Colors on Your Palette Artist Interviews with Contemporary Fine Artists

Featured Artists this month: Angela Hardy and Sunny Williams.

Sunny’s Palette

1.When did you realize you loved art and wanted to be ‘an artist’?

As a child I realized that I had to have a creative outlet, but didn’t know what avenue I wanted to explore. I love photography and operated a successful portrait studio in Charleston SC until I moved to rural West Virginia about three years ago. When I discovered I could paint, a whole new world opened up for me. That was about ten years ago.

2.Who has been the greatest influence from your past to mentor you to this career?

I have to say that I am self-motivated/competitive. My greatest challenge and joy is the continued education art affords me.

3.Who is your mentor today, or another artist you admire and why?

There are so many contemporary artist that I admire…I love the landscapes of Sallie K. Smith, the whimsical works of Carolee Clark, the still life works of Joan Potter, the wildlife photography of James Chagares…I find all of them inspiring and yet their styles are so different.

4.What is your favorite surface to paint on? Describe it if you make it yourself.

I enjoy canvas and fine art paper.

5. What brand of paints do you use? Grumbacher and Winsor and Newton

6.Do you have a favorite color palette?

No, my art reflects a variety of styles, and consequently a variety of palettes

7.What is your favorite color in your closet? Black is my default wardrobe color however my favorite color is green.

8.What subject appears the most in your paintings and why? People…they are the most interesting of all of God’s creation (to me).

9.How often do you paint? How many hours a week? I paint at least a couple hours every day.

10.How would you like to be remembered: As a woman with a fierce love for God and her family. Everything else is secondary.

Getting personal

1.What color sheets are on your bed right now?

Beige

2.What book are you reading this week?

“In My Time” by Dick Cheney

3.Do you have a favorite television show?

No, I’m a Fox News junkie.

4.What is your favorite food?

You can’t beat a good grilled steak.

5.What are you most proud of in your life?

My relationships with my grandchildren.

6.Who would you love to interview?

Adam and Eve (as a couple). I am bewildered at their arrogance and lack of appreciation.

7.Who or what would you love to paint?

One of the ladies in my knitting group. She is a beautiful senior citizen and has a lovely personality as well.

8.Share something with us that few people know about you.

I always wanted to be an actress.

9.If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

I am very blessed to be able to live anywhere in the world, and I wouldn’t choose anywhere else. I love the personality of rural West Virginia. I wouldn’t mind having a second home in the Southwest though.

10.Any other thoughts to share?

Angela’s Palette

1.When did you realize you loved art and wanted to be ‘an artist’?

Considering the underside of our coffee table was covered in ‘crayon art’ from the time I could first crawl under it, I would say I’ve always wanted to be an artist.

2.Who has been the greatest influence from your past to mentor you to this career?

My parents have always been by my side and have always done what they could to encourage and expose me to art. Exposure to art always required a bit of extra effort living in Labrador, Canada.

3.Who is your mentor today, or another artist you admire and why? An artist whom I truly admire would have to be my husband. He is a concept artist in the video game industry. Sharing our passion for art on a daily bases is a great motivator and we are both able to lift each other up when needed.

4.What is your favorite surface to paint on? Describe it if you make it yourself.

My preference is cradled gessoed panel, like Ampersand. I also have panels made.

With small panels, like my 6x6’s I will often paint several at once on gessoed canvas paper, taped down on one board. This allows me to work while other paintings dry. Then when finished I mount them on the primed panels using liquitex gel medium. I then varnish them with 2-3 coats of Satin Liquitex varnish.

5.What brand of paints do you use?

Golden Brand Fluids and Opens, and a variety of Liquitex acrylics are my favorites and most used. Love the vibrancy and glazing ability of them.

6.Do you have a favorite color palette? I keep a pretty broad palette, but I’m a sucker for bold color!

7.What is your favorite color in your closet? I hate to say it my my closet is dominated by black! Most of my color is in my accessories and on the rare occasion I wear a pop of color in my clothing.

8. What subject appears the most in your paintings and why? People, costumes and humor, usually all at once. Portraying our fun and humorous side is always my main goal. Getting to play dress-up is an added bonus!

9.How often do you paint? How many hours a week? -It’s a full time job, and the hours vary. It also bleeds into my personal time, which I don’t mind.

10.How would you like to be remembered? I like to focus on living a passionate life day to day, rather then how I’ll be remembered. "If tomorrow never came, would you be satisfied with everything you did today?"~JC Deen

Getting personal

1. What color sheets are on your bed right now?

-Limey-pea green, a soft cerulean blue and White.

2.What book are you reading this week? -I’m a bit of a health and fitness geek, “The 4 Hour Body”, by Tim Ferriss

3.Do you have a favorite television show? I’m a die hard Golden Girls fan!

4.What is your favorite food? -Dark Chocolate and Cherry’s, but not together.

5.What are you most proud of in your life? That I’ve stuck to my passion of painting, no matter how hard it can be at times.

6.Who would you love to interview? Frida Kahlo, but I might have to wait for my next life to do that.

7.Who would you love to paint? I would love to get to paint some of the cast from Cirque du Soleil.

8.Share something with us that few people know about you. I’d like for there to be a little mystery left … smirk !

9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Honestly I’ve moved around a lot, so I’m not really sure where right now... but I would love a part time Villa in Italy, I love reading and rereading Frances Mayes books.

10.Any other thoughts to share? My favorite quote sums it up nicely "Beware the lollipop of mediocrity; lick it once and you'll suck forever."~Brian Wilson