Artist interview: Katy Horan
Posted by Melanie Maddison on Wednesday August 18, 2010
Katy Horan is a painter, drawer, crafter, and maker-of-things. She loves all things folky, spooky and crafty. Originally from Texas, she now lives in Austin.
Some of Katy’s work features in The Dazzle, a group show at Narwhal Art Projects in Toronto, Canada, which opens Sept 9th and runs until Oct 17, 2010.
{Interviewed by Melanie Maddison}
Website: www.katyart.com/
Blog: katyhoran.tumblr.com/
Etsy: etsy.com/shop/Katyart
Hi Katy, how are you? What are you working on at the moment?
I am great, thanks! I’m experimenting quite a bit these days. I am trying to balance the tiny details with more texture and looseness. I am hoping to make some large scale figures that incorporate ghost and widow imagery…should be pretty spooky.
How would you describe your art?
I would say I make bizarro lady monsters out of tiny lace patterns that make my hands hurt. That’s the casual version.
Here’s the formal version: I intuitively combine fragmented visual references with imagery from my own memory to create something that is both ambiguous and familiar. I do this to filter images from my own subconscious while raising questions of what we visually identify as feminine.
What are your daily inspirations?
I get a lot of inspiration from things I read, listen to and watch. I like to use my work as a filter for all the tiny pieces of inspiration I absorb in my everyday life and that remain from my childhood. Folk and ghost stories are a source that I return to regularly.
I am also really into history, so I like to incorporate visual details from the eras that interest me. Right now, I am really into Victorian mourning customs, so there is a lot of widow imagery floating around my head and studio.
How did you first get started in art, is it something that you’ve always been interested in and excelled at?
How long have you been creating art, embracing your creativity, and working towards developing your current style and output?
I always drew. As a kid, I did all kinds of other activities….dance, theater, piano….but art was the only thing that I never got bored with. It always felt more natural to me than anything else.
I always wanted to do something visual. I went to college initially to study costume design, but became more interested in children’s books than theater. I then transferred to RISD to study Illustration. After I graduated, my work gradually began shifting towards fine arts, so when galleries began showing interest and publishers weren’t, I decided to pursue a more fine art sort of path. Since then (around 2006) I have been pushing my work and process, trying to find deeper concepts and create more dynamic imagery.
How did you personally learn to access your creative and artistic talents, and gain the confidence to make art and creative expression your career?
My work is at it’s best when I work completely intuitively. I have always sought that place where the conscious mind shuts up and the work becomes meditative. I listen to audio books to distract the nagging, judgmental part of my brain, so that I can work without thought. It’s been a lot of trial and error to find the best way to get around my neurosis and ADD, so that I can just work and not worry about it!
As far as confidence goes…I am not sure how I kept that up. I am just so self conscious about everything else that it was a natural choice to pursue the art instead of another career.
CLICK HERE to read the entire interview!
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Jenni Saarenkylä
Posted by Amy on Tuesday February 16, 2010
Loving Jenni Saarenkylä‘s collection of prints entitled The Bear is the Forest; inspired by Finnish folklore of the same name.
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The Time is Now returns!
Posted by Amy on Friday September 18, 2009
I’ve been waiting for Naomi’s return for a while now, and I’m glad she did! She just reopened The Time is Now and also her new shop, Antlered Kitsune that sells illustrations and papercuts done for her thesis, which is centered around the folklore characters kitsunes and the stag.
She’s also celebrating with a special offer for those who are interested in getting themselves her lovely items: free international shipping for the first three peeps who contact her via Etsy. Not only that, those who contact her will be entered into a raffle to win her papercut art cards!
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Allan Deas
Posted by Amy on Tuesday February 3, 2009
Have you seen the latest issue of Blanket Magazine yet? It’s from their latest issue (a beautiful theme of everything blue) that I found the link to Allan Deas’ work. Everything is beautifully retro and organic in nature — two of my favorite styles put together!
Read his interview over at Blanket Magazine and see more of his work over at his portfolio.
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Abbey Christine
Posted by Amy on Tuesday December 16, 2008
No, the laptop is not quite done yet, and is still in the workshop, but from Renegade Handmade’s new shop I found the work of Abbey Hambright who sells under the name abbeychristine and I simply had to share. I am loving her custom-made felt finger puppets of pop culture icons and famous people (care for a Yoko Ono finger puppet anyone?), but find it ironic that I am sticking a finger up their you-know-what, even if it’s only figuratively! :)
Read her blog for updates on what she’s up to, and have a gander at her flickr stream for more indie goodness.
The Art of Katy Horan
Posted by Amy on Monday March 3, 2008
When the Moon is Full
This Lady is Magic; Candle
Katy Horan’s illustrations and paintings are very different from many others I’ve seen. Her style is one that’s firmly rooted in a folksy way — drawing from a well of mythical creatures, witches and horned ladies. She’s been featured around the blogosphere already, but I love her work and thought that I might share.
She’s on On My Desk, and Book By It’s Cover.
A page from her sketchbook
A peek into her home studio
Have a looky at her newly designed website and there’s her blog too. She has a ton of her works up at her flickr site, and she sells her stuff here, here and occasionally, here.
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