Interview With 1stAngel

Deena Fisher

Welcome to the Artists Blog

When did you first become interested in art?

I’ve been pretty much interested in art all of my life. I won awards in grade school for using textures and perspectives the other kids never thought of, though I didn’t really think of it as creating art. I started dabbling a lot more in college, mostly as a stress reliever. If I couldn’t write, I’d draw.

Has your style changed from when you first began as an artist?

I no longer make art out of construction paper! Seriously, only somewhat. I’ve always been drawn to darker things, emotions and scenes; to images of individuals but more abstract “any” faces than recognizeable neighbors and friends. Mostly, I’ve gotten better, even more interested in textures and layers, which I think has come in part from the digital photography, though I’ve always been a kinesthetic/tactile type.

Telling Tales

What style of art do you use most?

I used to do mostly sketches, with some exploration into watercolor and oils, but then I developed arthritis in my hands, and found that it was easier to paint and do digital manipulation with photos, some from my handy little digital camera, some from stock photo sites around the web.

What medium do you use?

Primarily digital photography, editing, manipulation, color washing and other mutations in PhotoShop, but I still keep a pencil or a pen and a pad handy (Tlingit and similar-style line art is also an old companion, though I have none online at the moment) for sketching or doodling.

What made you choose that medium?

I’d already created some pieces for the websites I design, but I actually started focusing on digital manipulation because I needed cover art that was better than what I could afford for the authors published by Drollerie Press.

Still Life

Do your ideas come from life or imagination?

From things I’ve seen filtered through my imagination, for example, “Surface” reminds me of the Asian Cinderella story and my grandmother’s pond, both mixed with darker things hidden in the back of my brain. “Telling Tales” came from thinking about Little Red Riding Hood, and me hiding out with books as a little girl. “Riding the Sky” came out of my feelings and thoughts about my older brother, who passed away in his 30s of congestive heart failure due to juvenile diabetes.

How do you choose your images and colours?

I have no idea. I start doodling and something happens. The cover image for “The Revenant Road” was supposed to be a scary looking guy leaning back on the hood of a black car. I have no clue what happened there, but the author loved it and it’s gotten positive responses from readers.

Who is your favourite artist?

Oh goodness. There are so many. If I have to choose one, probably Waterhouse.

Riding Sky

What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?

I would have to say today it’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”* It’s the one I consider my first real piece–the one that I did for myself and not as a commercial endeavor or to please someone else. I was feeling the sting of some anti-feminist nonsense, and had been reading about some really disturbing racist and anti-feminist notions, and couldn’t focus on the work I was supposed to be doing. Until we all have a voice, regardless of race, age, or sexual orientation, we haven’t won anything. So that one mostly because of the emotional impetus to create it.

How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?

It varies. I start and stop. Throw away bad beginnings. Stomp around the house. Make meals for the family. Start again. Probably most of a week.

How well do you take criticism?

It depends on who it’s coming from and whether or not it’s aimed at making me a better artist or a chance for someone to hear their own voice. Someone who says “I think there could be better definition in ‘Eyes’, I’d hear and respond. Someone who says “Ew, can’t you think of anything better to do?”, I’m going to walk away.

What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?

Change mediums, take a break, do some work that pays, go do something for the children, read a book. If a digital piece isn’t working, forcing it will ruin it. If a drawing isn’t going right, I often just throw it away. I’m more often blocked writing than with art. If I can’t create art, I work: edit, write, build a website. My art is, for me, a hobby, therapy, kind of an obsession, but I can’t afford to spend too much time on it. Growing monsters need food.

Revanant

How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?

I started “Surface” about 3 months before I finished it. I just couldn’t get there from where I was. I had to pack it up and stop thinking about it until the ending popped into my head. On the other hand, “Riding the Sky” was done long before I thought it was. I kept messing with it and having to undo it.

When it’s done, the piece (not literally of course) says “stop!” When I feel that the stopping point is close and I’m doing something digital, I start saving at regular intervals so I can go backwards if I don’t hear the voice in time. If it’s drawn or painted, I’m pretty much screwed so I try to stop too soon rather than too late. The only time I have trouble walking away is when I know I’ve done something off. It’s not quite working somewhere but I don\’t know what went wrong or when. That bothers me after I’ve put it away.

Chocolatier

Have you had exhibits in galleries?

I was asked to exhibit in a gallery in December of 2007, and then the gallery owner disappeared. That’s the closest I’ve gotten.

Have you any exhibits in galleries planned for the future?

Not yet. One hopes.

What are your plans for the future?

To keep doing what I’m doing, to keep learning. If I’m not learning something new I feel old and stagnant. Someday maybe the gallery show. I have plans to do some book binding with some of my authors’ work and my art; practice my watercolors; dabble in oils, get better at photography and digital painting. I’d really like to do some paintings with a palette knife. Figure out what (else) feeds me and do some more.

What advice would you give new artists?

Try lots of things, practice, copy others, take some classes if that’s the best way you learn, look at a lot of art, a LOT of art, figure out what you like, stop copying others and develop your own style, don’t be afraid to throw a piece away … and just keep doing it and getting better and better.

Thank you very much for being interviewed Deena The book covers are fantastic and your work is lovely.

You can see more of Deena’s images at http://dlmfisher.com

* Usually, as you readers know, we put the favourite work in to show it. However, in this instance, at the time of publication of the interview, the image “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” is in a contest and one of the rules is that it must not be shown elsewhere. Hence our not showing the favourite picture here. We wish Deena all the best of luck with the contest!!