Carmine Magazine: What drives you to create? Also, what inspires you and your work?
Cindy Tomczyk: I feel like I just go about creating every day and there is not one day that goes by where I don’t create.
I am inspired by Eastern European folk art, Scandinavian design, living in a city, people I see and meet, personal experiences, and childhood memories.

CM: Were you formally trained in art or self taught? Do you think it has
helped you or hindered you?
CT: I’ve created art my entire life. In high school, I enrolled in art classes because I loved it and I really didn’t care for anything else. I’ve come from a supportive family and group of friends, so when I was applying to colleges I knew it was going to be an art school. I attending my first choice college, the Ringling College of Art + Design. I don’t think it hindered me at all. I was able to push myself harder and in the meantime met an amazing group of other artists. You not only learn about your craft going to an art school, but other majors too. I came out with an appreciation for interior design, computer animation, graphic design, and fine art. At the same time, I raised the bar due to the competition and came out of it a better artist with an amazing network of other creatives.

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?
CT: Mostly acrylics on board or Crescent illustration board. Over the past year I’ve fallen in love with letterpress, learning on a vintage Vandercook Universal proofing press. I love wood type, lead type, but most of all – working with polymer. I’m able to translate my illustrations to polymer with ease and the whole process really works for me. I just bought my first Chandler and Price press, Olga, and I am looking forward to getting her up and running. For silk screen printing I enjoy using a little machine from Japan called Gocco.

CM: At what point did you realize that creating was going to be a large
part of your life?
CT: In my teens. I think there was a point where I realized I could really make a living doing art. Until that point it had always been something I loved doing and I realized there was nothing else I wanted to do. It also become something I resorted to to keep myself busy or mind off of the real tasks at hand, like algebra homework.

CM: If there was one style of art that you could take up, what would it be?
CT: Oh, good question! I’d like to incorporate typography into my art work more. I think, as an artist, typography is my weakness and I am always impressed at an artist who can blend illustration and typography into something beautiful. I’d also like to explore this more in silk screen printing and love the art coming out of the screen printing process.

CM: How do you deal with creator’s (or writer’s) block?
CT: By stepping away from things for a while. I will take a walk or browse the bookstore or neighborhood I live in. Luckily, living in Chicago, I can walk everywhere in my neighborhood. Sometimes I switch up the mediums I work in to keep my mind going. For months I took off from painting to make drawings on Kraft paper and now I am pursuing printmaking as a process for creating art. It helps keep ideas fresh and evolving. Also, grabbing a drink with another creative friend sometimes helps! Often, I can find someone else in a creative block and we met up to vent about it and then to take our mind off of it for a little bit or brainstorm ideas.

CM: How do you prepare for art shows where your work will be shown?
CT: I check out the space first. If I have time I let my inspiration come to me, but if I am pressed for time I sketch a lot more on my routes to work or during free time. I revisit old sketches and work those sketches into final prints or paintings. I try to keep myself on a schedule to make sure I have enough pieces and well done pieces.

CM: How do you define you style? Does it represent an inner you or
something completely different?
CT: It’s definitely inspired by vintage illustration and very figurative usually. It represents an inner me – inspired by music, every day life, and images that are important to me, like Eastern European Art and figurative works.

CM: What kind of environment do you need to create in?
CT: I love working during the day with my music or a podcast on. This usually makes it hard with my full time job, so I’ve been able to adjust to working on art at night, but there’s something about waking up early and hitting up the studio right away with the sun out. My studio is attached to our apartment and lined with windows.

CM: What does your workspace look like? (Pictures or a description work
for this one)
CT: It’s usually a mess, but an organized one! It’s attached to our apartment, near the front and it’s pretty small. We live on the top floor of a vintage three flat apartment building in a neighborhood called Lincoln Square. I have my Mac computer, a drawing table, a shelf for storage, files, and office supplies, and lots of natural light! When I letterpress, I go to Columbia College and use their letterpress studio. They have several Vandercook presses plus an incredible collection of wood and lead type! (photos attached…StudioSpace + letterpressStudio)


CM: What was your worst experience with art? And the best?
CT: The worst is always rejection or even dealing with other artists. It’s amazing that people are out there who actually have time to personally attack everyone else except themselves. Being a new gallery owner, I am constantly discouraged by pretentious artist. We’re all in it together and can learn so much from each other, there’s no need to be backstabbing or conniving. My best experience – well, there are so many! I think doing what I love and making a living doing it is the best experience an artist can have. The hard work seems to be paying off this year with my new gallery ventures and getting a good start at my letterpress stationery company, Paper Parasol. I feel like this past year I’ve finally gained some footing with where I want to be in the art world and I am looking forward to things to come!

CM: What movies, books, music, etc get your creative juices flowing the most?
CT: I actually love reading Bust magazine! I think the style and the haircuts in the magazine really inspire me! I listen to a lot of independent music while drawing and this definitely inspires me, especially if it’s about long distance lovers! I go to a lot of shows, since Chicago has so many amazing bands passing through. At shows, I will take mental notes about the band and even how the crowd looks from haircuts to the style. It helps me incorporate colors and style into my figurative work. I’ve been listening to a lot f bluegrass music lately, and as a result have created some folksy and music-orientated pieces, such as my Bluegrass Birds gocco print and Girl and Guitar letterpress print.

CM: Do you think the internet, technology, media, etcetera are helping or
destroying the art world?
CT: It’s hard to say – a little of both. Everyone who owns a digital camera thinks they are a photographer and everyone who can manipulate images in Photoshop thinks they are an illustrator. Our industry seems to be losing respect over it. I think it’s created a lot of bad art out there. Stock art houses are not helping illustrators out either. Creative directors can now bypass the artist all together and buy art through a stock image site. It’s disheartening, but at the same time I feel like there is this handmade movement, where people want something more tangible. I often prefer painting and printmaking over digital media. I also still carry my film camera around with my as well as a few toy cameras with 120 medium format film and work on a vintage letterpress. Nothing of the modern world of art making really appeals to me.

CM: Aside from art what do you do with your time? Is there anything else
that drives you or that you’re passionate about?
CT: I love traveling. Every year I try to make it a point to go somewhere new. It really helps put life in perspective and I can usually find inspiration for my art on my travels. I also love learning new languages and I am currently trying to tackle Polish and hope to visit Eastern Europe sometime in 2009.

CM: Do you have any upcoming shows, events, releases, etc. you would like
our readers to know about?
CT: I am actually opening up a gallery in Chicago called {fill in the blank} with four other ladies. We hope to promote creativity within the community and showcase a new artist every other month. It’s been taking up lots of our time, but we are looking forward to opening our doors on Friday January 30.
Our website is:
FillInTheBlankGallery.com
If you happen to be in the Chicago area, please swing by! As far as craft shows, it’s the slow season so I plan on working on new letterpress prints and a new line for Paper Parasol and finding a studio home for my new Chandler + Price letterpress, Olga.

For more information on Cindy Tomcyzk and her artwork please check out these links:
CindyTomcyzk.com Her official site
Cindy T. Illustration Her blog
Paper Parasol.net Her stationary company
cindytomcyzk Her Flickr
cindytomczykart Her Etsy store
paperparasol Her stationary Etsy store