Examples of Roxy’s illustration
What's your primary medium?
Well, I like to use alcohol markers a lot. Ink and gouache when I create more intricate pieces that I sell. That's my main medium, but I also like to spray paint. That's mostly my own personal enjoyment. I like to experiment with it a lot and feel like it's a lot more free than those really nitty gritty mediums. I don't know.
How long have you been doing art?
The answer is, you know, I've been doing it since I was a kid, but I started taking it pretty seriously when I was in eighth or seventh grade. I got a sketchbook and I was like, I'm gonna sketch every day, even if it's crappy. I want to be an artist. I want to get better. So that's probably when I started my career.
Are you going to school for art?
Yeah, I'm going to Boise State University for illustration. I guess, 2d art right now. Who knows what's gonna happen? Maybe I'll transfer to a school in a different state, but for now I'm just at BSU.
Where do you get your inspiration?
That comes from a lot of different places. I'm very inspired by nature and the world around me, including all the beautiful parts and all the really gruesome parts. I am also really interested in biomechanics and human evolution. My dad is a biology teacher at BSU and ever since I was a kid, we'd talk about human genealogy, and it's so fascinating to think about who we are and where we are going. And I just think that really fuels my creativity a lot of the time. It fluctuates depending on my mood for sure as well.
What drives you to create?
I think that right now, I'm doing quite a lot of commissions. So I'm getting money out of it. And unfortunately, that's the reality for a lot of artists. Where it's like, oh, this is just something I got to do in order to make money. But in order to be actually creative and make things for myself, I just feel like that is something that I physically need to do. Sometimes I don't have any other way of expression except for just painting when I don't have the words to say. So I have to express it with images. You know, that whole shebang.
Why do you think art is important?
I think it's important in a whole bunch of different ways. It's important to ourselves. I think everyone should be able to express themselves through whatever medium they need, because without it I feel like you're very repressed and aren't really true to yourself. Also I think it's really important that we as humans create art that is personally ours because it is very indicative of the time that we live in and it will be the way that other people in the future look back on us and see what our culture is going through at the time. So if it's going to be Pokemon, or if it's going to be political, or if it's just going to be some really strange, abstract art, no matter what, people will be able to pull through it the experiences that we have today, and I think that's very important.
Why do you think an artistic career is worth pursuing?
I don't know. Because I'm not really good at anything else? I also think that even though it might not be traditional, it's a job, and sometimes it can get tedious. It's still something that I take enjoyment out of, just putting my mind to a project and seeing myself grow as an artist is always good. And it always opens my horizons to things that I would have never thought of doing before.
Do you find it easier to do commissions or to create on your own?
If someone doesn't want to give you direction, most of the time, it's because they have an image in their mind of what they want, but they just aren't comfortable saying it. I mean, people who truly just give me the reins, that's awesome. But most of the time they're like, “Oh, I don't want you to do this. And I don't want you to do this.” So I would like for someone to commission me and give me some guidelines, be very clear with what your intentions are, and that way, maybe I can structure my creative process around that. I'm very happy when I get paid. And I'm more than happy to do commissions but it's not as fulfilling to me to do work for someone else. It's fun, but the emotional satisfaction and the gratification of being able to finish a piece that really speaks to me is like, that's the way to do it.
Do you have other artistic pursuits you focus on?
Oh, I do a million things. I have so many hobbies. It's kind of overwhelming. I am in a band right now called Teratoma. I'm learning how to mix music. I do roller skating, park skating, artistic skating. I do pole dancing. I have a whole bunch of different things I like to do artistically and I just feel like there's like a bunch of different artistic mediums where everyday I can just try and experience new things and experience joy from finding a new way to express myself. So I don't know, I like just trying different kinds of art.
Are there opportunities you feel you've had specific to Boise?
Sure. Like, I don't think that the art scene here is incredibly strong per se. People aren't willing to pay lots of money for art. I think it's growing as of late, but I think the art scene that we do have is very tight knit and I feel like I know most of the artists in the city and most of the people who are putting art up on their walls. Freak Alley was so cool. Like, even when I first moved here when I was a kid, I was like “I want to get on Freak Alley.” Like “I think that'd be so cool.” And honestly, that has brought me a lot of opportunities to do murals in other places. Pie-hole wants me to do their wall right now, so that's gonna be fun. I think when I was going to high school there were a lot of opportunities that they presented to get my work up in coffee shops and in the Boise Art Museum and, I think that's really special. It's not necessarily a huge wide range of people who are going to see your art, but it's kind of nice to know that there's some people who still appreciate it and it's like direct communication with the people around you.
What was it like to participate in Freak Alley?
Well, it's really fun. The ownership is transferred as of now, but Colby used to run it and he's super cool. He ran it exactly how it should be ran. He was very strict about it, but he also let people do literally whatever they wanted, regardless of levels of artistic ability or whatever. As long as you had a design that you wanted to put up, he'd let you do it. And I think that's so cool. That week where you can come in literally 24 hours around the clock and just work on your mural, I met a bunch of cool artists that I never met before. I made a bunch of cool connections and I just felt like I was working so hard on this mural the whole time. It gave me a lot of introspection on how I want to approach a piece and why I'm doing this in the first place, because it's not a paid opportunity. I had a great time and it really kind of made me decide that I like to make murals and I really like to make public art.
Is there anything you'd like to talk about I haven't asked?
The spray painting that I've been doing recently, the muralisms I was talking about. I have just started doing that. I think most of my career I was doing sketchbook work and other very traditional kinds of artistic works. Ever since I started doing spray painting and murals, it's been such a release. I was telling you about making art for myself, it feels like I'm making these and it's a very cathartic experience where you just kind of make whatever you're really feeling on this particular day. It is nothing but for yourself. It's in my backyard. No one is going to look at it except for my neighbors. I think it's really just like, you can let go of all the preconceptions of why you have to make art and who will appreciate it and all the reasons that you're going to make art other than your own enjoyment. So yeah, I would love to do more murals and spray painting, it's just a completely different experience from anything else I've done before.
What is it about working on a larger scale that you find interesting?
I think it's that you have to use your whole body to paint and it feels more like dancing and like you're using every part of your body to make something instead of just sitting there hunched over drawing. I think you are immersed in this entire world that you're painting. It's so large in scale that you just feel like you can step into it, rather than just one little sketchbook page. There's something special about it. I think that it’s also on a scale where you have to step back and really look at the big picture of what you're making instead of just hyper focusing on some very small details. I think that there are a whole bunch of things about spray painting I like.
Roxy standing next to a mural she painted while we spoke
Do you have any mentors you've looked up to?
I just kind of wanted to start. I've seen a lot of muralists before who have done crazy works and honestly, when you look at their pieces, it looks so easy. And then you try it. It's just like holy crap. There's so much finesse and I mean, I have artists that I admire their works, but I am pretty self taught. I don't think I've ever taken any advice from anyone other than the guy at the local art shop that's like, “Oh, you know, they have fine tips for cans” and I’m like, “Really?” I mean, we have ElmsOne here who's amazing. I've only chatted with him on one occasion, but he's really cool. Pie-hole is the first big one I've ever done that someone has commissioned me to do and I'm like, “I have no idea how to price this.” So I reached out on a whim. I didn't know if they'd reply, but the guy was super helpful. I'm actually covering up one of their first pieces ever done on that wall.
Do you think businesses around here are becoming more receptive to having art?
For sure, yeah. I think that's super cool. I'd love to see art put on every little surface in the city if I ran it, but you know, I think that is super cool. I'm glad that people are getting more work here. I'd like to see more muralists come out of Boise and I hope that people are going to be able to become full time artists making money making murals, that would be ideal, right? But who knows what's gonna happen? For now I think it's going in a good direction.
Do you feel like it’s possible to support yourself with art?
I feel like you need to have one piece that really speaks to people and by some stroke of luck everyone decides that this is “it,” this is the image we're going to associate with Boise. I don't know, you might get lucky and make that piece one day and get enough exposure that people will be really into your art and stuff. But until that happens, I'm just gonna have to keep trudging away, figure out another way to make money.
Where did you get the idea to start throwing paint for your base coat?
I think that being messy and having fun is the number one best part of doing art. Where you don't have to think about everything you do to create a painting to make it perfect and correct. Sometimes I feel like I'm so limited by that. Where if you don't perform the correct steps then you might mess up an entire painting. Throwing paint definitely isn't gonna give you the nicest coat of paint possible. But honestly, I don't care. It's my own board. I want to have fun, get messy, make something and really just enjoy what I'm doing. I just think that's just the way to do it. I think that everyone should try it at some point. Have fun, throw some paint. Pretty cathartic.
Do you think art is something you'll ever stop doing?
No, no. Like, even if I don't do it as a job, I'll probably still do it in some form or another. I mean, life without art would be so boring. Like what is there without performance and without expressing yourself, other than just work and going to sleep? That sucks.