Interview with Young Artist Maeve O'Briant

Maeve O'Briant is an American painter, sketcher and photographer with only fourteen years to her name. Largely self-taught, she is yet to finish high school and has already established herself as an accomplished all-round visual artist.

1. At what age did you first start making art, and what kind of materials did you use?

I cannot remember a time where I wasn't creating. I started with what every kid aspiring to be an artist begins with – crayons, markers and coloured pencils – but by third grade I had acquired an oil and acrylic collection, learned the HB scale and hoarded different pencils and charcoal stumps. Then I discovered photography which I just fell in love with and did almost solely for about a year. Within the past year or two, I've tried to expand my media outside the traditional sense though, and have been playing with some unconventional methods.

2. Who and/or what inspired you to start your artwork?

In terms of starting a path in art initially, I believe that everyone has an "eye" for art and beauty, but only the people who chose to and are dedicated utilise it. One just needs that little inspiring push to open that eye. For me, I had always done art, but I had never understood its full potential until 1) I took an actual art course, learned the basic concepts, and was inspired by one of the most brilliant and creative people I've ever met, my teacher Kathy Shaner, and 2) My dad moved from the suburbs to the city, which just opened my mind to artistic possibilities. The urban environment is very stimulating with its variety and diversity and invokes an open mind to new concepts. The suburbs, or at least the ones I grew up in, were very secluded from the rest of the world, a "box." The worst thing you can do to an artist is put them in a box. It blocks ideas and new innovative things the artist has never explored before. When I got out of the "box" to the city and looked around, my eye for art truly opened, and I was inspired.

3. Have your blog and its readers had any effect on the kind of work you are doing? Do you feel that having an online presence gives you direction?

I don't believe it has an effect on the kind of work I'm doing (that seems to come from my mood, my environment, and the my current situation), but it does keep me going. Knowing I have an audience keeps me up-to-speed with creating and posting, keeping me on track.

4. How would you encourage young people to start and continue being artistic, even (and especially) if they do not feel that they are talented?

Art requires a driving force behind it, an emotion, a feeling, and experience. So I would encourage people get out of the house, explore, and find those experiences. While that may seem totally unrelated to being artistic, it is essential to continue being inspired. In the end, this will improve your product significantly, because there is depth to your work. If one feels they are not talented, they should not give up. It will come, it just takes more exploration – one may have not discovered the medium or technique that connects to them. But if the driving force I referred to earlier is there and the artist has passion, talent will come with exploration.

5. Is there a famous artist or a single work that inspires you greatly? If so, what is it?

I always struggle with this question. There are so many! I have a great admiration for Picasso – I have four prints of his in my room. I specifically love his cubist portraits, because while the rendering isn't near traditional – no scale or proportions or realism for that matter – he conveys the personality of his model so vividly in the amplified colors and shapes.

6. In your ‘About Me' section, you mention that you have great ambition within the art world – where do you see yourself in five years?

It's been my dream to attend the Rhode Island School of Design, so hopefully I'll be there earning a degree in perhaps Studio Art and/or Photography. But my goal before I leave high school is to develop a signature aesthetic, since I am really all across the board right now. Then in art school, I can fine-tune that signature look into my own style.

7. How do you balance spending time making art with other commitments such as school and friends?

This has been a challenge, especially in high school when I study from the moment I get home till usually around 11 at night. In this area, high school has not been treating me well, and it doesn't help that my school is extremely math and sports oriented. But I have developed a pattern: weekdays are for studying, weekends and breaks are set aside for art. I jot down ideas that pop into my mind throughout the week or limn them quickly in a sketch pad, and save them for my reserved art time on Saturday. As for friends, I always make time for them, and sometimes I work them into my study and art time, with study sessions and having them model for pictures or help me with a project.

8. What is your favourite medium and why? Do you experiment with new mediums at all?

My favourite medium would have to be charcoal. There is something really personal about working with it, when you get all sooty and find the black smudges on your face, and I love how you almost mould and sculpt the shadows the more you go over it. It's extremely willing with manipulation. My favourite part is with charcoal portraits, getting the perfect contours of a face with the shadows and highlights – you grow so attached to what you are drawing. But I have been trying to work with more unconventional mediums; last weekend for example I worked with packing tape!

9. What advice would you give to a young artist looking for an audience?

Keep going, never stop. If art is what you really love, the audience will come to you. It just takes time and patience. Take every opportunity to put yourself out there: enter contests, self-publicise, meet people and make connections. Building an audience is a gradual thing, so if you don't see an immediate response, it's important not to lose hope.

10. How important is it to keep going even if you feel uninspired? Or should you wait and let inspiration come to you?

In my case, inspiration comes in spurts; some days I'm inspired, some days I'm not. When you feel uninspired for a long period of time, there are ways to instigate the creative flow. While you can't force inspiration, you can go out and look for it, and many times it will find you. I have certain places I visit, certain songs I listen to. You just have to find those triggers, and the rest falls into place. But an artist cannot stay uninspired for long if they take the time to appreciate the beauty around them, so don't give up. Everyone has their off days.

Connect with Maeve

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maeveobriant?fref=ts

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/maeveob/