Contemporary Drawings
by Michelle Flanagan

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[Drawings]

::Expressive

::Realistic

[Sculpture]

::'Flamingos!'

Questions and Answers

1. Is your work for sale?

Absolutely! I would love to sell my artwork, get into a gallery, etc....
If you are interested in buying one of my drawings or if you have questions about anything, please contact me through the contact link above.

2. What type of art work do you do?

In terms of subject matter, I do figurative work: especially faces, specifically self-portraits. In terms of style, there are different types of work that I do. There is the work that I do for 'myself', and then there is the work that I do for 'others'. The work that I do for myself is personal and autobiographical, where images depict my emotions and experiences in the form of self-portraits. They are singular images of psychological manifestations. The style is what I would call abstract or expressive.
The work that I do for others is generally more straightforward and made with the intent of appealing to a broader audience. The style is usually representational or realistic with an emphasis on creating a likeness to the subject.

3. What are you doing now?

I've spent the last couple of years, on and off, creating this website. I'm very grateful that I've had the time to teach myself about computers, the internet, website design, etc. It's great to have a way to display my artwork and share information.

4. Why is your work so large?

I started working on a larger format in undergraduate school. In painting classes, we each made our own canvases, building the wooden frames and then stretching the canvas, etc. On average, I built canvases approximately (h × w) 4.5 × 4.5 feet (+/-). Working large, and with acrylic paint was at first intimidating and definately disrupted my 'known' approach to making art. My work changed stylistically and conceptually.
In drawing classes, it was suggested that we purchase rolls of paper (42in. wide × 10yds). This was more economical than buying the standard, pre-cut, (h × w) 22 × 30 inch sheets of paper, and the idea was that the student would have more freedom to determine his own format or size of paper to work on. We would then attach the paper to the wall to draw. I got comfortable working both vertically on the wall, and with a larger drawing surface. I continued to work that way through graduate school, at The University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.
I have also worked on a smaller scale. I have some 'miniature' self-portrait, graphite drawings as little as (h × w) 3 × 2 inches. It has really just depended on the different stages/places that I've been in through my life. The different classes I was in, the amount of studio space I had to work in, etc...

5. Where do you get your ideas?

Ideas and/or inspiration come and go and differ in intensity. I go through periods of time when I'm just not creatively motivated to make any art at all. Then, I experience periods when I can't finish a drawing fast enough to start working on the other 3-4 ideas in my head at the same time. When I am in a 'creative phase', probably the most influential catalyst is music. The practice of listening to music while working started in undergraduate school so I could concentrate on what I was doing without the interuptions and distractions of the classroom. I started taking my walkman and wearing my headphones until it became such a habit, that I still often work that way today.
Visual Artists that have inspired me/my favorites, etc.:
(not in order of importance) P. Picasso*, Francesco Clemente, my undergraduate professor Jim Pace, my graduate school professors- Ed Blackburn and Robert Jessup, Willem DeKooning, Titian, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Egon Scheile, James Dean.....
Music that has inspired me throughout the years:
(not in order of importance) Ian Moore*, Alice in Chains, Godsmack, Chris Cornell*, Soundgarden*, Metallica*, Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Creed, A Perfect Circle, The Toadies, Sevendust, Corrosion of Conformity, Staind, Jimi Hendrix*, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Nelly, Stone Temple Pilots, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Mozart, Beethoven*, Seven Mary Three......