A few weeks ago I was interviewed by the publications office where I work at
Antioch University New England in
Keene, New Hampshire. As part of the regular Community Bulletin, they are doing an occasional staff artist spotlights, and I was excited to have this chance to share my artistic side at work. The interview, from Issue #22, November 16, 2011 is below.
Issue #22, November 16, 2011
Many of AUNE’s staff hide their artistic talents under a bushel. We shine a little light on some of these artists in our occasional Artist Spotlight:
Stephanie Tickner loved to draw as a child. But it wasn’t until she was sixteen and her grandparents gave her a drawing class as a gift that she began to understand art. “It made me see things, not as outlines, but as light and color and shadows,” said Stephanie, administrative assistant in the
Department of Management. At first she worked in pencil and in charcoal. Then, about ten years ago, she joined the
Marlow Art Colony, where she learned from other members about the tools of her craft—paper, paint and brushes—and began to paint in watercolor, her
chosen medium.
She also joined the
Monadnock Area Artists Association, which gave her the confidence to show her artwork in public. Since then, she has exhibited at local venues, shows and craft fairs, including
AUNE’s Winterfest Craft Fair (this year December 1), Monadnock Area Artists Association’s
Art in the Park and the
Orchard School Craft Fair. You can also buy her artwork over her new website:
www.stephanieticknerwatercolors.com.
If you stop by the
Marlow Elementary School’s multipurpose room, you’ll see a mural that Stephanie painted. She’s frequently commissioned to do paintings from photographs—in fact, photography is one of her other passions, and she usually paints from her own photographs. “I don’t do much plein air because I’m a slow and meticulous painter,” she said.
It was at Art in the Park that Stephanie noticed smaller pieces selling well, and she has since created greeting cards, magnets and bookmarks with her art. “I get positive feedback on having art that is affordable,” she said.
“I’m inspired by the natural environment for my ideas,” she said. ”I grew up on
Cape Cod so I have a passion for the ocean and for my new home in the
woods of New Hampshire. I love painting people doing what they do – the everyday life kind of stuff.”
