 | | | ARTELLAGRAM 1-13-10:
"In the Studio"
An Interview with Artist Nancy Gillett (This interview is continued from the January 13 2010 Artellagram...)
 Artella: What is your background, in terms of artistic training? If you could go back and do anything differently to prepare you for the kind of creative work you do now, would you have made different decisions?
Nancy: Although I have never had any formal artistic training, you might say I was home-schooled in creativity! There were six of us living in a very small house without much money. The kitchen table was continually home to a project someone was working on. My father hand crafted amazing furniture. My two brothers put together models and build radios. My mom and my sister spent hours at the sewing machine stuck in a back hallway. My grandparents on both sides frequently came to stay. They, too, always had at least one project underway. I remember dying fabric with my grandmother after she read a book about how people used to do it with natural materials like onions and elderberries. My other grandmother (well into her 80's) taught me to make stained glass after she started taking classes. If I could go back and do things differently, I might try taking an art class! LOL!
Artella: Do you find that creating art helps you deal better with challenges in life? Does art play a healing or helpful role for your life?
Nancy: Through the years art has been an incredibly healing force in my life. Twelve years ago my daughter came to me in emergency medical foster care. For the first nine years of her life, she was struggling to live. She was in and out of the hospital more times than I can count, several were month long stays. She came home three times on palliative care. During that time I began creating in earnest. A friend taught me to make handmade paper and soon every surface in the apartment had paper drying on it. Then I started playing with watercolors, then acrylic paint, and various kinds of clay. The process of creating tapped into my core and I found energy and peace. I am not sure how I would have survived without the creative process. I am happy to report Maddie is doing amazingly well and my art continues to be an intimate part of my well-being.
Artella: It seems that there is a prevalent belief that artists must be unhappy in order to create... that artists are "supposed" to suffer. Do you think this is true?
Nancy: No! I do not think artist are supposed to suffer or be unhappy. A lot of people would look at my child and at me and see suffering. That is not what comes to my mind at all! I look at my child and my live and I feel overwhelmed with wonder and gratitude! Obviously there have been some difficult times, but even in the midst of those, there has been great joy!
Artella: What is the weirdest art material you have ever used?
Nancy: We had a dog that went through a stage where he chewed anything he could find. So I gather all the chewed debris and did a college. In the corner of the canvas was a picture of Simon sleeping as peaceful as can be with a spool of thread, a mask, one of Maddie's dolls, a ball, a shoe string, a pen, and a few things that I could not identify all chewed up!
Artella: What is your favorite piece of art you've ever created, and why?
Nancy: Sometimes I think whatever I am working on is my favorite piece. My current favorite is a leg clock I made a couple of months ago. I had a pair of ankle boots that I loved but could no longer wear because they made my feet hurt. So I sculpted a leg and foot to wear the boot. I dressed it in a wild black and turquoise sock. I cut a hole in the calf and place an enclosed clock face. To finish it off I covered the top with the bottom of the leg of a pair of jeans and added a pair of clip on gold earrings to the small boot cuff. It was fun to make and I still get to enjoy my boots!
See Nancy's wonderful products in The Shoppes of Artella, here.
 Want more artist interviews from Artella? Take a look at our eBooks Artist Profiles Assembled and Artist Profiles Assembled, Vol 2, and look at the "Ask the Artist" column every single day in The Artella Daily Muse, our daily online creativity newspaper.
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