This week in the DP Café
Meet artists Cooper Dragonette and jenedy paige
A Chat with artist Cooper Dragonette
How would you describe your painting style?
I am a realist painter--or at least painting as realistically as my limited abilities and patience can get me. If I had to describe my style I'd call it "simplified realism."
What was your earliest indication that you wanted to be a painter?
I always knew I was artistic, but painting didn't come until college when I was majoring in sculpture. I had to fulfill my painting credit(s) and enrolled in Painting 101 with a great professor and painter, George Burke. After that, I was a painting major.
Do you come from a painting family, or did you pick it up on your own?
My mother and father both worked in design and advertising, but it was my mother who really is the artist in the family. She was the one, who, after a long day at work would come home and work on a painting or a sculpture. Now that she's retired, she's a full-time painter and I do my best to keep up.
What is your favorite movie & why?
"Breaking Away" has been my favorite movie for as long as I can remember. I think largely because I identified so strongly with its main character, Dave Stohler. The whole coming-of-age storyline still resonates with me now even later in life. I suppose there's a part of me who will always want to find my own path and chart my own course in life.
Favorite book? Why?
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It's the kind of book I keep picking up years and years after having read it the last time and still manage to see it in a whole new light. There is a real tie between quality as it relates to the book and quality in painting or life. In fact, it's about time I read it again.
Favorite type of music? Why?
90.7 WFUV You'll have to listen and decide for yourself.
Favorite color? Why?
Usually whichever tube of color I've run out of and desperately need.
For how long have you been painting daily?
I'm beginning to lose track, but it's been about 4 years now.
Do you complete a painting every day?
I wish. I wish it were that simple. Most of the time I will start on a batch of paintings...It's a bit like what I imagine juggling plates must be like; You have to keep them all going simultaneously and some seem to spin effortlessly while others require constant attention, with no guarantees that one or all of them might come crashing down. It's much easier to juggle one plate.
What's your typical day like?
I treat painting like a job and try to organize my day just as any workday in any other job might look like. My ideal day starts very early in the morning and I'm in the studio before sunrise, before breakfast. It's a great way to start the day and usually makes for a productive one as well. It's much easier to ease into the day that way as well, largely because I never feel there are enough hours in the day to begin with. There is always the business of marketing and answering emails and keeping up that side of the business is important to devote time to. I find it best to get it out of the way early to leave more time for painting. The studio or the field can be a bit isolated, so sometimes I'll start my day at the coffee shop to get some work done on the computer. I'm usually the first one in and occasionally run into a few friends which is always great. Then it's straight to the easel for as long as I can. But there are days when I can't wait to put the brushes down. And then others when I'm cleaning up in a rush because I have to run and pick up my son at daycare or start dinner. When that happens, that's usually a sign that things are going well.
What have you had the most fun painting?
Painting outdoors in winter is just so darn hard and often fruitless, but there is something magical and ridiculous about it that I would have to say it's the most fun.
How would you like to be remembered?
As someone who made a difference in other people's lives.
What is your favorite room in your house?
The kitchen. Probably because in another life I would probably like to be a chef. In the meantime, I'll pretend I'm Gordon Ramsay. Or my father.
If you could have dinner with anyone famous, past or present, who would that be?
Ernest Shackleton. Just to hear him tell the story straight from the horse's mouth.
What are you most proud of in your life?
My ten years working at Outward Bound. It set the course for the rest of my life.
What is one thing about you that few people know?
I'm fairly squeamish about anything medically invasive.
What are people most surprised to find out about you?
That I'm even more handsome in person than I appear on the computer.
What one word would you use to describe yourself?
Handsome.
If there was a movie made about your life, would it be a comedy or a drama?
I suppose it would be a bit like a Woody Allen movie. It might never be clear to the viewer whether they're watching a comedy or a drama. But any good movie probably needs a bit of both anyhow.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I'd like to add on a few hours to the day, but I don't think that's what you were asking.
See all of Cooper Dragonette's work at: http://www.dailypainters.com/artists/artist_gallery/778/Cooper-Dragonette
A Chat with artist jenedy paige
How would you describe your painting style?
Realistic, Figurative, Portraiture. Although I hope in the future it includes more expressive abstract elements. :)
What was your earliest indication that you wanted to be a painter?
People always ask me if I wanted to be a painter my whole life, I guess many artists do know from a young age that that's what they want to do, but that wasn't me. I was kind of thrown into my senior year in high school when my family moved to a very rural town, and I had already taken all the maths and sciences that the school offered - so I took art!
Do you come from a painting family, or did you pick it up on your own?
My mom has always loved painting the walls in our house. My dad used to say we were loosing square footage because the walls were getting thicker from all the paint! She also enjoyed toll painting and participated in many craft shows. My older brother was also very good at drawing growing up, better than me by far, but he decided to be a lawyer. :)
Favorite color? Why?
Orange! I love orange! I think I love it so much because it's pretty much the warmest color I know, and it's so intense. Orange also reminds me of the fall, which is my favorite season.
For how long have you been painting daily?
I joined Daily Painters in the Winter of 2006, shortly after finishing my BFA, and I've been painting pretty much every day since. When I began I actually finished my paintings in a day, but I've had two children since then, and now it takes a little longer to finish them!
What's your typical day like?
Wake up really early and study my scriptures, write in a journal, and go for a run. Make pancakes, change diapers, make beds, pick up toys, and chase around two very energetic boys until they pass out for their afternoon nap - at which point I race to my easel and go to work! Then its dinner, dishes, jammies, a little wrestling in the family room, story time and beds! Then repeat again the next day.
How would you like to be remembered?
As some one who loved people, who worked hard, who used every minute well that God granted her.
What is one thing about you that few people know?
I love to jumprope, and was actually on a competitive jumprope team as a kid!
What one word would you use to describe yourself?
Honest
See all of jenedy paige's work at: http://www.dailypainters.com/artists/artist_gallery/719/jenedy-paige
