teri donovan

{TERI DONOVAN ANSWERS OUR QUESTIONS}

What medium(s) do you work in? and why is this your preferred medium?
I used to use encaustic exclusively. I loved its flexibility. It allowed me to achieve a variety of surfaces from translucent and smooth as glass to opaque and highly textured. The fact that the paint dried as soon as it was applied to the support was a wonderful benefit. It meant I could paint my next layer immediately rather than waiting for paint to dry. And, in spite of the instant drying time, I could move paint around as much as I wanted by re-heating it with an electric heat gun. Another great thing about encaustic was that I could remove areas that didn't work, simply by heating them up and scraping them away.
As time went on, I became more interested in incorporating mixed media with encaustic. Once again, I was thrilled with the range of possibilities this opened up. Wax is a fabulous adhesive, so it allowed me to add numerous materials and media to what I was doing. In the last few years, I've been combining pencil, mylar, japanese papers, wallpapers, vellum, watercolour, watercolour pencils, oil, oil stick, pastels, and photoshoped digital prints with encaustic. The possibilities are practically endless.

Any wisdom you’d like to share about living as an artist?
Keep at it! Don't give up, but don't expect to make a living from your work. Very, very few people do. Prepare yourself for a long struggle, and organize your life to work at a paying job that will allow you to earn enough to live on, while also giving you the time you need to pursue your passion. This is easier said than done. Secondly, get involved with an artist-run gallery. This is a great way to meet fellow artists who can relate to you and be a supportive community. It's also provides an inroad to making valuable professional connections and is a fantastic resource when you need information about how to do something, or where to source materials or services.

Can you describe what your best learning experience as an artist has been and how you grew from it?
I think my best learning experience came from a mixed media class I took a few years ago. The instructor's way of doing things was diametrically opposed to what I had become accustomed to, and it forced me to re-orient my way of thinking and working. As a result, my work became less dogmatic, more spontaneous, and more open to experimentation.

Artists have to be creators, technicians and entrepreneurs …. What wisdom have you learned about the “business” of art that would help young developing artists to have more success in this area.
This is a tough area for me. Some artists are very outgoing, and fearless when it comes to promoting themselves. I, however tend to be more reticent. I used to think that if the work was good enough, the rest would take care of itself. I was wrong. I would advise young artists to get their feet wet, so to speak, by entering group and juried shows, but to do so strategically. Enter ones that have the potential of advancing your career. This will provide some experience in making submissions and showing work.
I would follow that by applying to artist-run spaces, and submitting to calls from regional and commercial galleries. I recently had a solo show at the Glenhyrst Gallery of Brant, in part because I had submitted work for a group show at another gallery that was juried by Glenhyrst's curator. Also, I would advise artists to send notices of their shows, even group shows, to all their local papers, post them on Facebook and Twitter, send them to Instant Coffee, Eye, and Now Magazine, as well as to curators, art critics, and other artists. It's important that a young artist does everything possible to make sure that people know about his/her work. I once ended up with a review by approaching a critic I saw at an opening, and asking him if I could email some information about my upcoming show. In other words, don't wait to be discovered. Take steps to make sure you are known. Also, be friendly, courteous, and decent to everyone you meet. You just never know where it might lead.
Something else that's very important, is to make sure you can say something about your work when people ask, even if it's only a few words. Be prepared with a simple and clear synopsis of what you do. Don't hem and haw and stumble your way through a disjointed explanation. Gallerists, critics, and curators expect artists to be articulate.
When making submissions, do something to make yours stand out from the rest. One artist I know of put his slides ( it would be a CD, or DVD now) in a beautiful box he had made along with a pair of white gloves. He got noticed and was taken on by the gallery. Lastly, subscribe to Akimbo, e-flux, and instant coffee to see calls for submissions, and to get a sense of what's going on in the art world locally and internationally. And remember, an overnight success may take ten years of preparation.

What component of the creative process do you find most appealing? and what part of the process makes you want to continue making art?
When I get an idea for something to do, and begin to envision it and figure out how to bring it into being, I get excited about the possibilities, and very keen to see what the thing will actually look like. Once I start working, the most appealing thing is to see what happens when idea meets material. The idea is only the starting point. The materials themselves impose their will, and demand a dialogue. The work becomes a conversation, and sometimes a tussle between what I want to do, what the materials will allow, and what comes through my hand that wasn't consciously planned. The real appeal is to see how the work morphs, and develops, and acquires a certain embodied energy. The most important thing is not to kill that energy, but to retain that spark that seems to happen magically when elements coalesce. It's a thrill to see it happen, and it's what makes the process exciting.

Teri Donovan is a Canadian artist based in Toronto. Her practice incorporates a variety of drawing and painting media in combination with encaustic and collage. She is interested in everyday paradoxes that shape awareness, thoughts, and behaviours, and her work explores themes related to perception and memory, and the impact of time on identity and the human condition.

She was born in Paris, Ontario and grew up in Toronto where she attended York University, and the University of Toronto. She also studied at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto School of Art, and The Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore. Currently, Teri Donovan is represented by The Red Head Gallery.

Recent exhibitions include: "Half-Life", at Hamilton Artists Inc., July 1- Aug. 14, "Time Shadow and Light", at The Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant, Apr. 27 - May 16, 2010, "Always, Once & Again", at Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, June 10 - 21, 2009, and “Coming Home”, at Terminal 1, GTAA from Sept. 13, 2008 - Jan. 25, 2009.

Teri Donovan's work was also featured in Carte Blanche Vol.2: Painting, a survey of contemporary painting in Canada, published in 2008.

HER SHOW AT HAMILTON ARTISTS INC. IS STILL VIEWABLE UNTIL AUGUST 14TH, 2010


teri donovan
published with permission