Blog #1: Interview with Linley Rose

Jenny: "You have two very distinct styles, your paintings look like they are composed of solid colors whereas your drawings have a lot of movement and designs and patterns. Does your other work combine the two?"
 

Linley: "I started combining the two styles with my drawings last year. I found it created a dialogue throughout the work which avoided the static style I had been struggling with for years. I have taken patterns and incorporated them throughout my drawings and am beginning to in my paintings. Now, I don't just paint and draw what I see- I now exaggerate and enhance parts of the body or landscape that don't necessarily need it. I find that it adds a sort of mystery about the piece. I hope to more cohesively develop this in my paintings as time progresses."

Jenny: "I see that we are both very visual people.  Have you always done landscape? Have you ever done portraits of people?"

Linley: "I went through a spurt where all I painted and drew were people.  I found it restricting so this summer I broke out of my comfort zone and worked on some abstract pieces.  I started painting a lot of landscapes this past summer as well, but took a looser, more stylized approach that I was not previously familiar or with."

Jenny: "Who's your inspiration and why?"

Linley: My mother is my ultimate inspiration. She's an artist herself, and I find myself looking at her work for guidance. Other than her, I look to Egon Schiele a lot. I like his demented execution and fragmentation of the figure. I also refer to Jenny Saville,  I find her distortion of the human body provocative.  It makes me feel uneasy and uncomfortable which is not necessarily a bad thing. Rackstraw Downes' landscape paintings are amazing to me.  His attention to detail in his landscape paintings is very developed and incredible to see in person. I like to incorporate and fuse these styles together in my own works. I think it's fun to experiment with other artists' styles.

Jenny: "Did you always paint? Do you have a different hobby?"

Linley: "I have always painted. I like to collage on the side, but haven't done much of that for school."

Jenny: "Do you incorporate your own life experiences/memories into your landscape or paint what you see?"

Linley: "I like to paint landscapes that have meaning to me whether they are places I remember from my childhood or places I find beautiful or moving. I like to capture the feeling these places give me in the way that I paint them. I paint what I see to an extent, but add on or enhance certain areas or objects that I think need emphasis."

Jenny: "What do you think about totally come up with an imaginary scene?"

Linley: "I think imaginary sceneries would be extremely difficult to paint. I have never done it, so it would be interesting to see what would happen if I attempted to do so."
 

Jenny: "What kind of medium do you use? Does size of your paintings vary? What's the biggest canvas size you ever painted, how about smallest?"

Linley: "Oil and acrylic with painting. My painting sizes vary from 8"x12" to 24"x30".  I'm trying to work larger this year."

Jenny: "Have you taken any other classes aside from painting and drawing? What did you like and didn't like?"

Linley: "Yes... I took a digital printmaking and sculpture class. I found these classes to be extremely difficult to me. It took me out of my comfort zone and really made me think in a way I was not used to AT ALL. For instance, I am not technologically savvy when it comes to the digital art realm. That proved detriment to my general understanding throughout the digital printmaking class. I did learn a lot, however, it was just a lot to jump into. As for sculpture, I found it insanely hard to execute works that need to be considered from all sides.  With painting and drawing, the finished pieces are 2D so it was more of an obstacle than I thought it would be when considering how to make a sculpture."

Jenny: "What other work do you do have outside of Mason Gross? Does that affect your work?"

Linley: "Outside of Mason Gross I have a lot of collages and drawings. I find that working outside of school allows me to be more free. I don't feel pressured to complete works so I am more likely to just experiment all I want without the fear of failure. Working outside of school is where I develop, change and better my style. In school I try and solidify the style I have developed outside of school in hopes to make sound, cohesive pieces."

Jenny: "Do you know what you want to do for Thesis yet?"

Linley: "NO idea... probably something with landscapes but I need to find a way to make conversational pieces. It will be difficult." 


Overall I feel that Linley has a good concept of painting. She is trying to push herself outside of her boundaries which is a good thing. I like how she is striving to go outside of her comfort zone to make better art. I feel the need to have control too but I don't exactly know how to break free completely. Maybe I can learn from Linley and find new ways to explore graphic design.