Interview with Artist, Danielle "The Artness"

Danielle "The Artness" is an artist based out of Port St Lucie, Florida. She is mainly a self-taught artist whose work has been featured in Art N' Hustle. She has also participated in a live painting exhibition and showing for a RareSpecies.ORG gala and will be in a number of upcoming art shows in West Palm Beach, FL in summer of 2010.

You can view more of Danielle Artness' work at: www.theartnessonline.com

Dig In Magazine: When did you begin your life as an artist?

Danielle Artness: I’ve always been really into art, drawing and crafts, but it wasn’t until 6 years ago that I actually started painting.

DIM: Are you self-taught or trained as an artist? Did you go to school to learn art?

DA: I’m pretty much self-taught. I did take a lot of art classes in high school and college but none of the training and techniques ever felt right, so I just started experimenting with my own made up style of painting.

DIM: What would you say is the subject matter of most of your artwork?

DA: The subject matter is whatever idea that pops into my head that matches the color scheme I want to achieve.

DIM: What is your favorite artistic genre?

DA: Pop / Urban style art

DIM: You use a mix of vibrant colors that really make your paintings come alive, how do you choose your colors?

DA: I just try to color things the way I envision the colors being in my head. I mostly take subjects that might not be that color in real life or have that kind of glow normally and create it in my paintings.

DIM: How would you describe your artistic style?

DA: My style is more of a physical representation of things I like and things I would like to see.

DIM: Where do you get the ideas for your paintings?

DA: Most of my painting ideas mainly come from getting ideas of colors that I would like to paint with and coming up with a picture that would enable me to use them.

DIM: What is it that inspires and motivates you to paint?

DA: My need to create things and enable people to see things the way I would like to see them motivates me to paint. My overall love of the art community and culture is what inspires me to paint.

DIM: Where are you based out of?

DA: I currently live in Port St Lucie [Florida] and my art studio is located in my house...you never know when you’re going to get those urges to create so it’s nice to have my studio close. lol

DIM: Where has your artwork been featured or where have you shown your artwork?

DA: I recently had an interview with Art N' Hustle, I did a live painting exhibition and showing for a RareSpecies.ORG gala and I have a bunch of art shows coming up in West Palm Beach this summer.

DIM: Who are the artists that have motivated and inspired you?

DA: My all time favorite artist / inspiration would have to be Tara McPherson. I love her colors and how versatile her artwork is. She was one of the reasons I started to explore my own style of art. She has a style unique to her and incorporates it in her art as I would love to do with mine.

DIM: What do you like to do outside of art?

DA: I love spending quality time with my animals (2 dogs and 1 cat) collecting action figures, catching up on all the movies I never get to see in the theatre and playing video games.

DIM: On your website you have some images that are a mixture of photography and graphic design such as the image of the gun to your head and the other image of you in a face mask. What can you tell me about the message or inspiration for these images?

DA: Funny enough the only graphics on those photos are the symbols of “The Artness” and my name insignia. The bubbles in the photos are actually balls of play-doh I made and hung from my ceiling with fishing line. The whole idea came from trying to think of a way to make a photo shoot more than just a picture, but a whole art experience itself. The subject matter for this and future photo shoots just comes from my sick sense of humor. :)

DIM: What advice can you give to new, young emerging artists?

DA: Don’t ever try to paint like someone else or think you’re not a good enough artist because your artwork doesn’t look the same as everyone else’s. Art styles are as unique as the people creating them, so just do what you love to do.

DIM: What can we expect from Danielle "The Artnesss" in the future?

DA: I have a new top secret artwork line...hoping to premier in June along with the artshows I have scheduled. My first show this summer is in June with Art N' Hustle and I will have some more shows following that. I'm planning on doing some new photo shoots and just working on getting out a ton of new artwork out in the very near future. I also will be opening an online store on my website www.theartnessonline.com where I’ll be able to sell merchandise, paintings and prints.