Interview With Marie Provence

When working with clients, how do you establish contact?

Well first I need to capture their attention any number of ways- promotional mailers, attending relevant events, sending emails, phone calls, etc. Then always follow up. Once I have a client and they are satisfied with my work, it is less of a challenge to maintain their interest. I try to follow up whenever there is an opportunity, especially if I am comfortable communicating with them. Never underestimate the power of networking. 

How often do you work on art and what do you like to do to stay in practice?

Hm, there is my art, and then there is creative practice. I use my creativity daily with design and problem solving at Accent South Media. Staying in practice doesn't always mean I need to be using the tools I'm comfortable with. Ideas for my art could come at any time, even in an average moment while sitting in traffic or drinking tea. As long as you keep your perspective fresh and your mind busy, the artwork will come. My biggest breakthrough was accepting that huge personal progress could only happen if a little bit of failure preceded it.   

 

What is the secret to achieve success out in the real world with working in illustration?

Oh goodness, I have been in your shoes and asked many people the same question. There isn't a 'one key fits all' solution, unfortunately. I am currently doing graphic design, but this advice can apply to any art area. Success requires willpower, initiative, skill, and (yes, it is true) a little bit of good fortune.  

What artists inspire you today?

There are many! The artists that consistently inspire me are the ones that I've learned from directly, though. Mark English, Anita Kunz, JAW Cooper, McBess, Gary Kelly, George Pratt... I'm also pretty fond of architects and designers like Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames. 

Where do you hope to end up with your career?

I hope to eventually develop my skills enough to become part of a small design team, preferably on the west coast or somewhere in the UK. I do my best work with other creatives sharing the same motivations and workspace. 

And lastly, do you have any advice for fresh graduate students trying to find work?

The best advice I can give is just be that go-getter. Your attitude about yourself, your confidence, speaks just as loud as a strong portfolio when applying for the job you really want.

Communication Arts

This will not be my finished version, but for my blogs sake, here it is:

I believe it has the potential to be something good... I just have to get it there. With this semester and design I fell behind in illustration unfortunately. But next semester, that will not happen.

Metaphor Finals

With this project I had fun executing it, but it the subject matter was, in my opinion, really cliche and cheesy. But that made it easy I guess. And I had fun working in illustrator with these.

Silhoutte Finals

My finals. I liked them and I'm pretty content with how this project evolved for me. I do plan on going back and refining some areas however. That is the consequence of oil paint...

Metaphors

Here are some visual metaphors I found through the links that Shane gave us!

15 Silhouttes

Here are my 15 sketches/thumbnails.
I already knew what silhouettes I wanted to go with so I decided to change up the composition in each frame. Still narrowing it down and trying to figure out some kinks, but I'm getting there.
I'll be doing some sketches in paint as well. I'll upload those when I get them done.

Generating Topics 06

Filtered Water

I think most people in America don't realize how good we have it when it comes to water. Especially now with all this filtered water; we get spoiled.
When I was younger we didn't have water filters, I drank tap and to me it tasted fine.
Now I'm drinking from a Brita filter and I'm addicted to it. If I drink tap I immediately taste it and I'm put off, not wanting to finish it. There's nothing wrong with it, I'm just picky about the taste of the minerals inside it. It's crazy to think about it when you can't be bothered to drink average tap water when there are countries out there who would literally kill for it.




http://www.cleanwateraction.org/
http://www.charitywater.org/
http://www.cleanwatertech.com/

Generating Topics 05

Evolution of Technology

I'm really thankful that I was born in 1991 only because I got to experience the beginning of computers advancement. I remember when I was little I had my very own windows 98 (handed down of course). I loved playing all the 90's pixel pc games that came out. (Now you can hardly find any pc games these days!) I even recall seeing an old Mac computer too (with Snood of course) and I love it. I'm glad that I can have an appreciation for it because today's generation don't.
But I also enjoy how fast technology is growing because we reap the benefits and having iPhones and iPads are pretty nice... Computers can handle better graphics and are faster, I mean the list just goes on and on. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like in 10 years.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_evolution
http://www.voyagesthroughtime.org/technology/index.html
http://jetpress.org/

Generating Topics 04

Sleeping

My favorite past time. There is nothing like a good nap. But sometimes I have to wonder... what if humans didn't need sleep? Imagine all the things that we could get done, how much smarter we could be, how proficient we could be... and then I think how long school/work hours would be and I realize that I'm thankful for sleep and embrace tiredness.
And of course, there's the dreams part which I've also found fascinating... why does your brain do it? And what does it all mean? Somethings you will just never know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep
http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/sleep
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/

Genorating Topics 03

Creating Something Out of Nothing

As an artist this is what I strive to do everyday. Each piece I work on I see as a child and it's very important to me, I put my heart and soul into every painting and hope that the message I include, whether it be deep or simple will touch the viewers who see it.
I also like how this really applies to anything as well, anyone can relate to this. A kid playing with blocks, a cook cooking a gourmet dish, a mother who grows a child in her belly, the list goes on and on. It doesn't just cover visual art.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2000483/Sparks-mirrors-Quantum-scientists-make-nothing.html

http://kathleenfaulkner.blogspot.com/2012/03/making-something-out-of-nothing.html

http://artismyhustle.com/art/create-something-out-of-nothing/

Generating Topics 02

Meeting New People

Meeting new people can be a good thing but also a bad thing. You never know when you run into a serial killer, but that is the risk you gotta take if you want to make friends.
Luckily for me that hasn't happened yet, and meeting people isn't so hard for me since I like to see myself as out going and also can't stand that awkward silence.




http://meeting-new-people.meetup.com/

http://www.askmen.com/money/body_and_mind_150/194_better_living.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Meet-New-People-Without-Being-Creepy

Generating Topics 01

Gas Prices

Like anyone would say, gas prices suck and seem to slowly climb upwards. Always.
Earlier this summer the prices actually went down. I at one point got gas for under 3 dollars. But now it's back up to $3.50+. It's ridiculous









http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/big-increase-in-gas-costs-pushes-up-us-wholesale-prices-by-most-in-more-than-3-years/2012/09/13/9cf66f90-fd9f-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html

 http://www.examiner.com/article/unemployment-gas-prices-up-as-middle-east-conflicts-increase

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2012/0913/A-drop-in-gas-prices-on-the-horizon-Maybe

100 Circles

Switching over from wordpress back to here (even though I haven't used blogspot in ages. I hate word press...)
Anyways, I am sharing my "favorite" 25 circles from the 100 circles exercise.
This was hard for me because I didn't like any of them. However, I realize that I had to pick some so I managed to find some that I kinda liked.