Elms One - Artist Sit Down - Full Interview

Sector Seventeen Website - https://www.sector-seventeen.com/elms-one

What is your primary form of art?

My primary medium is spray paint, aerosol mixed with latex paints. Sometimes it depends on the job or the project but my first love is spray paint. 

What got you interested in it? 

Mainly just from graffiti just growing up you know as a teenager playing around with spray paint doing letter forms that kind of stuff and that introduced me to basically art in general.

How long have you been creating?

Basically since I was in high school. I started painting with spray paint and that was really my first introduction to a real passion in the arts.

Where do you find the motivation to go out and create?

My motivation comes from just a pure buildup of ideas you know that I can't stop really getting the ideas and if I don't act on them it almost hurts me. So you know, I get inspiration from the people I paint with, my crew, all sorts of people I've met, and other artists in the Boise area and nationally, globally. All sorts of inspirations in my house my lady, my daughter. You know it kind of comes from everywhere and all those factors just make me want to go and do something cooler, better, newer and I just got to act on it. 

Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?

Most of my designs are following a path of ideas that have been developed over the years. I work on some projects with a buddy of mine Mawk One and we come up with those collaboratively and then my individual work I kind of just bring whatever influences I'm feeling that day into it and try to work it out on the wall. 

What's it like to paint on a large non-movable object like a wall? 

I love painting on walls especially large walls because it's something that is a fixture and especially if it's in a public place you know anybody can walk by and have their own interaction with it at any given time. I like painting on a large scale like that because if it's larger than you the work will envelop you and draw you into it in a way that you can't really achieve that easily with a smaller piece or a canvas. So that aspect of it always always makes me excited.

What’s it been like being a working professional artist here in Boise?

Boise’s been pretty good. I'm a native Boisean and I'm like third generation so I know this place well and when I was growing up and just starting into it wasn't very developed in the kind of art that I do and so now being able to work at it full-time it's a pretty cool way to sculpt and mold the city in an image that I see it deserves. It can be hard because there's not as many big people or you know it's not the same as a different bigger city but we're growing a lot and it's a cool opportunity to be part of that growth.

Have you faced any kind of challenges doing graffiti style art?

There's been some interesting situations over the years. Especially Boise being a pretty clean city and not having a whole lot of history of graffiti or graffiti art. You know when I first started there was not as much demand for that kind of thing and people have seen it over the years become more prevalent in pop culture and just in culture in general and being more acquainted with it I think kind of alleviates some of that tension that they have with what their perception of graffiti is to the common person. I think that what I do in the portraiture and realism stems directly from graffiti that I did so without that there wouldn't have been this style that I work in now so I try to relate that to people and at least open people’s minds a little bit to that as a stepping stone or as a you know integral part of what a lot of these big murals you see where they come from and how they're created. There's been some funny interactions painting legal pieces but that are in a graffiti style and people's reactions to those on the street or neighboring people’s is a little bit different sometimes. We've had some interactions with the police about that and I've actually been in arguments with police officers about the definition of graffiti and if it's legal, but if it's on a legal space, but it's still in the graffiti form what does that make it? You know there's been some funny things but over the years I think it's like I said been developed into a little bit more acceptable way to work.

What keeps you going and what’s on your horizon?

I’ve been working as a full-time artist for six or seven years now and doing a lot of commercial work, doing a lot of really custom tailored pieces that you know reflect a individual or a business's ideas or aesthetic, which is good it's been really good practice for me and get me into waters where I may not have tread otherwise. Right now my focus is really developing the concepts that I want to be heard and want to see in our city and in the world and making that more of a priority in my life and in my art expression you know. It's a way to to do something more fulfilling I feel like in the long run and at some point there's that transition where a lot of artists feel that push and I feel like I'm there.

What makes art important?

It's just a really direct way to talk to people to speak to people on your terms and on their terms. There's a lot to be said for learning through school and universities and a lot of people get their information from social media or news outlets obviously but I think art is just one of the rare places where you can communicate with somebody very directly. If it's in a public space like Freak Alley or other places you know in a populated area those people are gonna interact with that and whatever goes through their mind when they're looking at that is a conversation you're having with them directly through the art and that to me is an opportunity that shouldn't be taken lightly.

What’s it like browsing Instagram and seeing one of your paintings pop up?

It’s cool, I like it because it means that conversation is happening you know on some level. Even if it's just a pretty picture that people like and makes their brain light up in some sort of way that you know makes some level of enjoyment happen I'm cool with that if it makes them think a little bit deeper about something I'm cool with that too it's nice to be recognized in the real world and the fake world of Instagram.

Has it been a difficult journey to be able to live off your art?

For me it's just been a lot of dedication to things that aren't just painting you know. You have to be your own manager, you have to be your own publicist, you have to be in meetings and talking to people and analyzing things and a lot of people may or may not be prepared to do all that extra work and applications and the things that go along with not being as creative. As well as taking jobs that aren't 100% their brainchild or you know right up their alley so there's a lot of give-and-take when you're trying to live off of art, especially in a place like Boise and especially when you're not a famous name. But like I said it's taught me a lot of things along the way and I think I'm probably better off for it in the long run so there's multiple ways to go about it. I know really really talented artists here that have a day job or a night job and they keep their art separate from their main method of making money and it works for them so I mean you just have to figure out where you're comfortable and where you're trying to go, but it is possible.

Is art something you would ever quit doing?

I don't see stopping ever. I think it can mutate and morph into all sorts of different manifestations. I like to sketch too, I like to do digital drawings. I like to paint occasionally. I don't see why those things can't all interact in some way that keeps me interested and there's a puzzle that'll never be solved or you know, you never get to the end of being creative so I think it's something that'll keep me stimulated forever.

Anything else you’d like to say?

I'm just thankful for the people that are in Boise, both the artists and just the residents who have kind of made it a priority to include these things in the city and its life. And the Art & History department for being on the front lines of that, and everybody who is coming up trying to make something happen for themselves.

Karen Bubb - Artist Sit Down - Full Interview

Karen’s Website - https://karenbubb.com/home.html

What kind of mediums do you work in?

My primary medium is encaustic, which is an ancient Greek and Roman process of using hot wax and Damar Crystal which is a tree sap from Malaysia and pigments. You melt those on a hot palette and then I paint on wood. So that's the primary medium that I show in but I also really love materials, so I also work in gouache and watercolour. I've had a sketchbook practice for a long time, so I love to draw. I do small hand-built ceramics, Kerry Moosman is a teacher that I've had for several years doing burnished pots. And then I also learned how to do stained glass, so I do some pieces in glass some printmaking some lithographic printmaking on glass and stained glass.

What’s been your favorite medium to work with?

I would say encaustic is definitely my favorite.  Encaustic is super versatile, I've worked at it for years. I took a workshop from an artist named Eve-Marie Bergren and I really fell in love with it. The material is really pliable, you can do a lot of different things with it. You can collage with it. I love the natural feeling of the wax and the smell of the beeswax. It has a beautiful look too, you polish the surface of it and it the Damar polishes up really beautifully. I can draw into it with tools and carve onto it, so the the single medium can be used in several different ways and get a lot of different looks, so that's definitely what I work in the most 

What inspires you to come up with your ideas?

You know historically I've done several series that are inspired by travel. So it started with a trip to China in 2005 and I came back and made several pieces about that trip to China. I've done a trip to Cuba, Germany, Italy and made work about that. My most recent series I had a one-person show at the visual arts collective and that was inspired by this longer process where I was doing ancestral research and I found family members back to the Mayflower. Then I was doing hypnotic past life regression with a hypnotist and making work about what I experienced and saw in those regressions. So that's the most recent series. Much of which you see around me right now was more personal and it was more based on kind of this combination of existing ephemera such as family photographs and then experiences that were just imaginatory experiences through this process.

How do you begin a painting?

I work best when I'm working on a series so I identify kind of the parameters of that series and then within that series I'll often have kind of series within a series. So for instance this last project that I worked on. One series was working specifically from historical photographs from my family, so I'll find a photograph that I like, I'll draw that on wood I'll paint the wax on the wood and then I start letting surprises happen. So I'll start experimenting with the medium. I really love materials and I like things that have a life of their own, so I'll play and follow with that material process as well.

What kinds of challenges do you face?

As an artist in general my major challenge is that I have a full-time job and I'm not a full-time artist. So I have very limited time frames in which I can work, and so for me it is being very disciplined and carving out money to have a studio, time to be in that studio, and then developing very internally motivated projects that I identify myself and work towards. So it's really that kind of process of what it means to be an artist. And then it's executing on that, hitting my deadlines, getting in the studio. For me it's really more about getting out of my head and into the materials and into the process. I am in school right now, and in my job, I do a lot of things that are really focused on intellectual processes, so getting getting out of my head and being in the materials is the most challenging.

Does having a dedicated space help? 

Yes, I love having a studio! I can't imagine being an artist, particularly in the circumstances that I'm working in now, if I didn't have a studio space. This is like the Playhouse, so it has all of my materials. It has an altar to my processes. It has a dedicated space so that I can come and go and don't have to clean up what I'm working on. So for me having a studio space is absolutely essential to being able to be an artist.

Does having studio space help you find the motivation to work?

Yes it definitely does. I try to come here every weekend, even if it's just for an hour and even if it's just coming to sit and stare at the walls. I'm really dedicated to being here a part of every weekend, and then I come some in the evenings as well, or I'll come by in the morning, so it gives me a touchstone. It's only a half a mile from my house, so it's also very accessible to my home environment and that makes it easier as well.

What kind of challenges have you faced as a progressing artist? 

I think there's the idea of what it means to be an artist, and that people think you're going to make art and be famous, or that it's all about showing and selling. So I think for me it has been two parts; one has been to try to understand the role of art in society and to understand my place in that. I have chosen to be both an administrator, a person who acts as a bridge between artists and bureaucrats, but also to not stop being a maker myself. I've met a lot of people who begin as makers and then they become administrators and let go of that maker part of their life. So for me it is to hold on to the love and passion and value of being a maker, and continuing to find inspiration in the world, and then giving myself permission to do the work to make things. I think often times as an adult people see spending time, or materials, or money on art making is something that is silly, or extra, or a hobby and therefore not worthy. For me it's to continue to value that part of who I am and what I do in the world.

Why is art important?

Art is the way that we share with each other and with ourselves what's important to us. So it's part of how we communicate our stories about our culture, our families, who we are, our identity. So for me as a maker, it is part of how I process the world and understand my own experience as a human. And then it is part of how I connect with other people and share that, and have conversations about that, and hopefully inspire other people to think about things that they might not have thought about otherwise. As an artist, I seek out art all the time. I travel whenever I have the opportunity and go to look at art, and it gives me a window into people's lives. To time periods, to places that I wouldn't have otherwise, and it inspires me in terms of the potential that we have as human beings. I feel like it is part of what drives us to be something more than we are, to not settle for mediocrity in our lives. To strive for greatness in our own ways, and as a social act to then invite others to participate in that conversation, and to acknowledge others as well in that process. 

Do you find yourself having trouble completing projects?

I'm really good at follow through, so when I set up a project I typically will set up a deadline for that and a timeframe, and then I give myself some flexibility within that. I'm a really productive person, and so once I commit to something I always follow through. So for me, follow-through is not the difficult part of it. For me it is probably over commitment and having so many things going that it's more difficult for me to go as deep into those things as I'd like to. So sometimes I don't finish things, I don't hit the mark in terms of, I'll look at something and say “well it's completed but I'd like it to be deeper or more complex.” That is, I'd like to scale back a little bit on my responsibilities so that I can make things that have more complexity and more depth to them.

If you set a deadline do you stick to that even if it's not “complete”?

I do, mm-hmm, yeah. This last show I gave myself two years to work on it. I think it's also adjusting expectations. I finished the show and I was happy with what I did, but I also see the 20 things I can do in addition to that. So I recognize that completion is one part of the process, then you'll continue to develop and evolve ideas past that. 

Do you strive for perfection?

I think trying to be better is part of part of what we do. I think for me, it's also trying to let go of the perfection and let things come through that are more organic and less about perfection, more about beauty and what happens in the process. So it's a balance

What has it been like for you being an artist in Boise?

I think being an artist in Boise has actually been a wonderful thing for me. One, I think financially to be able to afford a studio space outside of my home has been great. I have felt really welcomed in this community. I feel like the artist community of Boise is very encouraging. I found a great support system. I think the thing that is difficult in Boise is that there's not a lot of opportunities to show, and there's not as many people who are serious collectors. Often times people will collect work from other cities, or other locations. So I definitely recognize that in terms of the ability to make a living as an artist, if I were to try to make a living as an artist, I wouldn't be able to do it. So I'm grateful that I have a day job, and that I make money in a different way. But that said, I have as many opportunities as I want to show. I've always been able to make that happen. And because of commute times, and the closeness of everything here, I feel like I've also been able to maximize my time in between work and home and life and being an artist. So I really feel like Boise is a fertile place to be an artist. For me it's also been important to share that. So to have other artists continue to work here, stay and be here. That community of artists is really important to me as friends, as colleagues, as encouragers, so that's been really important to me as well.

Anything else you’d like to say?

People often will identify that you are either an artist or you're not. People self-identify very young. They choose to not be an artist because they're not going to pursue that as a life path, and I really feel like I want to encourage people to challenge themselves to find what is creative within them. Because I feel like everybody has something to say and that experiencing the world through the process of making is really gratifying. I do understand that not everyone will choose to invest on the level that people like myself who feel this great passion to do it. But I feel like it's something that everyone can do in some capacity. So I think that's important to me, but I think for me the other piece is that... I'll continue to make work, because it's how I understand what it means to be human. When I stop making work, that's when I stop. That's when I'll stop. So I think it's something I will do until the day I die.