Carmine Magazine

Carmine Magazine: What drives you to create? Also, what inspires you and your work?
Tanya Pshenychny: I just love to create and the drive comes from having little ideas floating around in my head, digging to get out. My inspiration comes from colors, faces, feelings, occurrences, and music.

CM: Were you formally trained in art or self taught? Do you think it has helped you or hindered you?
TP: I consider myself self-taught because I have taken the skills and techniques I learned in high school and developed them on my own with the help of books and the internet. I wouldn’t say that not going to an art school has hindered me, because otherwise, I don’t think I’d be drawing the way I do now. It would have been a nice atmosphere, to learn along with other artists and get feedback from them and teachers. But I do get feedback everyday, from strangers and people who buy my work. And I’m very critical of myself. I’m also very stubborn and would rather figure things out on my own..

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?
TP: Watercolor and ink are my favorite media and I use Van Gogh and Winsor&Newton watercolors in tubes and Higgins Black India Ink. The balance of the consistency of the paint and water is the main part of painting with watercolor and I love the effects that can be achieved. It can be sometimes unpredictable. You’ll think an area is dry and paint next to it, touching the other layer, and it starts to run together because it wasn’t completely dry! And I think the ink brings everything together, the black lines keeping the watercolor in one place, like a wild parrot in a cage.

CM: At what point did you realize that creating was going to be a large part of your life?
TP: I think I was pretty young, maybe 11 or 12 years old. So when I finally got to high school, I took every possible art class I could.

CM: If there was one style of art that you could take up, what would it be?
TP: Intaglio Printmaking

CM: How do you deal with creator’s (or writer’s) block?
TP: I do what I normally do: listen to music, play with colors, leave the house (more often), and most importantly keep drawing/doodling. Sooner or later, something always hits me.

CM: How do you prepare for art shows where your work will be shown?
TP: When I had my work in cafes and restaurants, I would freak out all day before being in a room full of people I don’t know (and even ones I DO know!) looking at my work and talking to me and asking me questions. Then I go to the opening and it’s not even bad. But now I’m not even preparing for a show and thinking about it is still making me nervous for no reason. I just worry too much.

CM: How do you define you style? Does it represent an inner you or something completely different?
TP: When I tell people I draw with watercolor and ink, they ask me about my style and I have no idea what to tell them and just hand them my business card. That’s why the full front of my business card is one of my illustrations, like “here, you decide”. I’ve defined it as illustrative, and feel silly calling my work paintings because I don’t think they look like paintings even though I use a brush with the watercolor and the ink.. My style was something that happened after drawing a lot, and it’s just how I draw, it’s just me.

CM: What kind of environment do you need to create in?
TP: The kind where I can get lost. I hate trying to draw seriously in a moving car or while someone is pacing back and forth in the kitchen because our floor boards move, and it makes me move, etc.

CM: What does your workspace look like? (Pictures or a description work for this one)

It’s a small area of the kitchen that was supposed to be a breakfast nook. It’s probably 5ft x 5ft. All the technical stuff like my laptop and printer are across the kitchen in another corner.

CM: What was your worst experience with art? And the best?
TP: Bad experiences have been minor, and only included unnecessary comments such as “I can draw all day, too” and “You’re not worth $30.” The best experience is finishing an illustration and it all comes together, and others understand the message, and it’s even better if they can relate. I also enjoy people telling me what it means to them and why.

CM: What movies, books, music, etc get your creative juices flowing the most?
TP: Tim Burton movies I can watch over and over again. The characters, the colors, the plot, music, costumes.. Others would be Everything is Illuminated, Benny & Joon, The Ladykillers, A Series of Unfortunate Events.. you get the idea.

CM: Do you think the internet, technology, media, etcetera are helping or destroying the art world?
TP: I think the internet is helping more than it’s destroying. It’s helped me a lot. But it destroys, too, because of so many copyright issues.

CM: Aside from art what do you do with your time? Is there anything else that drives you or that you’re passionate about?
TP: I used to be really passionate about music. I learned to play the keyboard by ear, and would play my favorite songs and compose my own for fun. But I’ve been so busy trying to make art full time, that I don’t have any free time and my poor abandoned keyboard is giving me evil looks, suspecting that I’ve forgotten how to play.

Find Tanya’s work at these places on the web:
Razorberries.com Official Site
Razoberries Blog
razorberries on Etsy
razorberries on Flickr

Some artwork from Tanya Pshenychny: