Carmine Magazine

Carmine Magazine: What drives you to create? Also, what inspires you and your work?
Sarah Deaton: Honestly, I have no idea. 9 times out of 10, it’s completely spontaneous. I’ll be coloring Easter eggs and say, “Hey, let’s smash them all and take photos!” or I’ll just decide out of the blue to start sewing something. My head is a place I don’t even pretend to understand. I just go wherever it takes me.

CM: Were you formally trained in art or self taught? Do you think it has helped you or hindered you?
SD: I studied art at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It forced me to work in mediums which I would normally never work, which I believe helps give you a greater appreciation for those mediums and makes you more well-balanced in your view of art in general and in the approach you take in creating it.

CM: Do you have a ritual, quirk or superstition that influences you and the way you create? (example: I must where the green underwear when I paint hair or it will look horrid, etc.)
SD: No, I’m not the superstitious. I’m usually too spontaneous about things to worry about the color of my undies.

CM: What mediums do you work in the most? Do you have a particular brand that you love working with? Why do you use them?
SD: Photography, graphic design, and fibers. I work as a freelance designer but I still consider it creative. I work with Macs and Adobe Creative Suite 2 because they are the awesome. For photography, I work only with Nikon cameras. They have the best lenses and have never let me down. The only exception to that rule is Polaroid film. I love the spontaneity of it. As far as my sewing goes, I tend to hand-stitch all my work. I have a sewing machine but never really use it.

CM: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? And now?
SD: I wanted to be everything from an architect to a ballerina as a child. But I knew by high school that I would be involved in the arts in some way or another. I was much more interested in illustration at the time but discovered that I enjoyed photography much more.

CM: If there was one style of art that you could take up, what would it be?
SD: I would love to have the time and creative foresight to paint. If you put a blank canvas in front of me, I have no idea what to do with it. Give me a camera though, and I can find a million views to share.

CM: Do you think the internet, technology, media, etcetera are helping or destroying the art world?
SD: As a graphic designer, I can’t possibly say that it’s destroying the art world. A lot of people don’t consider it to be an art but they’re wrong. It requires a great deal of skill and creative talent. Just having Photoshop and a guide to HTML doesn’t make you a designer. Having the tools and knowing how to use them are two completely different things. Additionally, the internet allows me access to artists and styles that I would never even know about. I’m a firm believer in the idea that the more exposed you are to different styles, the more it helps your own creative skills. I can’t afford to travel the world, so the internet is my world gallery.

CM: How do you deal with creator’s (or writer’s) block?
SD: I just wait. Eventually something will pop in my head. My head comes up with insane ideas all the time and eventually, there’ll be a good one I can actually do something with.

CM: How do you prepare for art shows where your work will be shown?
SD: I don’t present anything in art shows because I don’t think they’d want me. I just post things online because I can do it on my own terms.

CM: At what point did you realize that creating was going to be a large part of your life?
SD: Late middle school or early high school.

CM: What was your worst experience with art?
SD: Some of my professors in college… Art is subjective and some of my professors didn’t quite agree with me on things. It was often discouraging.

CM: What was you best experience with art?
SD: Taking a 4×5 view camera into an abandoned office building. I took some of the best photos I’ve ever taken.

CM: How would you define your style? Is it an extension of yourself, or something else entirely?
SD: If I have a style, I don’t know about it. I try not to think about things like that. That probably is an extension of myself though. I just take things as they come in my life and my work.

CM: What does your workspace look like? (Pictures or a description work for this one)
SD: I have a computer desk surrounded by little cute things like a kokeshi doll, a Maneki Neko, and Hello Kitty items. I thrive on cute and it keeps me happy and working. My sewing area takes up a corner of the living room. It consists of some stackable storage cubes full of fabric and stuffing as well as a table with my sewing machine and various sewing implements strewn about. I try to keep it pretty contained in that one corner though.

CM: Aside from art what do you do with your time? Is there anything else that drives you or that you’re passionate about?
SD: I play video games, watch movies, and read comic books. That’s the stuff that keeps me sane.

Find Sarah’s work at these places on the web:
Kittydoom on Livejournal
Kittydoom on Myspace
Kittydoom on Flickr
KittyAid

Some artwork from Sarah Deaton: