My Creative Journey: Rice Freeman Zachary Interview

Here's the interview with Ricë Freeman-Zachery that I was putting on hold until I had the "perfect" book review written for her book, Living the Creative Life, but I don't have the perfect review written. I can just tell you that it's one of my favorite books that I own! You get a glimpse into the lives of 15 artists, their process of creating, their works in progress, and creative starters for you to try out. I just love reading about the creative process of artists, and this book is perfect for me! So, with that said, here's the interview, I hope you enjoy reading her answers as much as I did!!

1. How did you get your start as an artist, and are you able to do art fulltime, or do you have a "day" job also? My day job is writing. I think of it as my primary art, and of stitching as my secondary art. I've been writing and making things since before I started to school. After I began writing for Rubberstampmadness in 1991, I began to explore the possibilities of Making Things, from books to art dolls to jewelry to clothing. I sent work to shows and galleries and publications and then began focusing, finally, on fabric art--altered artwear and wall pieces.

2.Do you keep a daily visual journal? What are your favorite visual journaling supplies (those things that you would feel necessary to take with you to journal on the go)? Do you make your own journals, or do you have a favorite brand? I've kept a journal for over 35 years. In those years, it's been almost everything: a notebook, a diary, a sketchbook, an art journal, a scrapbook. Sometimes it's one or the other, and sometimes it's all those things together. For a while, I made my own journals, and that was fun. But it was also time-consuming, and since I'd rather spend my time stitching, I searched until I found a commercially available journal that works for me. I use Moleskine sketchbooks, the ones with the heavy paper, and Zig Millennium pens. These days, they serve mostly as a notebook where I record ideas and make to-do lists, write down phone numbers and keep track of stuff I need to research.

3. Is there a difference between an art journal and a visual journal? Does it just depend on what you want to call it? A couple of years ago I would have said, "No, there's no difference." Sadly, though, I'm beginning to see a trend emerging, one where "art journals" are very little like journals and more and more like gussied-up scrapbooks. To me, the word "journal" implies there's something in there that's personal and meaningful and immediate, and I'm not seeing a lot of that in the art journals that are being published. At first, I was really excited to see these being published. It was like my first year teaching freshman comp, when one of the assignments was for all my students to keep daily journals to be turned in--to force them to write at least a little bit every day. I was so excited, in a voyeuristic sort of way, to get to read these. Imagine my disappointment with that first batch, all those notebooks filled with, "I got up late. I had cereal for breakfast. I skipped class and watched tv and then ate dinner and went to bed." Over and over and over. That's the disappointment I feel with what's being called "art journals." To me, most of them look like elaborate, 3-D Hallmark cards, with no soul at all. Most of the artists I know make a distinction between "art journals" and "visual journals." Since art journals have become what I described above--I'm definitely not the only person who sees this happening--they refer to their journals as visual journals, or sketchbooks. Or just journals. Those are the ones that are filled with life and ideas and excitement. The pages aren't pretty, and you're not going to see many of them published anywhere, but if you get a chance to sit down and look through them, you know immediately that these are the journals that are filled with real life and deep soul.

4. What artists have influenced you? Ah. Since I'm not trained as an artist, I can't name any classical artists. The artists who have influenced me are ones I've interviewed and met over the years, and I'm not about to mention any and leave others out. No way!

5. Can you tell us a little about your new book that you're working on? Creative Time & Space--Making Room for Making Art, will go on from where Living the Creative Life left off. It's about how artists can find the time and space--both interior and exterior--to make their art. There are examples and tips and ideas from fourteen new working artists, along with photographs of their fabulous work, glimpses into their studios, and pages from their journals.

6. How can we go about finding our own creative voice? Play and work. You have to get out of your own way and quit pushing so hard. With all of the publications on the stands, people are filling themselves with images of what other people are creating. They often feel like that's what they should be doing, too. You know: encaustic, or assemblage, or whatever everyone else is doing, the Craft du Jour. While it's fine to experiment with various techniques, there comes a point where, if you truly want to make art, you have to narrow down your focus and find what it is that you want to do and then practice and master the techniques required of that. Dabbling is fine if that's what you want to do, but it's never going to get you any deeper. I think one problem is that we think everything related to creativity should be fun. Sure, play is vital. But so is self-discipline. If you want to master anything and move to the next level with it, it's work. In "working artist," both words are important: they're artists, but they're also working. Don't be afraid of doing the hard work required to really master something, whether it's sculpting or painting with oils or hand stitching.

7. Where do you get your inspiration from? I'm inspired by whatever's in my head. I was an only child who spent lots of time in my room alone, making up stories and playing with boxes of tiny stuff. This was an excellent preparation for living a creative life, since my head was always full of things I imagined. It still is.

8. Can you describe your creative process? One of the ideas in my head seems more interesting than the others. I feel a little frisson when I think of it, so I start looking for images--usually in my head, but sometimes everywhere else. Then I gather materials--a bunch of materials: fabric, thread, paint, whatever I might need. I put it all on a table and just start trying things, gradually weeding things out. Once I can see where I'm going, then it gets easier. For me, the most difficult part is the step from the vague idea in my head to getting something captured on fabric. Once I figure out how to do that, the text and handwork--the most time-consuming part--is just work: it requires hours and hours of time, but it's not that scary-but-exciting feeling of "How can I make this work?"

9. What advice would you give to (self-taught) artists just starting out? Decide what you want out of being an artist. If you want to dabble and try everything, take workshops and get your work in a magazine, then do that. But if you feel a real calling to make art, figure out what it is that you're meant to do--and there is always something, if you listen--and then figure out what techniques you need to master in order to do that. If you need to take classes to learn those techniques, do that. And then get to work. Don't put off painting until you have a studio with northern light. Don't put off making a quilt until you have a stash of fabric in every color. Work with what you have, learning what it is that you're meant to do. The trend now is for everyone to want to be an artist, and I think we've stretched the term in every direction. One way to look at it is that we're all making art, and we we're all artists. That's fine. But the other way to think of it is that you don't just wake up and say, "I'm an artist." If it's what you want to do with your life, it's just like anything else: you work, you learn, you study, you practice. You don't just wake up one day and say, "I'm a veterinarian," or "I'm a writer." Sure, we've all been writing since we started to school. But mastering anything takes work. I think we have a bad relationship with the whole idea of "work." It's not a bad thing: working hard at something you love is a wonderful thing. Tough? Sure. But more fulfilling than anything else you can do with your life. Oh: and never, ever, confused shopping and acquiring a bunch of stuff with making art. Buying art supplies and shopping for vintage ephemera is not making art. If that's what you want to do--go to the flea markets in Paris and buy stuff and then write the trip off as tax deductible because it's for Your Art--that's fine. But be honest with yourself about what it is that's driving you. Is it art, or is it an excuse to shop?

8. One last question, since I promised a short interview! If you were on a desert island and could only have 2 inspirational books with you, what 2 would you choose?

Native Funk and Flash, the book that first inspired me to alter my clothes in 1974, and Jean Ray Laury's Imagery on Fabric --those are the two most inspirational books I've ever read. But if I were stranded on an island, I'd want a comprehensive embroidery book with really good photos and an endless supply of DMC floss in every color. Some needles in various sizes, a pair of scissors, my reading glasses--I'd be set! Will there be wine?

thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions!! May you be well & happy--
Ricë