I have gathered together a group of women whose work I admire and think will be an inspiration to you too. I am going to spotlight one artist for 4 Mondays in a row with Interviews, book reviews and more. I hope you enjoy the art and ideas that will be presented in these, 'Check Her Out!' Monday posts. In addition Lyric and I will be making a small work together, at the end of the 4 week spotlight everyone who has posted to any of the Monday posts will be entered to win. You must come back to see if you are the lucky winner.
The first time I met Lyric Kinard was on the set at Quilting Arts TV, and from the start I knew I would really like her. Lyric is honest, engaging and good. Last year we both taught and roomed together at Quilt Fest in Houston, I am happy to say I consider Lyric to be a friend, and that is a wonderful thing.
Lyrics' art is expressive, joyful and varies from photorealistic to abstract, she has a real sense of color and value. Lyric also has a great relationship to 'hand work', watching her sit and bead is a meditation in itself. And so, I would like to give you the chance to get to know Lyric through a question and answer session we've had.
Here you go:
Melly: What is your story, how did you become an artist? Was it something you wanted to do from a young age or did you take a more circuitous path?
Lyric: Circuitous. Surprising. I never imagined I'd be a visual artist. I wanted to be a musician. I did everything I could to be a musician right up to the point that I realized I wanted children and that symphony musicians were always gone when the kids were home. I have a degree in English Lit, took all the pre-reqs to get into graduate architecture, still spent most of my time in the music department. Then after college, when I chose to have children, I gave it all up. There were a few lost years there.
A friend introduced me to quilting and I learned the traditional skills. It was something creative I could do being interrupted every five minutes. It was the only thing I did all day that didn't need to be redone. When I saw my first art quilt it was a revelation. Who knew quilts could do that!? I took every class I could and learned any technique that I thought would help me express my vision.
Melly: Name a work of art you wish you had created, and tell us why?
Lyric: I wish I could remember its name but the piece is still haunting me. Life sized figure, barely showing until you stand farther away. It was a grey/white, torn strips of horizontal fabric... something about the mystery. It was like an impressionist painting - soft and brooding and full of light. Monet is one of my favorite artists but not for the lilies that other people adore. I like his cathedrals - and there was another winter scene - the values barely contrasting enough to be seen. I want to be able to express mystery and light that way.
Melly: What do you do when you are feeling creatively dull?
Lyric: Make jewelry. Go outside. Pull out my camera or play with digital editing. Go back through my sketchbooks. Take a nap.
Melly: I know that you have children and a husband, how do you also juggle being an artist and a teacher on top of that?
Lyric: One thing at a time. And these days when I'm doing one thing - something else is left undone. There are many times that the art is put aside because the family must be taken care of and I am at peace with that. What I do with my children now will be far more long lasting than any art I create, and far more important. There will be time to be productive in the studio later. When I had my fifth baby I took two years completely off - calling it my baby sabbatical. Now the children are on their feet and I'm able to spend more time in the studio. I teach because I love being with the students. I'm lucky to control my schedule and only take limited teaching engagements trying to balance it all.
Melly: What is your favorite part of teaching?
Lyric: Seeing the light come on in a students mind. To see that spark of joy when they realize that they have it within them to be creative - to be able to visually express themselves.
Melly: What are you working on right now?
Lyric: As always - discipline. I don't have a lot of studio time and yet I am terrible at forcing myself off the computer and to the cloth. Once I pick up the cloth it's difficult to tear myself away. It is a constant struggle to find the balance. The work I'm following right now is a series of whole cloth pieces mounted on stretched canvas. I love the layered imagery where dye is taken out of the cloth and color and image is added back.
Next week I an going to review her book, Art + Quilt: Design Principles and Creativity Exercises
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Wonderful interview about a fantastic artist. I love her violin piece. This is fun, thanks for the interview.
Nice job, Mellie! I read both interviews, and can't wait to see more!
Hugs,
Judy
P.S. Spring is coming to the mountain!
I just watched Lyric's Quilting Arts video this morning. It is a great video and I like her work. Thanks for the interview.
I think it's very helpful to know that we must do what we can and other than than, to be gentle with ourselves. It's good to hear that from functioning published artists.
My children are now in college, the pressure to earn a paycheck is overwhelming my desire to spend time creating - but I must remember that the day will come when we aren't funding two college educations.
Thank you for a lovely interview.
Oh Chris! Then this post was for you! Lyric really does a great job of juggling her time. I am in awe of what she is able to accomplish. Thank you for commenting!
Great interview, Mels! Bravo!
wonderful interview! I admire Lyric greatly, and look forward to reading her book. Her DVD is fab.
great interview, we all get to know Lyric a little better through it!
Very nice interview. I had the opportunity to meet Lyric last fall at Fabrications, although I was not in her class, and was very impressed with her as a person and her art.
Hi Melly, great interview. Very interesting.
Susan
Great,thoughtful questions. I am in awe of how much work Lyric is able to produce with so much on her plate.
I've only recently started noticing Lyric's work...totally inspiring....but it's her NAME that is utter genious! Congratulations to her parents. Now that I know she has 5 children I feel like a serious underachiever. :-)
Thanks Melly for the interview with Lyric. I recently got her book and look forward to doing the exercises in it.
I am in awe of all that Lyric is able to accomplish! What an inspiration! I also love the violins. Great interview, Melly!
What a great idea, inteviewing other artists! And you started with one of my absolute favorites I got her book and yours at the same time.
Can't wait to see who's next.
Great interview, Mellie! I've taken 2 workshops from Lyric. I really learned a lot and love her book!
Lyric is a great artist and a better person. She has a great eye for color and texture and I would say what makes her a great teacher is she loves to learn. Go to her studio or talk with her for 20 minutes and you'll see that no laurels are being rested on, all she talks about are how she just saw someone else's stuff and "isn't it cool", and she asks for feedback... then she listens.
She doesnt just look in her own head for ideas, she looks in everyone's head.
Great interview.
I've known Lyric for a long time, and I always thought she'd be a musician (I don't think she mentioned to you that she's really good at that, too!). I have been watching her career for quite a while now, and I am tremendously impressed with her art. A lot of her work has a sort of dreamy quality which really appeals to me. I stink at actual quilting, but she's got me itching to start messing around with other things, like dyes, and maybe batik.
Thanks for the great interview!
I to am always amazed at what Lyric has accomplished. I love her work and the tidbits of advice she gives encouraging you along the way. You both should be very proud of the work that you do.
So wonderful to listen in to your conversation with Lyric! Thanks, Melly. I really look forward to the rest of this series.
As well as being a marvelous artist, Lyric is a marvelous human being. When my oldest granddaughter was looking for a summer job in the States as a nanny to improve her English (Anika is German -- long story ...) Lyric took her on and not only improved her English and self-confidence but took her on eye-opening cross country trip to Idaho when the family went on vacation. Wonderful!
Holy cow!
You do all of the wonderful art that you do, plus write and teach AND you have 5 kids?
I'm in awe...truly!
Holy cow!
You do all of the wonderful art that you do, plus write and teach AND you have 5 kids?
I'm in awe...truly!
Great idea, Melly! Interesting to know a bit more about Lyric. I love her violin dragonfly piece.
Great interview! It's so nice to learn a little about the personal lives of the artists I admire. I'm so impressed with Lyric's art and everything she has on her plate. Looking forward to next week's interview!
Melly - Have I told you how much I love the new look of your blog? It is Beautiful!!!
Great interview of Lyric and I loved her interview of you too. Great idea to share the stories and art! You are both so talented and I love how encouraging you both are. You both inspire me to do more and experiment and not be afraid to make art. Thank you!
Loved this interview. Very insightful. Thank you both for sharing.
SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
I had an opportunity to see some of Lyric's work when she was teaching in the next class room at Fabrications. Her work is exquisite.
Several of us at the function started our day with a yoga session lead by Lyric. Lovely.
great interview.
I just discovered Lyric (through you!) - love her article in Quilting Arts this month - I'll definitely be following her - great stuff.
what a great interview, and a gorgeous photo......lovely to realise other artists also share their art time with family and friends, and therefore go with the flow of life.........
The last video was also fantastic, just create yourself an artistic hairclip for the printing sessions, I was waiting for some nice juicy purple splotches in your hair. The cotton 'writing' was really nice.....free day tomorrow, or later this day, it is now after 12 midnight, time to create
I have been enjoying your blog so much. This interview is great! I have your book, Melly, and Lyric's also, and BOTH of these books are fantastic and inspirational. I'm also a long-time subscriber to QA and CPS so I've "met" you both there. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for the interview with Lyric. I have taken 2 of her courses at QuiltUniversity and loved them both- she is very inspiring. I used her techniques to make fabric which I then used to make a few of your "Pretty Purses". What a perfect combination!
Loved reading the interview about you on Lyric's blog. And look forward to the series and challenges....
Lyric is a very thoughtful teacher, she guides and mentors. She listens and she responds with great thought. She has her opinions and shares them when they are needed. I think between the online class and reading her book I've been more than inspired. I've been guided to find my own voice. It is hard to teach others. She is gifted in this area. Some day Melany maybe I will be able to take a class/workshop from you too. I am enjoying your book. I am using both of your books along with Jane Davila and Elin Waterston's book Art Quilt Workshop as a way to "go back to school" a personal learning journey to explore my art/creativiy. I had all my books out and I was going between them when I heard about your collaboration. I am eagery following. I've come back to reread and haven't stopped to post each time and am trying to go back and let you both know that I'm very thankful for your words, encouragement and art. I'm learning so much!
I have both Lyric's book and her DVD. I met her last year at Fabrications and although I did not take her class I was very impressed with her and admire her work.