CARMINE MAGAZINE

Carmine Magazine: What drives you to create? Also, what inspires you and your work?
Kaitlin Beckett: I’ve always had an overactive imagination! It’s important to express yourself creatively, no matter what your method might be, or risk frustrating yourself because your imagination is not finding an outlet. I find I’m inspired a lot by dreams, some of them can get pretty weird - the beakface concept came from a very strange dream. The animal kingdom is also an endless source of inspiration – how incredible some of the creatures are, that we share our world with.

CM: Were you formally trained in art or self taught? Do you think it has helped you or hindered you?
KB: I had a small amount of training in graphic design which I think has helped me when it comes to composition, colour use, and general mental organisation of the idea you’re trying to express. Fine art training – well, a year of art education while at school had a devastating effect and virtually put me off art entirely! As a child I had drawn and doodled a lot. So I decided to take it up as a high school subject, thinking I’d be at least OK at it. But my art teacher’s idea of ‘learning art’ was to force us to choose one of 2 artists, and then basically just copy their style. We were marked on how well we could copy them – how ridiculous! I didn’t even like the artists she chose, and back
then the fashion was all big expressive brushstrokes (which is the polar opposite of my own style!), so I didn’t do very well at all – my confidence was shot to pieces and I decided art just wasn’t for me, and stopped for many years. It took a long time to overcome that hurdle, and the journey since then has been all my own, making my own mistakes, so I consider myself a self-taught artist. I’ve been asked a few times where I studied art, so I guess that’s a compliment?

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?
KB: I use quite a few in my process, I enjoy layering with my mediums. Generally things that don’t require special equipment or lots of room, things that dry quickly and that allow you to be super-precise have my vote! Watercolours, inks (with a dip pen) and conte are in all of them, and often I’ll add metal leaf or metallic foils, or paint on iridescent pigments. Love shiny things – bit like a magpie in that respect. I’m a bit of an art supply-klepto so there’s no shortage of mediums to play with in my studio. I quite like Windsor & Newton watercolours, and Golden mediums and varnishes are fantastic.

CM: At what point did you realize that creating was going to be a large part of your life?
KB: I’m not sure really - I have always played music in various forms, drawn and ‘made things’. I always knew my job would be something creative-based, though it did take me a while to figure out how to viably pay rent through being creative. I am pretty busy at it though – which has an adverse effect on my social life! Art does consume most of my waking thoughts.

CM: If there was one style of art that you could take up, what would it be?
KB: I’ve always been curious about leadlighting and stained glass. Maybe one
day I’ll take it up – though I have a feeling it involves a long and grease-smeared apprenticeship.

CM: How do you deal with creator’s (or writer’s) block?
KB: I’m never short of ideas, I have hundreds of sketches pinned to cork boards around my studio, and more in my head that have not found their way out yet. For me though creator’s block comes in the form of not knowing which one to work on! ‘Where to start’ syndrome can freeze you to a blank canvas just as surely as ‘What to paint’ syndrome. I have a note on my wall reminding me not to try and do everything at once…that helps! Otherwise I take time out and do something else that’s not art related, and try and let the best idea rise to the top of my head, like a magic 8 ball :) Sometimes the muse and I work well together…though she is more likely to attack me from multiple angles at once like a flock of screeching harpies, than disappear entirely.

CM: How do you prepare for art shows where your work will be shown?
KB: I guess practically, I’ll write a list of the works I’m aiming to put in, including works I’ve not yet finished and a timeline by which I have to finish them so there’s till time to varnish them and let them dry. It’s good motivation though I don’t always make my target! Mentally, I go into
it thinking that I won’t mind if nothing sells, so I’m always pleasantly surprised when I do sell a work.

CM: How do you define you style? Does it represent an inner you or
something completely different?
KB: I wouldn’t say my work aligns itself to any definite movement…but I guess it has surreal concepts and ideas. They are fantasy creatures, but fantasy art has connotations of wizards and big breasted warrior women so I tend to avoid that term! The words whimsical and quirky get said a bit. I do strive to do something unique, both stylistically and in my subject matter – I’ll always admire a poorly-executed piece with an original concept over a well-painted piece that is a tired or trite idea. The inner me? Not sure…being that many creatures come from dreams, they probably reveal more of the inner me than I realise!
Someone said once about my creatures - “You want to tickle their tummies but you’re not sure if they will bite you” - I thought that summed them up really well.

CM: What kind of environment do you need to create in?
KB: That’s quite important! I love shutting the door to my studio, putting on my music and some incense, and working uninterrupted. I do like a glass of red and would fancy myself as a wine-soaked artiste but unfortunately no, alcohol even in small amounts completely thwarts my ability to be precise!
So I just have a few strong coffees, and hope my hands don’t shake too much.

CM: What does your workspace look like? (Pictures or a description work for this one)
KB: For the last year and a half I have had a whole room just for art and my
junk. So I can spread my stuff everywhere and make a big mess :) Here’s a photo of one corner of my studio, with my lucky ram’s skull, my Dionysian lamp and the stereo remote always handy.

CM: What was your worst experience with art? And the best?
KB: Worst? I guess it would be the year of art tuition at school that I mentioned before. Even though I realised the teaching method was really flawed, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that art was just something I wasn’t very good at and I should move on to other things. Despite cutting myself adrift from art, during that time I still kept having creative ideas, which I’d sometimes try and turn into art but as my technical skills were so rusty everything I did came out bad, further stomping my confidence! One day after too many years in artistic limbo I decided that I didn’t want to NOT be doing art anymore, and I forced myself to overcome the mental block.
Best would have to be the first time I sold a piece of art to someone I didn’t know. Your friends and family can help and support you to a point, but you can never expect an objective opinion! So it was a real feeling of validation that someone else shelled out to own something I painted. I’d like to think I will still be truly appreciative of that in the future, no matter how many I may sell.

CM: What movies, books, music, etc get your creative juices flowing the most?
KB: I can’t paint without music! Lately Neil Young and Hendrix have been inspiring me. I mostly listen to 60-70s music though I like bands like Shellac and Jesus Lizard. I read a lot – my favourites for inspiration are Camus, Orwell, Huxley, Banville, Woolf…I like fantasy stuff too like
Lovecraft and Herbert. I’d like to watch more movies but it’s hard to commit to 2-3 hours in one go…though I’ve seen Star Wars more times than I care to admit (Episodes IV-VI, of course!!).

CM: Do you think the internet, technology, media, etcetera are helping or destroying the art world?
KB: By the time I started exhibiting and promoting myself, the internet was well and truly established so I don’t know how hard it would have been without it. But I spend a lot of time on sites like Red Bubble, MySpace and online galleries/zines etc, and through them I find artists and
galleries and events I’d never know about without the internet. It has been great so far for networking and meeting other artists, and by trying to expand my online presence both with my own site and artists collectives I have had more opportunities come my way. It’s a double edged sword though, as putting anything on the internet makes it available for downloading and theft. I don’t mind people putting my work in their blog or on their site, and sites that promote ‘sharing’ cool things you might
find on the net (like stumbleupon, reddit etc) are a wonderful idea, it can be a fantastic way to get your work out there - only as long as it links back to me and/or credits me correctly!

CM: Aside from art what do you do with your time? Is there anything else that drives you or that you’re passionate about?
KB: For many years I played bass guitar in bands, though music has kind of taken a back seat lately…though I still try to get away from shepherding the beasts to see live music. In the weekends I sometimes fit in some traditional archery which is awesome fun! I love to travel to faraway
places and scuba dive, but I don’t get to do those things very often. I’m heading to Cambodia in a few weeks though so I’m looking forward to taking my sketchbook to Angkor Wat.

CM: Do you have any upcoming shows, events, releases, etc. you would like our readers to know about?
KB: I’m currently working on a series of Armoured Fish, inspired by the placoderms of the Devonian period (416 - 359.2 million years ago). The development of fish during that time was quite remarkable, I’m particularly interested in those that grew bony scales and armoured plates. Sea creatures plus shiny armour - a perfect theme for me to play with! They’re gradually making their way into bestiary. As well as a few group shows and art fairs next year I’d like to have another solo one with my new fishy theme. And one day, I will find the writing yin to my illustrative yang, and there will be a compendium of beasts…one day.

For more information on Kaitlin Beckett and her artwork, please check out these links:
A Curious Bestiary.com Her Official Site
RedBubble Profile
ACuriousBestiary on Myspace