink*), washi tape (don’t ask), stamps and paper, particularly deli paper within the past year or so. I have quite a few boxes of it. I'm on the search for the "perfect" deli paper!

Thank you Raine for your fun answers and for your time, it has been a pleasure learning more about you.