Stephanie Anderson Watermelon Arrangement
Stephanie Anderson Bird and Nest 2 your black and white drawings are exquisite. I’m wondering what is most in demand—art for the public, for the commercial side, for the fine-art side? How do you end up with time and freedom to create what you desire? Stephanie: What i am producing is exactly what i desire to make. currently, that means taking paintings, cutting them apart, and assembling them into collaged configurations. then, finishing an illustration project with watercolors and pastels, and when that’s done, returning to a series of drawings and collaged paintings that have been in my head for too long.
What in particular from your training and curriculum at school do you think helps you the most in what you work on now? Stephanie: Working from life will always be how i ground myself. in school, i learned by doing, listening during crits, and doing again having learned from that feedback. What i absorbed from the conflicting ideas put before me is that i personally need to see my subject matter; that whatever truth, inspiration, etc. starts with something i can observe and absorb. From there, i can extrapolate at will, and change what i want.
Did a teacher ever steer you wrong, or did you have any disagreements? I did, and as it turns out now, I now see 26 • MAy 2016 tHe ArtFUl MIND
his point of view—though I still see mine as well. We learn to compromise, but never settle! Stephanie: Yes, i did have a couple of experiences like that in a drawing class, and i floundered trying to figure out what my teacher wanted, believing that i had been “wrong” in my approach. What followed was a semester of crap that instructed me in what not to do, and perhaps one could argue that i needed to go through that struggle, but it certainly didn’t feel helpful at the time. i think that, often, big ideas are attached to the process of drawing and painting, as if such things are too frivolous without the gravitas of a conceptual, esoteric foundation. as a student, you are exposed to the myriad experiences of your teachers, but you can pick and choose what to keep or discard over the course of your life as an artist. i had great instructors at riSd, whose words will sustain me for the rest of my career because they continue to push me toward becoming a better artist. they are also the teachers who kept it simple, direct, and free of “artspeak,” which is what i need. Do you have good school memories? Stephanie: i have very positive memories from school, though i too struggled with math. My brother used to help me with my homework every night, and there would be this “aha!” moment where it all made sense. then, the following morning, it was gone. He was like Sisyphus, trying to teach me. Fortunately for me, there was no mandatory
math class at art school! i wish i had understood math better, as it is the key to so many disciplines i find fascinating. i realize that i’m speaking in the past tense, but there is no way i’m going through that ordeal again. i’m an avid reader, and i credit the emphasis on books and comprehension from my school days as keeping me intellectually curious. Art is an all-consuming affair of the heart! How do you find the time to do anything but art making? What is your daily schedule like for you? I ask you this because your watercolors look like they take an incredibly long time to finish. Stephanie: i’m easily distracted, so i work in small chunks of time. Working from life demands that i work quickly enough to capture what i need before my subject matter starts to change, so looking at a work in progress, you might see a fully-realized flower floating on the paper. often, the mutability of things determines the order in which they are done, so after starting with a basic pencil sketch, i work in pieces. oddly enough, the drawings are the most labor intensive, as they tend to be very detailed and controlled. A question you must hear a lot: “How did you train your eyes, brain and hands to get that realism?” So tell, what is the secret to getting what you see to be ex-