The conceptual photography of Dutch artist Jacky Groen is both breathtaking and awe-inspiring. As one commenter puts it “Jacky’s work often sweeps the viewer not only into a visual journey, but also an emotional and spiritual one. Inspired by moments that touch us all at some point in our lives, she has the special ability to translate them into images that we all can relate to and find truth in.” We couldn’t agree more.

Where were you born, where do you live now, any other background info?

I was born in Amsterdam, but a few years ago I moved to the South Coast of the Netherlands. I always wanted to live near the sea, and the constantly changing intense skies and the beautiful light that endlessly inspires me.

How would you describe your work?

My work is a blend of photography and digital art, I’ll always love my camera but must admit I’m more addicted to photoshop these days. I suppose it has to do with my personality, I’m a dreamer and an emotional person..I can express my fantasies and emotions in my conceptual work this way. With photography, Mother Nature is usually my inspiration..for conceptual art my inspiration is simply Life!

What are your tools of the trade?

“My Eyes…My Heart….My Nikon”

Are you a full time artist?

Yes I am.

How did you get started?

About four years ago my brother gave me a digital camera as a gift and I was hooked immediately. I used to be interested in photography as a teenager though…ages ago when digital cameras didn’t even exist yet…

Any notable accomplishments?

This year I won an award with my wildlife photography and last year my work “My Way” was published in the online Esquire magazine. Also I’m happy to say almost all my work has been featured numerous times on various art sites.

Where can we find more info and keep up with your work?

Of course all my work can be found at Imagekind: http://photodream.imagekind.com

And you are welcome to visit me at my personal website: www.PhotoDream.nl

What artists inspire you?

Gregory Colbert ~ Ashes and Snow. Such a gorgeous blend of photography and almost fantasy like serenity.

“Gregory Colbert’s Ashes and Snow is an ongoing project that weaves together photographic works, 35mm films, art installations and a novel in letters. With profound patience and an enduring commitment to the expressive and artistic nature of animals, he has captured extraordinary interactions between humans and animals.” www.ashesandsnow.org

Kristen Stein is an award-winning Contemporary Artist living in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Region. Kristen’s works are currently available on a variety of online venues, or through her websites StudioArtworks.com and KristensCreations.com. Kristen’s paintings are in public and private collections within Australia, Canada, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Japan, Philippines, the United Kingdom, and throughout the continental United States. Her art has appeared in numerous printed media including posters, book cover, CD Covers, calendars and program covers.

Where were you born, where do you live now, any other background info?

I was born in Ohio and grew up in California. I went to graduate school in Virginia and then spent about a decade in Colorado. A few years ago we made a big move to the East Coast and I now reside near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

How would you describe your work?

Some of my works start with detailed sketches while others are created from a blank canvas layer by layer until the final painting is achieved. I like to work in a wide range of styles and materials as this allows me to keep my art fresh and new. I would describe my landscapes as moody, mysterious and atmospheric in nature. They allow me to experiment with color and texture while capturing the beauty of a wide open meadow, field, ocean, or impending storm, etc. Many of these pieces are directly influenced by my time spent in Colorado, California and Spain. My enchanted garden series allows me to capture a world of my imagination where birds, snakes, plants, flowers, trees, butterflies, etc. can be expressed in a wild whimsical way. They are bold, bright and wonderfully fun to create. My art-deco cubist paintings are my story-telling paintings. This style allows me to capture a certain sentiment or tell a story in the painting. Paintings influenced by September 11th, Hurricane Katrina and the deaths of my grandmothers are among the works in the art deco cubist collection.

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

My landscapes are created with many layers of contrasting colors working up to the final imagery that I am trying to create with the mood and feel of the particular landscape. I love creating a canvas that looks weathered and worn even though it is brand new. I achieve this through a variety of layers…..sometimes with molding paste, string, tissue, newsprint, sand, grit, flower petals, and a variety of other products added to the canvas (or removed from the canvas) during the painting process.

I daydream a lot! I often close my eyes and picture the painting before it is created. I rarely try to replicate a photograph, but instead use the colors and shapes as a guideline for what I want to create.

Are you a full time artist?

Yes. I am a full-time artist. I feel fortunate to be able to spend my days doing something that I love. I am pleased that my customers, friends and family have been so supportive and have allowed me to pursue my dreams as an artist on a daily basis.

How did you get started?

I remember being passionate about art from a very young age. I started by creating art as gifts for friends and family. Then when I was in graduate school studying for my Ph.D. in Economics, I started painting again as a hobby and as a way to focus my mind on something other than exams. I purchased website domains and listed several of my pieces on major auction sites like EBay. Over time, my hobby grew into a full-time business. I still use a lot of my economics background for the business side of things, but I clearly allowed the artistic side to take over and I haven’t looked back.

Any notable accomplishments?

I have been lucky to have some great exposure for my work recently.

A set designer for Warehouse 13 saw a collaborative work “Spirit of Autumn Fire” that artist Lyse Marion and I did together. This set designer chose the work to be displayed prominently on the Warehouse 13 set.

In addition to the exposure on Warehouse 13, several pieces will appear in an upcoming movie called “The Roommate” due in theaters in 2010, and a new TV show on FOX called “Past Life” airing in January.

A new book “Spirituality of Sex” features my “Shakti: Energy Goddess Design”

The Jazz Club and Angels of September were used as the cover art for the Allied Social Science Associations Annual Meetings.

Here Comes the Sun has been selected for the cover of a Jazz CD due out in 2010.

Mother Nature and Child was used in a logo for a Los Angeles based SIDS foundation:

Lastly, my children’s book “The Vegetarian Lion” was picked up by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for sale in the Children’s section of their website (also available through Amazon).

Where can we find more info and keep up with your work?

You can learn more about me on my website:  StudioArtworks.com
You can follow my blog: kristensteinfineart.blogspot.com
You can stay up to date on Twitter: twitter.com/kristensteinart
Or become a Fan on Facebook : http://artist.to/kristensteinfineart
I have an etsy boutique that offers originals paintings, handcrafted artisan jewelry and gifts featuring my artwork : http://kristensteinfineart.etsy.com
And, of course, you can find a large number of my prints on Imagekind: http://kristensteinfineart.imagekind.com

What artists inspire you?

I truly am inspired by everything that I see, read and hear. I try to watch and listen to everything in the world around me and incorporate this into my work in some way. There are so many artists whose work I enjoy. It would be hard to choose only a few and I would be certain to leave someone unmentioned. So, I will say that from the many forums in which I have participated, each artist whom I have met over the past 10 years has inspired me and motivated me in one way or the other. As for as the masters, I’d say that artists like Picasso and Gris have influenced my cubist works as well as the fabrics, advertising and illustrators from the art deco period. I have been greatly influenced by the colors and patterns used by Matisse and the geometric works of Rothko and Frank Llyod Wright.

Elena Kalis was born in Moscow (Russia) but has, for the past ten years, lived on a small island in the Bahamas with her husband and two children. She has an education in traditional art, but has recently been following her interest in photography.  Over the past year she has been doing some underwater projects with her children and their friends.  Some of Elena’s images have been used for books, magazines and CD covers, and have also appeared in print magazines and online publications.

Where were you born, where do you live now, any other background info?

My name is Elena Kalis. I was born in Moscow (Russia) and have lived for the past ten years on a small island in the Bahamas with my husband and two children. I have an education in art (traditional paintings and drawings) , but have recently been following my interest in photography. I have been doing some underwater projects with my children and friends for the past year.

How would you describe your work?

Alice in WaterLand.  That’s the name of my recent project and it’s describe my work as well.

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

Digital photography. I use Canon 5D with housing and 28 or 50mm lens. Post process in Photoshop.I shoot in pool and ocean.

Are you a full time artist?

I am full time mother and remaining time artist.

How did you get started?

I love ocean and I spend a lot of time in the water (with camera and without) so it was natural thing for me to do.

Any notable accomplishments?

I was doing underwater photography for little over a year now.It’s not that long but I have a lot of response from the people. Some of my work have been used for book, magazine and CD covers, and have appeared in print magazines and online publications. Underwater images are liquid, weightless and have dream-like quality. That’s probably why they are so appealing to many people.

Where can we find more info and keep up with your work?

My personal site: elenakalisphoto.com

Other public places: Facebook Flickr Carbonmade

What artists inspire you?

I recently discovered for myself work of photographer Connie Imboden and it’s changed how I look at the reflections now. However my inspiration is not necessarily coming from the work of other artists. It could be anything really, small things around me…

Pascal Tremblay is a graphic designer / illustrator from Montreal. He has been working freelance for the past 11 years doing work for a wide variety of clients.

Pascal’s work has always been an introspective and personal way for him to express himself. He describes his work as a way to “define my emotions and thoughts in a way that when I look at it, I will know exactly how I felt at the moment I created it, but without making it definite for others.” In other words, though he has strong emotion connection with his work, it’s up to the person viewing it to decide what it means to her or him.

Where were you born, where do you live now, any other background info?

I was born in Germany but I pretty much consider myself 100% Canadian since I have lived here all my life almost. My dad was in the army so we moved around a lot and Germany was one of those places. I currently live in Montreal with my fiancee, Elaine. We’ve lived together here for 3 yrs and prior to this we lived in Malaysia for 18 months.

How would you describe your work?

That’s a good question because I never really think about stuff like that. I just like to start creating a piece and see where it leads me. I don’t really have a plan in what I do, I just let my intuition guide me. I think that, as a whole, my work could be described as a series of vague and fleeting expressions of myself. I like to keep the interpretation to the viewer and not pigeon-hole it into what I think it should be saying and, while it’s not a specific goal of mine, I do hope everyone can see a little something different in each piece. Over time I’ve been more and more abstract in what each art piece represents and my use of type has gone in the same direction.. Whereas before I might have put plainly the words I was thinking about, now they’re represented by a specific color or square, or whatever… So in a way I guess my work is a bit like an emotional puzzle to me. I always put a lot of myself into it and if I don’t feel anything intense I really cannot produce the kind of artwork I enjoy the most. That is probably why I can go for months without doing anything, I don’t force it.

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

I like to use a technique I coined “create and adjust”. It’s basically a semi-fancy term for “I just do whatever comes to me and then I arrange it all as I go to make it work together”. I really wish I could describe my process better but it’s really just improvisation each time. I don’t have a plan on and the more specific my concept I start with the more difficult it will be for me. If I keep it all flowing and organic it works much better. When it comes to client work I work differently and I can build towards a specific goal with no problems.. however with my personal artwork, it has to come naturally and on the fly.

Are you a full time artist?

No, I do design mostly during the day but I also have other interests that are taking more of my time these days. I do feel the need to take a break from design recently. I’ve been doing this for almost 11 yrs and I need a break. I’d say art-making is the least time-consuming part of my work. Art doesn’t pay the bills unfortunately. It doesn’t pay anything actually and it’s not why I do it anyway.

How did you get started?

I started by dropping out of college and not knowing what to do with myself. Then I discovered Flash websites and it just gripped me. I had never had any interest whatsoever in art before this (although as a kid I would spend hours re-creating country flags with coloring pencils). I just stumbled into this dormant need to express myself, it was something completely new for me and I had finally found something I was passionate about. From there I kind of shifted from Flash to artwork and into print and web.

Any notable accomplishments?

Being able to make a good living off of freelance for 10 yrs is something I am proud of.. I still haven’t received my medal for it, which is very very disappointing.

Where can we find more info and keep up with your work?

Makeshift.ca is my personal portfolio, and while I don’t update it weekly or anything be assured there’s always something new in the works. Most of my work I don’t even post because the bill-paying stuff is rarely ever too exciting or mind blowing.

What artists inspire you?

David Carson is the reason why I am here today doing what I do. Without him I would have never gone the path I chose. I’ve yet to met him. I do have an autographed Raygun magazine which I keep very dearly. It’s pretty much the only design publication I own.

Josh Heilaman is  a self taught visual and sound artist. He was born and raised in Oklahoma, now lives in Texas. Most of his work is in acrylic painting and musical form. He is also very fond of drawing, sculpting and video. Though he generally focuses on character based work, he also dabbles with landscapes and abstract pieces as well. Josh’s work has been featured in numerous publications and shows all over America.

To view more of my Josh Heilman’s art work, check his personal website: www.friskeemedia.com/joshheilaman

To hear some of his music, check out this site.

Where were you born, where do you live, any other background info?

I was born in Oklahoma City, OK. Most of my life has been here in Oklahoma, I moved to Texas for a few years as well. After traveling across the U.S. looking for a good place to live, I have found myself in Oklahoma again. I’ve grown to appreciate many things about my hometown that I overlooked for a while. Now that I am “back home”, I have decided to continue my involvement with the arts and focus on personal and community development.

How would you describe your work?

Over the years, I have watched my work evolve. I started creating at a very early age, mainly pencil drawings of characters and landscapes. By the time I became a teenager, my interests shifted to painting, sculpting and digital mediums. I’ve spent considerable time with most common mediums since then. Somehow, my work has evolved beyond anything I thought it would but still remains as simplistic as the early days of drawing “make-believe” characters. The focal point of my creations has always been based in story telling and character development. I enjoy bringing the believable to the make-believe in all of my work.

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

When creating, I typically don’t have any sort of plan in the beginning stages. Most of the time, I begin by making textures and abstract color schemes. These textures will “tell me” what to paint or draw. The process is similar to cloud watching or participating in an ink blot test. Sometimes it takes some time to pull something tangible out of abstraction, but other times it happens very quickly. For those reasons, I typically will work on 10 to 20 pieces at a time. My favorite approach is to squeeze out a big blob of one color and work it into all the pieces in varying degrees. In the end, the result is a very rich and prismatic collection of paintings. The main mentality, that I embrace while creating, is that every color exists in everything all of the time; and I should emulate that in my artwork.

What is your style for creating?

I’ve never paid close attention to style with my work. I find that it’s best to just go with what occurs naturally. Perhaps, that is my style.

Are you a full time artist?

Yes, I am a full time artist. Most of my income stems from commission work, gallery shows and graphic design jobs.

Jonathan Ball is an illustrator and graphic designer. Inspired by lobrow art forms such as cartoons, retro video games, urban art and cute monsters. He enjoys creating fantasy worlds and characters in vibrant colours and settings. Check out the short interview I did with Jonathan and his amazing art.

Where were you born, where do you live, any other background info?

Born 1974 , Cardiff, UK. although I always liked drawing but it wasn’t until i studied graphic design at the age of 29 that I realized it was illustration that was my main passion. So have only been working as an illustrator for around 4 years.

How would you describe your work?

I love a good contrast between dark and light elements, colour and darkness. The same goes for themes as well, things can be cute and cuddly but also have a darker side. A lot of my work is collage like in effect and I love layering hundreds of elements in my pictures, or creating atmospheres for the worlds my characters inhabit.

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

I use a variety of techniques. One of my favorite is to make various elements as vectors and then bring them into photoshop to layer into an image. I then use photoshops tools to create interesting effects and layer style. I often add various scanned textures to roughen the vector look. I’m quite keen on reusing my various vector elements to give my pictures a consistency in style. Each new picture has a large part of a previous images mixed in.

Are you a full time artist?

Yes I’m lucky enough to make a good full time living from illustration. Hope it lasts, there’s always worry that work will dry up when you are self-employed.

How did you get started?

It gradually built up over the past few years, I got featured in quite a few websites and print magazines, and the work has kept coming in. Also starting to sell quite a fe prints and other bits of merchandise.

Any notable accomplishments?

My work has been used on quite a few high profile ad campaigns, such as for Playstation and Doritos. Currently creating some album covers and characters for various websites and games.

Where were you born, where do you live, any other background info?

I was born in Romania, a very beautiful country, full of great landscapes, from mountains (Carpathian) to sea (Black Sea). One could say that my passion for environment art was fueled to some degree by living in this wonderful corner of nature.

When I’m not working on a project which requires relocation I’m also living here, though soon I will have to move for good…

Are you a full time artist?

Yes, this is what I do for a living and this is what I also like the most.

How would you describe your work?

I am a digital environment artist, that is the guy who creates a virtual scene, in any shape and detail (from full realism to loose sketches), for any purpose (be it a matte painting for a movie or an illustration for a book cover), and any genre (be it sci-fi, contemporary or fantasy etc.)

Being an environment artist requires, besides artistic training, a very good knowledge of physics and light interaction since you have to reproduce very accurately the way objects interact with light and atmosphere in nature and not only (think of alien worlds or space).

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

Most of my work uses matte painting techniques which is a style I’m very fond of. When I’m not doing personal illustrations, I do true matte paintings for feature films.

Digital Matte Painting combines digital painting, use of references and 3D in order to create “virtual sets” that are otherwise hard, if not impossible (and nevertheless not cost effective), to find in the real world. Traditional matte painting was developed initially for the movies and was done optically, by painting on top of a piece of glass to be composited with the original footage, but nowadays, matte painting is done in computers with the use of a tablet as a drawing device and 3d software.

Matte Painting can be used to create entire new sets, or to extend portions of an existing set; It became a true trend of the new century and it has a bright future, together with the relatively new 2.5D and 3D compositing techniques.

What is your style for creating?

When I’m doing a personal artwork I always try to tell a story; That’s why, unlike most people doing art, I use my inspiration step to find such a story, rather then to think to the image itself. When I have that in mind, I begin making concepts and sketches, as many as it takes, until I define what to show and tell. After I’m satisfied with the concept, I begin creating the matte painting itself, trying to stay true to the concept as much as possible.

Jasmine Becket-Griffith is a world renowned Gothic and fantasy artist. You can find her unique style of fairy, fantasy and Gothic artwork in galleries, books and even big name retail stores across the country. Her characteristic style has a dark yet beautiful aspect to it that blends the mysterious with the dreary. You can see all of Jasmine Becket-Griffith’s work on her personal site, strangeling.com.

Jasmine Becket-Griffith is a full-time artist who makes her living selling her artwork. She has been selling her original Fairy, Gothic, and Fantasy artwork online since 1997. Often growing weary of the mundane world, Jasmine Becket-Griffith tries to slowly create her own through her fantasy artwork. Jasmine believes that with each piece of art she gets out of her system, onto paper, and into your home she has done her part to make this place a more magical planet.

1. How did you become an artist? You have been selling online since 1997, what made you decide to take the leap?

I’ve always been an artist really, since I was a little girl. I was always the one at school sitting in the back of the class, drawing pictures all day. As a student I always enjoyed art contests and student shows, it was the only thing I really enjoyed about school. 1997 was the year I graduated high school, and it was that summer I decided to try to start taking my art seriously as a career. I was working at Dairy Queen and knew I wanted to try to pursue something more creative. The internet was new to me then (new to a lot of people actually!) and I immediately saw it as a wonderful visual medium to show the world my paintings! My dad got me a scanner for my birthday, and I used it to scan in my paintings and put them online.

2. Who is your inspiration? What keeps you making art?

I make art because I have to. I’m an obsessive person, and art is my compulsion. I sometimes begin to feel physically ill if I haven’t painted a painting yet that day. My hands don’t know what else to do with themselves! My paintings are very much how I express myself, I am not a very social person but I have a very rich inner world, and I share that part of me by painting my ideas and showing them to the rest of the planet. Almost all of my paintings are self-portraits in a way – the characters I paint are caricatures of myself in fantasy environments that are pure escapism for me. I don’t think I would live a very fulfilled life if I didn’t spend the vast majority of my time painting. And of course – as art is my only job, and my husband and my brother-in-law all work for me as their sole sources of income as well, that is a huge inspiration as well, hehe. Knowing my artwork has to support three households directly is a serious thing to consider. There are also dozens of people behind the scenes who work for the licensing & merchandising companies – my art is a big part of their livelihoods as well, so that is a big responsibility.

3. What is your process?

I wake up every morning and do my daily exercise routine at 6:30am, eat breakfast, and then I paint until noon, have lunch, and then paint until about 10:00pm and eat dinner. I do this every day. Typically I finish a painting in a day’s worth of time, and then I scan it in and post it that night. I only take days off I have family in town visiting, or if I have an art show, or if I’m out of town. My husband works alongside me as my assistant and follows the same schedule. He makes my picture frames, processes orders, and handles the shipping and other mundane aspects of it all. We are hard workers – there are no evenings & weekends, hehe.

As far as my painting process goes – first I picture the painting in my head. I usually think it up while exercising in the morning – by the time I’m taking a shower I already can see the painting in my head. Then after breakfast, I prime the piece of wood, canvas, or masonite I am using. Mostly these days I paint on wood. I only use acrylic paints, and I do it the old fashioned way – only my fingers, paintbrushes, paint & water. I usually begin with a several layers of neutral ground to create a smooth surface and a good starting point. Then with a dark neutral color (typically an umber) of paint mixed with a LOT of water, I begin scribbling out a very rough sketch with a skinny paintbrush. I don’t sketch with pencil since that makes everything all grey and gunky, just thinned paint with water. At this point it’s not much more than a stick figure and some vague shapes. Then I go in with darker paint and a thinner brush and make a much more refined sketch – almost like a drawing – this provides a good basis for the painting and I can still change stuff around at this point since I can always refine things with opaque paint. Then I begin painting my layers – I paint with just a few drops of acrylic paint dissolved in water – hundreds of impossibly thin layers by the time I’m done. I start with shadow areas, giving it all a sense of depth – that way my brain knows where to put the highlights later. I don’t ever use colours straight out of the bottle, I mix my own. I don’t really blend on the canvas, just mix slightly different shades and layer them transparently after the previous layer dries. I use my fingers to smudge it around to keep things from getting streaky. I then go in with colors, starting with darker more opaque colors and finishing with brighter, more transparent shades. Finally I add highlights, considering the light source within the setting of the painting. Then when it’s all done, I scan it in and show it to my online friends & fans! Then I put a coat of varnish and add a hanger or have my husband frame the finished piece.

4. Who is your target audience? What do you do to market to them specifically?

I don’t have a target audience. Or rather, my target audience is ME – I paint what I like, and am just happy if other people find enjoyment in it as well! I do not have any particular demographic when it comes to fans of my artwork. Children love my work, and I have a lot of fans in the teen/young adult age group, but many of my collectors are adults (some even in their 90s!). Though nearly all of my paintings feature female characters, the proportion of female/male collectors of my paintings is about 50/50. Between a third and a half of my customers & collectors live overseas, all over the world. On a single day we’ll sometimes be shipping to over a dozen countries. I don’t market anything specifically – I just put my work out there for the world to see, and hopefully folks like it!

5. Do you participate in Galleries and Shows?

Most traditional galleries don’t really allow fantasy art, so I haven’t gotten into that scene much. I do however do several shows a year – the Celebration Florida Spring Arts Festival is in my hometown, and that’s a great place for me to showcase my original paintings. Each year I do the Art Show at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, FaerieCon in Baltimore, and MegaCon in Orlando. I really enjoy science fiction/fantasy conventions like these and it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet my fans as well!

6. Your work has been sold on Merchandise at a variety of retailers, how did you create those partnerships?

I have licensed my artwork with dozens of companies. I’ve never created any of the partnerships myself, rather they have always approached me out of the blue and asked me. Typically the art director or licensing agent for a company comes across my work online (usually through my website or online galleries), or in books, magazines, at trade shows, or through other merchandisers. They’ll usually send me an email with a proposal and we’ll negotiate a contract for whatever merchandise line they are interested in producing. I send them the image files and sign the contract, and then they handle the rest. For this a small percentage of sales is sent to me as a royalty payment. I really love it when people license my work because it allows me to share my paintings with the world in ways I wouldn’t have been able to do just as a lone painter. For example companies like the Bradford Exchange, Hamilton Collection, and Ashton-Drake have licensed my paintings and characters for tremendous lines of collectibles like statues, figurines, dolls and other three-dimensional interpretations of my artwork and sell them all over the world! It is wonderful to have teams of talented people working on my behalf and handling the production and marketing of my babies! It is a terrific way to help expand my world while still letting me stay home and paint all day, hehe. Or for example California Costumes has a great new line of Jasmine Becket-Griffith Halloween Costumes out this fall – they’ve done a gorgeous job of creating fairy and fairytale costumes licensed from my artwork – which is something I would never have had time or the production facilities to do on my own. Licensing can also be a phenomenal inspiration for me as an artist – I have been co-licensing Jasmine Becket-Griffith/Disney merchandise with Disney – I was thrilled to create my own Jasmine Becket-Griffith style Tinker Bells, and Disney Princesses for upcoming merchandise lines. Sometimes it really is like a dream come true!

7. Do you belong to any social networks such as facebook or myspace? How is it working for you?

Oh yes, I am on LiveJournal (Jasminetoad), on MySpace (Jasminetoad), Facebook (Strangeling), Twitter (Jasmine Becket), and others. It’s often the only communication I have much with the world outside my painting desk. In addition to just human correspondence and keeping up with family, it’s also a great place to share my artwork and new projects with fans. For example on Facebook I have a Mobile Uploads folder where I post work-in-progress shots of each painting while I work – I snap shots with my iPhone camera and post them online all day – from the new blank canvas to the finished painting! I also post my new merchandise lines there, keep folks updated when I have Art Shows coming up, or new books out, etc. It’s a great way for collectors to keep up with me!

8. You live in Celebration, Florida how does being so close to Disney World impact your art?

I love Celebration, it is a great town. It was built & designed by the Walt Disney company and is a work of art in itself. I am a big Disney fan! I would say that I do indeed get a lot of inspiration from the fantasy and whimsy of Disney World. Walt Disney himself is a big inspiration to me as well, and I think about him a lot. The parks and surrounding areas are beautiful and I am always inspired by the man-made aesthetics as well as the natural beauty of the flowers, woods and swamps of where I live. Oddly enough, my living here doesn’t have anything to do with my collaboration with Disney merchandising, it’s just coincidental (I do all that stuff via email).

9. What do you do when you are not making art?

I travel! Seeing the world is very important to me. I get a tremendous amount of inspiration by traveling. Since I work (ie, paint) pretty much 24/7 and do not take off for weekends or evenings, once a month or so I shut down for a few days, grab my backpack and my husband and skip town. In the past year I’ve been to Mexico, Germany, Japan, Colorado, Paris, the Bahamas, I forget all the places I’ve been lately. Often I combine it with a business trip or an art show, and in truth I do spend a lot of time drawing or doing work online remotely, but it is great to get out and see the world. I live very strangely, sometimes I’ll fly to Europe for two days just to visit arn art museum, then not leave the house for two weeks, and then go spend a few days in the Caribbean drawing mermaids. Sometimes I think I go to the airport more than I go to the grocery store.

10. What are your favorite pieces on Imagekind?

Oooh! That’s a tough one! Let me see – three of my all-time favorites are my Marie Masquerade, my Alice and the Mad Hatter, and then maybe my Allura, but my favorites change all the time!