— Artist and designer Teddi Rutschman (aka Foxeysquirrel) has been a generous and wildly prolific contributor to our AWAKE group since early on, and now plays an important role as a member of our elite KAIZEN team. A cancer survivor, Teddi has created a thriving new life as a professional content designer, and it’s with excitement I bring you this interview …
Q. What’s your favorite part of being an artist (and of living an artistic life)?
There is something spiritual in creating art. It takes me into a magical world of discovery. I love all the possibilities that imagination brings to a piece, and the way it comes together is a thrill. And there’s always the excitement of discovering some new tip or trick, something unexpected that suddenly moves my art forward or sparks some fresh vision or inspiration. It’s just so much fun. And it’s addictive.
Q. How long have you been running your content-design business online? And what was it that inspired you to make that into a pursuit originally?
I have only been designing professionally going on two years, but I’ve been on various creative teams (honing my craft) for a long while. And though I turned down many propositions to become a designer in the past, a couple years back I finally decided that the time was right … I originally worked with the incredibly talented Julie Mead at e-scapeandscrap.net, then later joined scrapbookgraphics.com as one of their Studio Girls. It is a full-time devotion, and the idea of working as a professional designer has intrigued me for years, beginning with my first introduction to designers like Lorie Davison and Kirsi Iggy Rouvinen (aka ItKupilli — also part of our KAIZEN team!)
Q. What inspires you most when it comes to sitting down to create content for your audience?
I am drawn to the old masters’ use of form and light, so I like to make kits that offer portraiture as well as dreamscapes, and all with a classical feel. I build everything as highly-adaptable .png files, because everything I create I want my audience to take up in their own unique way as they delve into their own wondrous interpretations, making use of a variety of combinations to fashion their own imaginative works. I love seeing how each of the elements comes to life in the hands of talented artists all around the world. And THAT inspires me most of all, I think. Working within the digital artistry community is such a global experience, and I so very much enjoy being a part of it all. There’s a shared love of the art form that makes it all so inspiring and fun to do. And it’s just so exciting, knowing that dozens of artists can take the exact same kit I’ve created and use it to come up with entirely different kinds of art. It never ceases to amaze me.
Q. What was it that got you started as an artist?
I started as a child in the breakfast room with favorite Aunt Mari … I remember her gathering pastels and paints and then carefully covering her oak table and helping me begin creating pictures all my own … with all the variety of colors. That’s where it began.
If you ever notice, in some of my art you’ll find I use “No. 0105” or “No. 01520” — those numbers have a very special meaning to me because they are my Aunt’s birth date. That tells you how much she influenced my love of the arts, and I do this in fond remembrance of her.
Q. You began with paint and pastel. But what’s your favorite artistic medium right now? And what about it do you love?
I love digital art above all other mediums right now. Mostly because SO MUCH can be done in just a few clicks. The other advantage in digital art is that if you don’t like something later in your piece you can always drop back in and make changes or create variations. That flexibility is wonderful.
I do paint or re-color almost all my elements — but using Photoshop or Topaz — when I am working on art of my own or when I’m creating kits. I want my sets of content to be different and unique. I love all the old masters, and I try to bring their works back to life as if they had just set down their brush today. In my own work, I think I tap into a child-like vision … and I want the viewer to find within it both elegance and magic … I would love to go back in a time machine and observe the old masters as they created their work, translating the world around them and bringing it to canvas. And I often wonder how various vintage images might change were they brought into our world today and interpreted through our modern tools of creation.
Q. Do you have a typical way you begin a work of art when you sit down to create?
When I start my kits I always sort by choosing colors I like best, picking several that work well with each other. I then add all sorts of elements to make the kit a workable one that will be different from others I’ve created in the past, yet will also nicely compliment my other kits as well. I want there to be something a little different in each one. But I want my audience to be able to take elements from one and mix them with elements from another, creating unique combinations all their own. There are so many fabulous designers today, and each of us has a unique style that makes digital designing a sparkling, resplendent thing of beauty. There are styles winsomely dimpled, others crushingly gorgeous, and all of them unmistakably unique.
Q. If you got to spend a week at an artist retreat with just ONE means of creating something artistic — what would you choose
It would still have to be digital design — with all its infinite possibilities. I would create a whole new fairytale kind of world and populate it with magical people with wings, and have them fly off the screen into real life. I would fly too, and I would look at everything around me, alive, heart aflutter … my imagination soaring. It’s only digital design that makes me feel that free, that boundless.
Q. If you had to come up with three words (or short phrases) that describe how you see yourself as an artist, what would they be?
”Passionate.” And “Surprising.” And, oh, how about … “Old World Renaissance Revivalist.” I like that one!
Q. Do you maintain a pretty regular production schedule, or does it just depend on the season?
Oh, it never stops. Right now I am busy filling out my shop at Scrapbook Graphics and retooling some of my earlier content. I try to put at least one new set (something substantial) in my shop each week. It’s just something I’m always working at it seems. I get lost in the process, and the hours go by without my noticing.
Q. If you had to come up with a specific set of “Steps to Becoming a Better Artist” (something you would share with an ambitious beginning artist), what would your list look like?
1. Find some artistic kits that move you and spark a resonate desire to get in there and CREATE.
2. Play with the images until they strike a chord … you’ll know it when it happens.
3. Keep at it, keep playing … and allow time and practice to teach you, as it surely will.
4. Be proud of each piece you create, and envision it as a print or a canvas on the wall.
5. Study other people’s work as well, learning from those you love most, and carrying that inspiration onward.
Q. Have you had any particular challenges that ended up being blessings in disguise, or that taught you critical lessons you’re glad you learned when you did?
I am a breast cancer survivor, but I never saw that as a negative. To me I found the bright side in this through my art. I was able make fun of my cancer every step of the way. I did a series on being a warrior and found ways that really made me realize there are a lot of things worse than cancer. Giving up — that’s just not part of who I am. If you are open and allow yourself to really look without judgment you can see the good in almost everything. And you can survive. You can do more than just survive.
Q. Where have you seen your work published or exhibited?
My work has been published by Somerset Digital Studio magazine several times, and I’ve been published in Living the Photo Artistic Life. My work is also featured in a gallery in Asheville, NC.
I have also illustrated a children’s book, titled The Unicorn Giraffe, written by Laura Botsford — available on Blurb and published as well as an e-book with music videos. That was fun.
Q. Your website is fantastic. Did you create it yourself?
Talk about a challenge! Creating that website has been my biggest challenge I think. I wanted it to be unique and represent the magical world I see around me. But it took quite a while to get right.
Q. What’s your big ambition (artistically) right now?
Being a professional content designer is already wonderful. But like all of us, I’d love to make it as an artist. I’m particularly excited about selling my images as prints. Love the idea of my work hanging in someone’s home and bringing them joy. I would also like to pursue book illustration further — being on the cover of a book is quite exciting!
Q. If you were to write something at the start of a journal, something to reflect on every day, or something to guide you in your life — what would it be?
That’s easy. Just this: “Determination.”