★ MEET N‘ GREET ★

Jess Wheaton interviews Michelle Armas:

I understand that you’re a graphic designer. Do you solely paint these days? How did you arrive where you find yourself now? How do you imagine your paintings and your graphic design background intersect?

I am a graphic designer, I have a masters degree in branding. I still take free-lance clients, I like to work with small, creative businesses, usually run by crafty women :) I started painting because I was very stressed at my corporate branding job in New York. Around that time I was meeting bloggers and making friends who liked my paintings. Jessica from Shiny Squirrel was the first person to sell my prints.

My art is always fully inspired by my graphic design training. There is simple color, and layout, and patience that I learned in school. Mostly though, I approach each painting with a clear idea of what I am interpreting. It is a very design professional approach to do tons of research on a topic, let the information marinate with your own creative ideas, then one day, you get this flash of an idea, and then I know what to paint. That is one reason it takes me so long to make a painting. My first series was all about germs and imaging what they were like, and what magnification was like when it was a totally new concept. Now I am thinking about animals and simulated natural environments as well.

In your paintings you portray what I might call lattices of interlocking organic material and/or geometry. Where does your content bubble up from? How do you begin a painting and what is your process?

I kind of answered that in the previous answer :)

Where do you live, and what’s that like? What’s your favorite thing about your city?

I live in Atlanta in a leafy neighborhood called the Virginia Highlands, I have a studio at the back of the house, overlooking many very tall, 100 year old trees.

My favorite thing about Atlanta is the entrepreneurial spirit in this city. I read an article that says that most people in the city work for small companies with less than 10 employees. It seems everyone you meet is starting something new. I love it. You really feel like you can do anything here. Also, Atlanta has exceptional restaurants. When we lived in Brooklyn, we were sooo disappointed because most places around us were not so great, while here, so many places are really world-class, that we can’t choose between them! We like to eat, did I mention that? hehehe

What is a typical day for you like?

I walk my dog Coco every morning for about an hour, I make lots of vegetable juice and go to my office. I have to juggle working on freelance clients, offering out my Spanish language skills to people, painting, drawings and prints for shows and other places, and all the boring stuff that has to get done. A perfect day for me ends with a glass of wine and making dinner with O and then back to the office to set up for the next day.

What are you most excited about at the moment? Do you have any veiled projects or show-stopping fantasies (or plans) for the future you might want to share or hint at?

Ohh, yes, I have a sneaky little project that is taking me a long time to launch, it is actually one of the reasons we moved to Atlanta. I really am flying by the seat of my pants, so lots of trial and error, but hopefully you will all know about it by Summer of 09, finger’s crossed. It is taking a lot of time, lots of meetings and research, sneaky sneaky.

What’s the source of your drive to make work? And what do you feel is your main source of knowledge? Who/what contributes to your creative reserves the most?

I just have to paint, especially oils. I get all sort of crotchety and dumb if I don’t have a good paint very often. Nature really inspires me, also, this sounds crazy, but my dreams are very vivid and very extraordinary, they are a huge inspiration. I taught myself how to lucid dream when I was a kid. Also, I have synesthesia, a crazy neurological condition and it gives me a very unique perspective on my environment most of the time, all of this leads to ideas and flashes of insight that inspire my paintings.

Thank you Michelle for being part of Little Paper Press with your limited edition print.