Sari Grove
Talking to myself...an interview...Sari Grove lately...2011-ish...
Another imaginary interview with myself...
Questions stolen from Inside the Painter's Studio by Joe Fig...In fact, I had wanted to do this type of thing, but conveniently, I found another artist who had beat me to the punch, who also conveniently had the questions on her blog...
2010/11/inside-painters-studio.html Here is the blog where I lifted the original questions from...
When did you consider yourself a professional artist, and when were you able to dedicate yourself full-time to that pursuit?
The word professional to me always meant when you first take money for your work...In 1993, I sold my first painting...This was after 4 years of working on my painting in a studio after graduating from university...I was always full time after university...
How long have you been in this studio?
I consider the world my studio...I have been in this world technically for 44 years now...(I write technically, because I did arrive with alot of skills & tastes written into my DNA from my parents...)
Has the studio location influenced you?
Well...The world I live in now is bounded a bit by where I live, since I tend to circle my home...Yorkville area, Toronto, is a traditional stomping ground for bohemians, so, no matter how kooky I get, there are always kookier people nearby...Which is good in many ways, although, I do enjoy being unique & it is hard to stand out if you are a spotted zebra if you live in the midst of a herd of spotted zebras...
Please describe a typical day, being as specific as possible. For example: What time do you get up? When do you come to the studio? Do you have specific clothing to change into?
I try to wake up by the crack of noon...My husband, Joseph Grove, also an artist, is a total insomniac who barely seems to sleep at night at all...(I'm not sure actually)...I, am a sleep-a-holic, & even the slightest disturbance in my REM sleep screws me up for days...I can't create if I am feeling wiry or tense, the work just doesn't work if I try...So to make up for my off & on sleep pattern at night, I make every effort to sleep in as long as possible...Once I am awake, then I am highly productive & tend to work at a furious intensity...I am like fire when I work at something...But I don't set a schedule...Schedules make me tense...I learned how to cut my own hair just to avoid the commitment of an appointment...I spend much of my creative process just stalking my subject...My work right now is about swans...So, I might be down at Bluffer's park hand feeding Trumpeter Swans a couple of times a week for half a year...You really have to know your subject to do good work...My husband is a big walker & he makes me walk miles & miles & miles with him...I say makes me because his pace is faster than mine & it is a bit like having a personal trainer...Walking is how I decide on a new subject...I am addicted to the gamma rays emitting from our desktop Mac computer-especially since we live in a cold mostly dark climate...So I will surf the internet reading artist blogs art coach blogs art gallery websites Facebook Twitter really almost anything since I Love to read & this is all so free- I do this on really cold days...I have a hobby...Medicine...I am very good at bridging between art & medicine, so my hobby is to find cures for diseases...Especially based on need...If I meet someone with a disease, someone I like, I will spend a huge amount of time researching their problem & trying to fix it...
My tops are designed by Katydid & bought from ...My all stretch Lee jeans were 23 dollars at a Walmart...(please don't tell anyone)...I wear the best running shoes I can find on this planet...Sometimes I run in them...
Do you listen to music, the radio, or TV when you work? If so what, and does it affect your work?
No...Music makes me blind...So I only listen in the bathtub where you can find me much of the time...
What kind of paints do you use?
Kama walnut oil paint from Montreal...Walnuts are tree nuts, which are not necessarily a problem for peanut allergy people, since peanuts are ground nuts...Linseed otherwise known as flaxseed, grows in the ground, so that can be more of a problem for peanut allergy people than walnut paints...Betcha didn't know that!
Do you have any special devices or tools that are unique to your creative process?
Painting knives from Italy with squishy handles...()
Are there specific items that have significant meaning to you?
My dream machine alarm clock with radio from my McGill days, circa 1989, bought on an airplane with my mum...(lasted this long, because I don't use alarms, of course...) It tells me the time & has a good radio...
Do you work on one project at a time or several?
One at a time...
When you are contemplating your work, where and how do you sit or stand?
Ideally I would be lying down...I think better lying down...But this is not an ideal world...I used to have a bed in my studio...Hmmm...
How often do you clean your studio, and does it affect your work?
After each project I throw everything out...Each work also means all brand new stuff...Keeps it fresh...
How do you come up with titles?
The wind blows them in usually...
Do you have assistants?
Two intact bengal lady cats named Jadzia & B'Elanna who are an endless source of mischief & laughter...
Did you ever work for another artist, and if so, did that have any effect on the way you work?
No, but my grandfather & great-uncle were sports photographers...Visit The Hockey Hall of Fame, Turofsky Collection, or online ...
(here is a bit about Sari Grove's grandfather & great uncle, Lou & Nat Turofsky...(from the Hockey Hall of Fame website)...
Turofsky Photo Collection
The Turofsky Collection is the world's single largest collection of hockey photographs. Noted brothers, Nat and Lou Turofsky, began taking photos in 1907 and quickly established themselves as the premier photographers in the sporting world. Their spectacular and diverse hockey photographs truly captured the essence of the game, from the stars to the journeymen, from the glamourous arenas to the dank training facilities, all of which chronicle the Original Six era.
Imperial Oil Ltd purchased the collection on December 2, 1981 for $15,000. Imperial then donated the collection of 900 glass-plate negatives and 21,000 cellulose negatives to the Hockey Hall of Fame where they are now archivally preserved. Twenty-seven of these images have been selected for the exhibit. )
I inherited an ability to catch motion- I don't need my subject to be still to catch it...
Do you have a motto or creed that as an artist you live by?
That license plate motto "Live free or die"...
What advice would you give a young artist that is just starting out?
Don't work in quantity...Do less work, very well...One great piece is worth 10 good ones...Don't let dealers con you into producing quantity...
Questions stolen from Inside the Painter's Studio. Published by Princeton Architectural Press, New York. 2009. Joe Fig...
originally Posted by GroveCanada.fm at Sunday, January 09, 2011 12:18 PM
Categories: uncategorized
