Artist Spotlight (INTERVIEW)
We sat down with the cover artist for issue 3 and asked her a few (very serious) questions.
QUESTION 1
Joplin Toad: Tell us about our cover toad. Who is this toad? How'd you come up with him?
Aubrey Prunty: The Toad you meet on the cover of this issue is the Toad you might meet one evening on your way inside to the air conditioning after a long hot day. He enjoys soaking up the warm heat of the concrete and observing the city as it slows down for the night but during the day you might catch him chilling out on some cool moss in the shade.
To create this image I first started with a sketch based on a large toad I met on my own sidewalk and filled it in with watercolor. I then layered the image digitally over another painting traced from an old photo of downtown Joplin and added effects until I got this old print look.
QUESTION 1.5
JT: Who are you?
AP: My name is Aubrey Prunty, I am an Artist and sister-to-all. I love to collaborate creatively and inspire others to find their inner-artist.
Artwork is very personal to me, but it is also so much fun to share a project like this.
QUESTION 2
JT: How would you describe the art that you create? What does the process look like for you?
AP: I currently work from home doing commissioned pieces. I have never landed on any one thing so I act, sing, paint, draw, sculpt, write, create digital graphics, videos and take photos. I love learning new things and get bored if I'm not.
Right now I am obsessing over watercolors, I've only recently gotten into this medium and otherwise worked with acrylics, so you'll see a lot of new work stemming from that if you follow me online.
Any art takes practice and willingness to experiment, so you'll find my process is a lot of experimenting and trying things differently to make something new.
QUESTION 3
JT: What inspired you to take on the creative pursuits that you're currently a part of? What would you say to others who are trying to be more creative themselves?
AP: I have always had a big imagination and used artistic expression as an outlet and way to cope with difficult circumstances in life. I used to play pretend a lot, creating scenarios with props and sets using whatever I had available (could be dolls, action figures, sticks and mud, piece of paper and crayons…) I would create another world and found ways of expressing that as I grew up by learning from other artists. I would look to people who inspired me and try to figure out how they do what they do and then put my own spin on it.
I want to encourage other artists to have fun, relax and try something different. Be kind to yourself and treat the next project you sit down to work on as a "first draft" - play with it and let it go. It will never be "perfect" but the more you do the better you'll get, and who knows, that first draft may end up as something great!
Don't be afraid to share, it may really hit the spot for some people, but have the courage to understand if someone doesn't connect to it the way you do. This is how we learn and grow.
QUESTION 4
JT: How has the city of Joplin affected your life as an artist?
AP: Joplin is where my heart landed, when I visited a potential college at 16yrs old, and it hasn't gone anywhere since. Joplin is where I first hung up artwork on my walls that I created because others encouraged me to do so. So while I've been creating for as long as I can remember, I think Joplin is where I bloomed for others to see.
QUESTION 5
JT: What's your favorite Nicolas Cage movie?
AP: The Rock
Good choice, Aubrey…
Want to see more of Aubrey’s work and keep up with her current projects?
follow @breezyartwork on insta or facebook.com/breezyartwork!
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