@tinselrage | www.redbubble.com/people/tinselrage
We are honored to have, Sarah Curl-Larson, as our Featured Artist, she is an incredible painter that paints some really cool and really well don’t illustrations on canvas with acrylic, her paintings are definitely worth checking out! Head over to her page and hit that follow button!
How long have you been an artist? What is your specialty? Where do u find inspiration?
I’ve been making art in one form or another since I can remember. I really liked to draw as a kid, then my parents signed me up for an art class where I learned how to use charcoal, pastels, oil paint and watercolor. I started painting with acrylics when I took a class at the Art Institute of Chicago in high school, which has been my favorite medium ever since. I find inspiration from nature, from the wildlife, plants, and landscapes I see in Colorado and the Western United States. Also, my father is an anatomy professor, and I used to spend a lot of time in his lab as a kid where I became fascinated with the human body. I look for connections between human anatomy and the environment in my work.
Do you have a job in the art industry? If So, what’s one thing you don’t like about it? If no, where would your dream job be?
I consider myself an independent artist, so I paint at home and market my work through social media and connecting with the art community here in Denver, which means that my income from my art is very unstable. I have taught art classes before, and would really like to do so again.
Do you have a favorite Artist?
I have so many! I love the Lowbrow/Popsurrealist art movement, and some of my favorite artists are people currently working and doing really inspirational work involving animals, species preservation and conservation work, such as Lauren Marx, Jean Pierre Arboleda, Josie Morway and Amy Guidry. They all use animals as subject matter through a surrealist lens, which forces their viewers to question their relationships with wildlife and nature.
What is one accomplishment you’ve had in your life? Does not need to be art related.
I have climbed ten 14ers in Colorado (mountains over 14,000 feet high) and intend to do many more, and would love to hike more extensively in Canada and South America.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?
I am currently working on my Masters in Social Work. I would like to incorporate art therapy into my practice once I graduate, teaching art classes and using art to help vulnerable populations who may not have had much exposure to the art world before. I have a seven month old daughter, so for the next 10-20 years I see myself being a mom, social worker, and artist, and intertwining all of those aspects of my life together. I would also like to do much more traveling abroad when my daughter is older.
If you could meet and talk to any person in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?
The person who keeps coming to mind is Anne Boleyn. I think she gets painted in modern culture as this kind of Elizabethan hussy, but she was actually a very radical person and was central to one of the biggest events in Western history. I would love to have a conversation with her.
How is one way you make money with your art?
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of commission pieces. I also sell prints, and my originals are always for sale either up in a gallery, restaurant or cafe, or through directly contacting me.
If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be and why?
I spent a summer in 2010 working on an archaeological excavation in southern Peru, which was an amazing experience, but I didn’t get to see much of the rest of the country or travel anywhere else in South America. I want to spend some time hiking and drinking wine in Chile and Argentina.
What is your favorite brand of art supply? Whether it’s a brand of pencils or brand of camera or software
I like Liquitex Acrylic paint, Dick Blick canvases, and Monarch brushes.
Any advice for young artists?
There are going to be frustrations and setbacks when trying to work as an artist, especially if you do fine art or freelance work. There are going to be people who don’t like your work or are discouraging, but if you persist you will find people who appreciate your work and want to buy it or book shows with you, you just have to keep marketing yourself and connecting with other art-minded people in your community. You have to put in a good amount of leg work in order to get your work out there.
