Issue 1: Claire

What was your biggest inspiration when you started creating art?

C: “My biggest inspiration when I started was definitely my older sister. She is a very talented artist and seeing her work made me want to work harder and get better at drawing and creating things.”

Does your major correlate with your passion for art?

C: “My major is Marketing, but I do have an Art minor.”

What is your favorite time of day to work on a new project or art piece?

C: “My favorite time of day to work on a piece is nighttime. I love when it’s dark and I just have one light on, and I sit down and spend all night making something. It is really peaceful, and it is my way of winding down after a day. I also feel a lot more inspired at night.”

Who or what motivates you to create?

C: “There is a lot of music that motivates me to create. It will hear a song and it will inspire and motivate me to create the image that the music is making me visualize. There are a lot of times I will make a playlist based on what I am making, and it is usually only a few songs that will be on it, but it really sets the vibe of the pieces I make and helps me finish them. Also seeing other talented artists and seeing what people create motivates me.”

Describe your aesthetic viewpoint.

C: “I definitely love realism. I really love when art captures emotion and experience. Drawing people or realistic images is my favorite thing to create. I’m not much of a perfectionist in life, but when it comes to my art, I have to have clean, perfect lines and images and obsess over the details.”

Art is another form of self-expression through which one can show what one is feeling at a certain moment in time. It comes in all forms and brings a sense of emotion behind all creations. When searching for artists, most are over-looked or overshadowed by those who have more prestige and bigger audiences while having minimal originality, almost causing the art to become mainstream over the course of several years; whereas new artists have been on the rise and have not been heard or seen. These individuals may feel that their art does not compare to those who have more recognition and have kept it inside themselves; yet that is the beauty of what art is. It connects the emotions of the artist to whoever sees a creation, whether it is a drawing, a sculpture, music, images, or portraits. The connection between an audience and the artist is fluid, as one may not understand what the artist is conveying through their piece. But who said one needs to understand when appreciation is all most ask for?