— This past December saw the incredibly talented Sue Masterson as our Featured Artist in Issue No. 22 of Living the Photo Artistic Life magazine. Her work has only continued to improve in the months since, and it’s exciting to bring you her interview at last …
Q. What got you started in digital photo artistry?
I had just become a founding member of a new camera club with progressive ideas. We had all decided that we wanted our club to bring varied and exciting ideas to the members. This is when I came across Photoshop Artistry and immediately enrolled (of course then I had to go out and purchase Photoshop so I could learn to use it!). Everything started there.
Q. I’ve heard you say more than once that Photoshop for you became addictive. A positive one, I hope?
For sure. From the day that I installed Photoshop my life took on a new meaning. I wanted to stay up all night learning how to use this powerful tool in such creative ways.
The Photoshop Artistry training got things started. Then the very first AWAKE course became available. And even though Sebastian said he would leave a few spots open for those of us “Down under” and on different time lines, so we’d have time to wake up and enroll, I certainly wasn’t willing to take that chance. So at 2 AM here in Australia, when Sebastian opened that course I was tapping on the join button. This of course made everything that much more exciting.
Once enrolled in AWAKE, I made it my goal to create a minimum of 3 pieces per night. Good, bad, or otherwise, this had to be done before going to bed. (Thus I often woke up at the computer to complete a piece or two. And come to think of it, I still do that now and then.)
And of course I just needed to try every new style and technique as it came up in the training. (Although for that you almost need an extra day in the week!)
Q. You’re clearly immersed, but at its core, what does “Living the Photo Artistic Life” mean to you?
Every day I wake up with a feeling of renewed purpose. To enjoy my life in a totally different way than before is just amazing. And that’s really at the core of my artistic life.
About a year ago I started up a permanent market stall to introduce my art to my local world. I do not sell works every day but it is wonderful when something does sell. I am regularly around the stalls (of which I now have two in different towns about an hour apart), and I am always blown away when people I don’t know comment on my work. Most of the time they do not know that I am the artist until after the fact.
More recently I have been working with my own models, and this gives me immense pleasure and pride in a finished piece that I have created from beginning to end.
I am also lucky enough to be a part of the creative team for Foxeysquirrel at Scrapobook Graphics. The challenges this affords have enabled me to expand my creative thoughts to new heights.
Q. How do you approach your work? Do you just dive in and see where an image takes you?
Initially I would just grab 2 or 3 photos and set to work, seeing what I came up with, but working mostly with just those. Naturally over time that has changed a bit, and now I make it more of a point to go back, carry the piece further, and see where I can bring in additional images or components to add to the composition.
I love to have something totally out of the ordinary in my pieces. It seems to then allow the viewer to not compare the art work to a photograph as easily and therefore appreciate it as it should be — as a unique piece of Art.
I also no longer worry about whether or not others will like my work. All that matters is that my artwork pleases me. There are so many people out there with so many ideas of what art should be that you just cannot expect everyone to like every piece you create. So as long as I like it, then I am happy.
Lastly, I am also rather impatient as an artist. Not that I’m impatient in getting it done. I’m impatient in that I need to see it completed no matter how much work it takes. I cannot leave a piece unfinished, I need to keep working — because tomorrow my Muse and I may not feel the same about the piece as when I began it. I need to see it through. Granted, I do have a pile of unfinished works, but that folder might as well say “Do Not Open,” since I know I won’t go back to them and should have probably just deleted them instead.
Q. Is there anyone in particular who inspires your art?
There are so many wonderful artists featured in the AWAKE and KAIZEN training, and those definitely inspire me. Also, several of the creative photographers from our group — Caroline Julia Moore, Colby Files, and Gabriel Olude — have contributed in inspiring me to start my own small studio for local aspiring models to come and play. So there’s inspiration there as well.
Q. What do you see as your next step as an artist?
By starting up the studio it is my aim to help our local models gain confidence to further their careers. There is no better feeling to me than the response from one of my models after seeing themselves in print for the first time. Of course having them attend the studio gives me a greater scope to enhance my own creativity as well.
Q. Any tips for other aspiring artists?
Follow your heart. Your work is always so much better if you love what you are doing. Also putting in the hard yards at the beginning will strengthen your knowledge and bring you greater confidence in what you are doing. As I like to say, “Good things come to those who wait, but even better things come to those who work hard while waiting.”
Another favorite saying is this one: “We are all important in our own teacup. It is what we DO that makes us important to others.” This applies to art as well. The more you do, the better you get. And the better you get, the more people take notice.