Interview with an Artist
Today we have the pleasure of getting to know
Carole Anne Farber
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First of all, share with me a little bit about what it’s like living in Iowa . Were you born there?
Carole Anne –I was born in Iowa, a little town called West Burlington, a town where every one knew your name and business.
Patti – What are your summers like in West Point? Does it get really hot?
Carole Anne –This is our 3rd summer season out here in the country and I love it. The wildflowers, the deer, all of natures beauty every day, I love it more and more and don't ever want to move back to the city. I lived in Spokane, WA for 8 years before coming back to Iowa and the country suits me and my family just perfectly.
Patti - Tell me about your family. Are you a married women and if so how long have you been married? Do you have children, grandchildren, or pets?
Carole Anne - I am married to a man I met on the Internet 10 years ago and he has been my soul since I first met him. My father died earlier this year (which by the way the people at Whisper have been so wonderful to me during that time..) When my father died and I was helping hospice and my mom take care of him. I knew that after dad passed away I wanted my mom to live with us and she has moved in and its wonderful. It really is true as you age your mom becomes your best friend. Anyway, my husband Michael and I have 2 adorable dogs, Ross a golden retriever/basset hound mix and Bradley who is a Westie and my Mom's dwarf hamster, Harriett Von Hamster. I have two beautiful daughters Jacey and Jessica and my heart's song my grandchildren Ethan who is 14 and Ruby Sweet Pea who is turning 3. A very complete family minus my Father who I miss horribly.
Patti – Share with me how you first became interested in creating digital art?
Carole Anne –I first became intrigued after seeing a friend of mine doing Zen tangles and I went online and Googled it and found so much more Zetti, altered art and digital art. I was very shaky reading and looking at all of the wonderful art being done because I had a passion for art but it had been pushed out of my life during my 2nd marriage by a very insecure man I know now, and I never picked up a paint brush after that but I always loved working with pictures and I love Vintage so I started collecting Cd's of vintage ephemera and I had a small program that would let me do some neat things to pictures didn't really even know what I was doing . I started out using my huge collection of quotes also and combining the two and making cards and selling them on Etsy then I came across these wonderful sites, like this one and Creative Souls now these were places I could learn and show my work to people and get an honest opinion about it and what I could do to make it better. I also got an old copy of Photoshop 6. Talk about feeling dumb… so I then bought the Photoshop 6 book for dummies, even that didn't help me understand all that was available to me, so I just went out on my own and loved to paint bold colorful digital art. I got really good with my mouse. My favorite thing to do was and still is to change a vintage woman and painting her to make her modern.
Patti – Have you always created digital art or did you start with mixed media?
Carole Anne -I have been creating with digital art for about 7 years now. Before my 2nd marriage it was watercolor and oils, they were more abstract but some still life. It bothers me after the fact and with a few years of counseling that I could let a man take my passion away and make me feel worthless. Now I get encouragement from all angles and I am always on the computer working with some digital piece when I am not making paper flowers, another passion of mine.
Patti - How did you learn digital art? Did you teach yourself or did you take art courses or lessons?
Carole Anne – I don’t think I have learned it. Trial and error is more like it. The tutorials are wonderful out there and Digital Whisper has the greatest challenges to help you learn more techniques but I am the type of person that loves to see what happens if I do this experiment and then forget what or how I did it. I don’t have the latest software or the fastest computer, so Photoshop isn't available to me yet. I am working on saving up some money to get it and a computer just for my digital art. Then I will have a wonderful time and never get anything else done.
Patti – Do you incorporate any mixed media art with your digital creations?
Carole Anne – Not usually. I have done a few mixed media projects that I gave as gifts. What I usually do is try and pair up a vintage woman or an old photo with a quote that I love or that seems fitting and I sometimes sell one or two on Etsy.
Patti – I admire your versatility. Like in this piece “Women Are Like Teabags”
And this piece “A Wonderful Day”
Carole Anne -Thank you. I really have to be in the mood to a zetti art piece. I don’t do many of them but I purchase the kits from Crow About studios and Finecrafted and Tumblefish at Deviantscrap.com. It’s like I have an addiction when a new kit comes out I have to buy it but then I wait until I am in the right frame of mind to do a piece. It’s a different kind of art from what I usually do.Carole Anne – Things I see like an old barn with some wildflowers, the light in a room early in the morning. I am constantly creating, if not digital, then is my paper flowers. My hands actually ache to create sometimes. I wish Could just go take a nap or read, but I am always doing something, so I guess the answer would be the light, the colors that surround me.
Patti – What program do you use to create digital art? What are your favorite tools or filters?
Carole Anne - Since I am not fortunate enough to have Photoshop CS 6 or whatever the current one is now. I use my old faithful which is Microsoft digital Image Pro 10. I have Photoshop Elements 7 and Corel Essentials 4 and a frustratingly slow computer that crashes when I am working on too many layers or too many brushes. In good time I will have what I need. Until then, I love the results of some of the pieces I have done with what I have.
Patti – Have you ever had any of your work published? If so tell me about it.
Carol Anne - Actually I do have a copyright on piece I did while taking care of my father. I used to be up really late, to scared I think to sleep, afraid my Father would die and I wouldn’t be there when it happened. Anyway, this piece came to me after.
I thought I had lost my muse. I have been so involved in digital painting but the fear of losing my father all that was going on around me nothing would come to me. All I could do was make flowers. It took my mind off things. This is a piece that came to me one evening after a long day of taking care of my Father who was thankfully at home but in Hospice Care
I am not a religious person., I don’t go to church but have always believed. I thought it was more of personal thing I had with God but I firmly believe that God was with me that night helping to cope and giving me peace and he helped me come up with this digital art piece I call “Tree of Life Loving Hands”.
My Uncle was so impressed with it as all my family and hospice that he went to great lengths to get it copyrighted. Well I wish I could say it had huge sales but it didn’t, but what we did make, I gave 30% to Hospice.
Patti – Do you have a blog you can share with us? Also, do you have a website on Etsy Shop or any other network?
Carol Anne - I have a blog but I am so embarrassed by it. It’s a mess. Think I am going to take a class on blogging. I tend to ramble on so, as you can tell during this interview. So it needs major work.
where I sell my Paper flowers and some digital art.
Carole Anne - I am going to say Joyuslion, her art with the messages she has to go along with them inspire me. There are so many wonderful artists out there. I am influenced by them all in some way.
Patti – What do you like to do for recreation or to relax?
Carole Anne - I like to just sit outside and listen to the country sounds, look to the sky's and talk to my Dad and thank God for all I have. Really, nothing more than that, I am a constantly on the go.
Patti – Many artists are inspired by music. Do you like music playing when you create? What is your favorite music?
Carole Anne -I love the Andies Flutes and the Beatles. I really don't listen to them when creating. I am in quiet, engrossed in what I am doing. I don’t even hear my husband talking to me, which is bad but he understands.
Patti – What is your favorite color and what do you think this color says about Carole Anne?
Carole Anne - My favorite color is a butter yellow, not to bright or dull. What does it say about me? I think it says that I am honest and warm and caring.
Patti - What is your strongest pet peeve?
Carole Anne - My pet peeve is someone chomping on ice or chewing gum really fast and the noise that it makes.
Patti – Lastly Carole Anne, if you could spend one day with any artist who would that artist be?
Carole Anne - Well right now it sound's like I am a stalker but I would love to spend the day with Stephanie (Joyuslion) she gives so much of herself to others. Her art so inspires people to think differently, I think she could show me how to be a better person. and to see things in a different light.
Patti – Thank you so much Carole Anne, it has been fun getting to know you. I admire your work and I am sure the Creative Soul family will be thrilled to know you better too.
