My Creative Journey

Interview With Cate Prato

I have Cate's book, Mixed Media Self Portraits, and although I've only done 1 self portrait so far, I love the book for all the inspiration you can get out of it-for all kinds of projects and techniques! I was thrilled when she agreed to an interview, and I hope you enjoy reading it too!


1. How did you get your start as an artist, and are you able to do art full time, or do you have a "day" job also?

I wouldn't really call myself an artist--and I'm not being modest! I'm more of a writer who happens to make some art. I desperately wanted to be an artist as a child and took some wonderful courses, but I couldn't take the criticism! Writing just comes naturally to me; it's the thing I do best, and I've been doing it pretty well since I was a kid. I just followed the path of least resistance through school and college. I was a newspaper reporter and feature writer for many years, and five years ago I was lucky enough to do a piece on Pokey Bolton, and she eventually hired me at Quilting Arts/Cloth Paper Scissors. Now I write and edit for CPS, our Embellishments e-Newsletters, and I'm the Editor of Cloth Paper Scissors Studios. I should point out that I believe that I--or anyone--could be an artist if they devoted the time to it. It's just more of a hobby for me right now.

2. What is your favorite media to use?

I have always loved fabric and fibers. Walking into a yarn or fabric store gives me the same frisson of excitement as walking into a fabulous bakery--but without the guilt. OK, less guilt. I like to do embroidery and simple stitching projects, mostly just to handle the fibers and play with putting them together. I love printing making and collage, too, and like to mix them up when I can.

3. I love your book, Mixed Media Self Portraits, it's so full of inspiration! For those who have never attempted a self portrait, can you tell us why you think that creating self portraits are important?

I think self-portraits are important because doing them really gives you insight into yourself. Not just how you look, but how you feel about how you look, and beyond that, how you see yourself. I also don't think you can do one definitive self-portrait. Each one captures you in a moment in time and reveals something about you--and you always have to leave some things out, edit yourself. Even if you never show another soul your self-portraits, they are important for you. Like keeping a journal, but in portrait form.

4.I have read that you should pick one medium and stick to that, but I like so many different mediums (or is it media?), I can't just pick one. What are your thoughts on the subject?

I can't imagine why you would want to limit yourself to one medium, unless your goal was to explore everything to do with that medium (and that's not a bad goal). I'll tell you, one thing I've learned after working with scores of artists and interviewing them over the last five years is that there are no rules. Sure, you should know the rules, especially the principles of design. But the rules serve the artist, not the other way around. So, if you feel like immersing yourself in one medium, do it. If not, jump around or mix them up.

5. How can we go about finding our own creative voice?

By listening for it. It's there, but most people drown it out with shouldn'ts and can'ts and I'm afraid. When you're in your studio, or at your kitchen table, or wherever you make art, and a tiny little thought creeps into your head about which color to use or where to place an image or to scrap the thing you've almost "finished" and take it in a completely new direction, don't slap that thought away--do it! No one's watching. The art police aren't going to show up and arrest you for improper use of imagination. Then, keep doing it. Try things. Some won't work out, but others will. You'll know you've found your voice when what you make is uniquely you and it makes you feel accomplished.

6. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Well, I'm certainly inspired by other artists--their bravery, honesty, and imagination. But I for my own work, I'm usually inspired by the materials--a colorful yarn or a vintage fabric. Nature inspires me as do my two daughters--they are truly originals and aren't afraid to take chances with their imagination and creativity. 

7. Can you describe your creative process?

I'm going to give you my creative process as a writer, because there's more to tell at this point in my life, and I think it can be adapted to art. Let's take a feature article on an artist. Of course, the first thing I do is find out all I can about the person and their art, which is very easy now because of the Internet. I look at their blog, website, any materials they have submitted to us. I try to see trends in their art, changes in direction, and I ask myself what I think our readers would like to know about this person. One thing I almost never do is read other articles written about the person. I don't want to be prejudiced in my approach by another writer's take. I interview the person for about an hour; the best quotes almost always come at the end because by that time the person has let their guard down. Then I type up all the notes and mull it over for a while--days, but sometimes weeks. I have to say I would prefer to write it within a couple of weeks, but sometimes other responsibilities get in the way. I usually have it half to two-thirds done in the first few days though. I start with the opening sentence: what captures this person? You should know within the first 2-3 sentences what the entire thrust of the article is going to be about. Then it's a matter of building sentences and paragraphs that support that first sentence/opening paragraph. I think that may be why I have such a hard time making art that pleases me, because I always want to do the most interesting, eye-catching part first, and fill in the backgrounds later. And in art, it's usually the other way around!

8. What advice would you give to (self-taught) artists just starting out? Plus, for those who have a dream of seeing their art published, but don't know where to start, do you have any suggestions?

For the first question, I would say practice. Build your art muscle by trying things, making things, without judgment. You wouldn't expect to have rock-hard abs after one session at the gym, so don't expect a masterpiece from your first attempts at art. Then, read all you can about the process and techniques of people whose art you like. Not so you can copy their art, but so you can learn some techniques you might want to incorporate in your own art and see that their process is just that--a process; it isn't perfect. Cloth Paper Scissors and Quilting Arts are great for that. Also, look at tutorials on the web, on blogs, YouTube, etc., our line of DVDs, or take classes. It really helps to see how other people create.

 

As for getting published: blog and send queries to the places you want to be published. We read the blogs, scan Etsy, and hang out on Facebook looking for talent. You can also email us directly at submissions@clothpaperscissors.com. A terrific way to get your art noticed is to enter one of our reader challenges. But what we're looking for is something fresh, different. If you make collages, show us a new way to make a collage; if you mix paint and stitching, show us a different way to do it. If what you make looks just like something we have in the current issue, then we are probably not going to be running anything like that in the near future. But keep trying; if we reject you once, it doesn't mean we'll reject you the next time.

9. Do you have any new books coming in the near future?

No. But I'm thinking about it.

10. 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?

Well, I would not take my book, because I can probably recite that by heart! I would take Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It's about writing, but you can apply the same principles to any creative process. It's honest and funny and true. After that, I would probably take any of Lesley Riley's books, because not only do I love her art, but she is very gentle and encouraging to the reader. She makes you absolutely believe that you are an artist.

 

thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions!!

--My pleasure!

***I have to say though, I very much consider Cate an artist!

Nita Leland Interview

One of my favorite new books is The New Creative Artist, but Nita Leland. It's just PACKED full of so much information, it's wonderful! I can say that I haven't sat down and DONE all the exercises, yet, but that's just me, I have a pretty short attention span, and too many new books (at the moment I'm jumping between 5 or 6 books, they are just all so good I can't seem to pick just 1).A few of the chapters you will find in this book are Drawing:Don't Leave Home Without It, Abstraction:Off the Beaten path, and Adventure:Developing Your Creative Spirit. So, on to the interview! I hope you enjoy it:)

***I found this link on Nita's blog-check it out if you would like to take a look inside of The New Creative Artist!

1. How did you get your start as an artist?

My husband gave me watercolor paints on my birthday in 1970, apparently believing I needed a hobby. I was raising four children at the time.

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 don't keep a journal and never have. I have record books, where I enter details on finished artwork (sources, colors, thoughts about the picture), but they aren't artsy.

3. How long have you been doing collage?

I used a bit of collage in my watercolors beginning around 1972, using rice paper to add atmosphere to landscapes. It wasn't until I began writing Creative Collage Techniques in 1992 that I got interested in paper collage as a fine art medium in its own right.

4. Are there any basic design &/or composition rules for collage, for those who are just starting to experiment with it? Artists who are just beginning in collage need to spend time experimenting with materials first. Too many use inferior adhesives, papers and supports and run the risk of making artwork that won't last. As for design and composition, the same rules apply to collage as any other art medium. I follow the guidelines of the elements and principles of design set forth by Maitland Graves in the 1950s, which Edgar Whitney popularized a few years later. These are found in all my books, including the collage book.  

5. What artists have influenced you?

Too many to name them all. Edgar A. Whitney and Edward Betts would be at the top of the list. I draw inspiration from J.M.W. Turner in watercolor and color and from Georgia O'Keeffe in subject matter, color and design.

6. How can we go about finding our own creative voice?

Practice, patience, and perseverance. Believe in yourself, and listen to your intuition, especially when you find yourself disagreeing with the opinion of another artist about  your work. Be selective in your choice of workshops and classes and go to those where you are most likely to find like minds at work. Think hard about what it is you want to say in your art and then work at finding the best way to say it through technique, design, and so forth. 

7. Where do you get your inspiration from?

I guess I follow the dictum that inspiration comes while you're working. So I just keep on working. The key is being passionate about what you do. Believe it or not, I can get passionate about just mingling and mixing colors, and the next thing I know, a color combination suggests a subject or a mood and off I go.

8. Can you describe your creative process?

Not reliably. But my understanding of the process, which I came to when I was researching my books on creativity, is that knowledge is a fundamental part of creativity. You start with a problem, learn what you can about it, let it simmer awhile, and the solution presents itself. Any part of this process can take five minutes or five years, so it isn't cut-and-dried.

 

9. What advice would you give to (self-taught) artists just starting out?

Set doable goals--don't set yourself up for failure. Master techniques, design, and color as you go. Don't be so hard on yourself--you're a better artist than you think you are. There are many more suggestions in The New Creative Artist.

10. 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?

Assuming you mean art inspiration, I would want Edgar Whitney's Complete Guide to Watercolor Painting and Edward Betts's Master Class in Water Media.

thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions!! 

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