Along with some other great Second Saturday events this evening, there is an art opening by Avalon Clare at Sweet Jane Vintage. We grabbed a beer and some grub one night this week and chatted it up about art and life.

Q: So, would you like to make art for a living?
A: Hmm… You know I don’t really know. I think a big part of being a successful artist is leading an exiting life. I’ve had a few bad experiences with clients, and I really just want to start making art for myself, come home and painting things I want to paint. I also try to go out as much as I can, and experience things and meet as many interesting people as I can.

Q: Yea I can imagine that’s a big part of finding some of your inspirations. So, you’re day job is at Sabrina’s right?
A: Yea, well I work at Sabrina’s and at Red Hook coffee shop, it’s kind of crazy. If people would’ve asked me in, like, high school if I could see myself working 2 or 3 jobs and getting up before 6 in the morning, I would’ve laughed. But I have a studio space now, which is awesome and totally worth it, but it costs more than any of the apartments I ever rented. It’s nice not to have to sleep in the same room as all my art supplies and my computer on a table next to me though.

Q: Yea, I bet! So how DO you do all this and manage to get up to get to the coffee shop?
A: I’ve mastered the art of napping! I think my body is just consistently tired, so it’s easy to fall asleep instantly. I could probably put my head down on the table right now and be asleep in a second.

Q: I know that you’re a country girl at heart. Could you ever see yourself leaving Philadelphia?
A: I could never really see myself leaving the city. There’s just so much going on and so many people doing awesome things, not to mention you can get everywhere easily by bike, and pieces of that lifestyle are so critical to finding inspiration as well. I’d love to travel more though.

Q: Oh that’s right you’re in a band too. Folklore? Do you get to travel a lot with them?
A: Yeah, and we’ve been to a lot of places, like Athens Georgia, that place is amazing. But you’re never in one place for long enough to really experience it.

Q: So how much of your inspiration to draw comes out of your country roots?
A: Well actually my last solo show was mostly comprised of a lots of images of animals, like horses and stuff. I love foxes too. You rarely see them, and when I was in Colorado and there was one that I got to see up close, it was really cool. I have a fox tattoo on my arm!

Q: So this show is all of women. Are they all people you know? Because one of them looks like this girl that I know…
A: Oh my gosh, you know her? That’s crazy. She was a girl that worked at Sabrina’s with me for a short time, and I brought this photo back out to draw from when I was getting ready for the show. I never had her phone number, so I can’t tell her that the print of her wound up being one of the bigger pieces in the show!

[We sat and talked about how serendipitous this was, and I agreed to try my darndest to get the message to her.]

Q: So how did the show at Sweet Jane come about?
A: Well, Sweet Jane had a table at the Punk Rock Flea market, and they mentioned to me that their walls were free and clear for March and April. So immediately I asked if I could do March. And, frankly, I had just gotten dumped, so I really needed something to get me through the winter.

Q: Understandable! So, you make mostly digital illustrations?
A: Yes, but my process starts out traditionally. I love drawing from photos, but when I’m making a piece I usually start by sketching it with colored pencil, and then I bring the drawings into Illustrator and work from that. There are just certain things that you can capture on a piece of paper or illustration board that you just can’t on a computer.

After dorking out for a few more minutes about Adobe Illustrator, we paid our bill, gave a hug, and walked our separate ways. Avalon has posted some of her more recent sketches, illustrations and the occasional band poster up on her website, and she’s aiming to have more prints coming up soon. And keep your eyes peeled for an Etsy page, which will be full of prints and postcards in the not too distant future. Oh, and RSVP to the show on facebook.

Don’t Wake Me Up – a solo show by Avalon Clare
Sweet Jane Vintage – 1820 E. Passyunk

This entry was posted on Friday, March 11th, 2011 at 12:40 pm.