Fibre Arts Take Two Interview
My First Live Interview in Australia
Although I am no stranger to interviews, I had my first live artist interview on Fibre Art Take Two’s Friday Feature with Clarissa Callesen, a fiber and installation artist from the Seattle, Washington area. Clarissa has also attended 360 Xochi Quetzal International Artist Residency on Lake Chapala, Mexico, so I’ve had a chance to get to know her personally during both of her residencies. We covered a lot of ground during the one hour interview and I’ll discuss some of the most popular topics here.
How an Introvert balances a Team Practice
Questions from the audience came in throughout the interview and one of them was how does an introvert manage a team practice. I think that a lot of creative people need and enjoy time alone. In my case, I couldn’t manage to produce the size and quantity of murals, sculpture and large-scale artwork required for my upcoming museum and art gallery exhibitions without a lot of help. In the morning, I have 3 – 5 Mexican women working in the studio on silk-screening, sewing and cutting the recycled feathers I use in my work. The team leaves by 2pm so that I have at least 5 hours each afternoon alone for research about endangered birds, writing and my design and creative process. Achieving work/life balance is a lifelong dance that requires frequent recalibration.
What is the Role of Social Media in my Art Practice
I try to post on Instagram 3 – 5 times a week. I consider these posts my love letter to my followers, where I share my art process, progress and news. I also enjoy seeing what other artists, especially fiber artists, are making around the world. Since I am fortunate to have social media people on my team, I pass along my posts so that they can massage their language to fit the tone of LinkedIn and FaceBook. I spend about 1.5 hours a day on social media, mostly Instagram. I am a great believer in delegating tasks as frequently as possible and retaining things that only you can do or that give you pleasure. If you want to hear more thoughts on this topic, watch my short documentary about Time Management: HERE
We touched on a lot of other topics including mentoring, support, and some of the secrets of my success. Watch the entire interview to catch everything we discussed: HERE
Behind the Scenes of a Live Interview
Four days before we went live, I had a sound check with Clarissa and Angela Truscott, the owner of Fibre Art Take Two. We made sure I was looking directly at the interviewer, and tested the performance of my IMac. We even positioned my desk chair for optimal visual composition. Clarissa was a consummate professional and kept the interview on track, took questions from the live audience and toggled over to images of my artwork when I made reference to them. For example, when I was sharing the news about the recent acquisition of two of my environmental pieces by the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York, the pieces magically appeared on the screen! The invisible, technical end of this interview was quite impressive.
Having my artwork featured on Fibre Arts Take Two to a live, international audience was an honor and was deeply affirming. I am grateful to their entire team for choosing to shine a light on my artwork and do so much to support the network of fiber artists around the wor
RESOURCES:
YouTube Interview on Fibre Arts Take Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
YouTube Documentary about Deborah Kruger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Fibre Arts Take Two website: https://www.fibreartstaketwo.
Fibre Arts Take Two Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/
Deborah Kruger Website: https://deborahkruger.com
Deborah Kruger Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
Deborah Kruger Designs Website: https://deborahkrugerdesigns.
360 Xochi Quetzal Artist and Writers Residency Website: https://360xochiquetzal.com
MAD Acquisition Blog: https://deborahkruger.com/
Art Consultation Link: https://deborahkruger.
