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Pagan Moon Featured Artist
PM: how long have you been involved in the visual
arts?
TLG: I have scribbled off and on all my life. But
actually consider my true search for improvement to
have started in 1991 when a friend who was an excellent
artist told me that I could learn to draw too and gave
me some pointers. I took off from there. I started
colored pencil in 1992 (Mostly because I wanted to have
some color in my graphite works.) I started graphics
design in 1998, by trial and error. I credit much of
my improvement in computer
"Earth Spirit" |
work to Elfwood Amature Gallery and colored pencil
to the folks in the Colored Pencil Society of America
and my husband who is a gentle and excellent critique.
PM: What is you biggest inspiration personally?
TLG: My husband, my religion, my children, and my drive
to improve myself.
PM: How about artistically?
TLG: Roleplaying games. Then music, other people's
ideas and the strange things we see around us everyday.
PM: Do your personal religious/life beliefs make
their way into your artwork?
TLG: Definitely. I believe in imagination being the
greatest high. I believe in family. I believe that
magic and miracles exist in our lives and we can see
them daily if we look. I believe that beauty can be
found in anything good and it can sometimes hide evil
from us if we don't look deep. I believe in psychic
powers and gifts of the spirit, angels and demons, ghosts.
I believe that elves, unicorns and dragons have an explanation.
I believe that everyone has the right to make the choices
in their lives as to what they will create, write, draw,
live, and that I have the right not to participate if
I don't like it.
What does this have to do with artwork? I draw the
things that touch my heart and imagination, if it doesn't
engage one of those, I won't like the picture.
I have plans to one day to draw scenes from the Bible
and Book of Mormon because the stories are so inspirational,
and apply to everyone. Besides, my kids would like
it. *grin*
PM: Please tell us about this piece entitled "Earth
Spirit"
TLG: "Earth Spirit" was drawn in response
to Lady True suggesting to my complaint of "I don't
know what to draw", to design a tarot deck. So,
after she sent me many pages of what their general meanings
were, I began to let my imagination roam. She represents
the World Card. The spirit of the earth that takes
care of us, protecting us from the death that is vacuum.
Holding the world together and overseeing our accomplishments.
She was the second try at this card, my husband and
Lady True are exacting task masters *grin*
PM: What's your favorite piece of your own?
TLG: If I had to choose one, it would be "Ariel"
also know as "Angel Falls," because I love
the detail in the background and am very proud of it.
I have redrawn her three times (the picture is 24x32
or something) trying to get on paper what I saw in my
mind. Dakorillon SilverStar, would be among my top
favorites if I could choose a few, he has also been
drawn multiple times, trying to improve him. And Malachai
would be my third favorite. All of them have emotional
connection for me, due to the hard work, scale and the
place that the characters they were inspired by have
in my heart and imagination.
PM: Who is your favorite artist? Why?
TLG: I would have to say, Boris Vallejo. His work
is so lifelike even though it is fantasy. I strive to
improve my realism to the same degree, even though I
use a different medium, and different style. I have
a few colored pencil artists that I admire for the same
reason, Don Pearson being one, whose deer can leap right
off the page.
PM: Who is your least favorite artist and why?
TLG: Any artist that just splashes paint on the canvas
and calls it art. Anyone who does disgusting things
to the canvas just to be shocking.
PM: What do you think makes someone an artist?
TLG: Being an artist is a state of mind. You are an
artist as soon as you decide in your own estimation
of your ability and improvement that you are. Someone
can say, "You are an artist," but until you
believe it in yourself, you aren't. I suppose, you
have to have a certain amount of talent or skill before
other people will say that you are, though. *grin*
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