If you follow SweetShop Creations on Facebook, you’ll know that I often post about a select group of awesome artists, crafters,
and designers that I like to call the SweetShop C.I.A.(C.rafters I. A.dmire.)
Usually my admiration extends to a reblog, a Facebook photo of an incredible piece of
work that they've done, and sometimes a reciprocal “like” from the object of my
obsession admiration, but that’s it.
So you can imagine how excited I was I got
the chance to actually meet up with Adrienne Norris of Afro Triangle Designs
and talk shop. I’ve known Adrienne for a few years—we swing through a few of the
same social circles in Denver and have a few mutual friends--but we’ve never really gotten a
chance to talk art and business in depth before.
I’m a firm believer in networking and promoting other people's brilliance, so I asked Adrienne if I could share an interview with her here
at the SweetShop blog and she agreed. So, without further ado, SweetShoppers, I
present to you...Adrienne Norris of Afro Triangle Designs!
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| Image courtesy of Adrienne Norris. Shirt available for purchase here |
Welcome Adrienne! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you
from, where are you now, where are you going, that sort of thing?
Well, I was born on
the island of Barbados (which is in the Caribbean, for those who don’t know) and
came to the US when I was 5. I lived in New York with my mom, grandmother and
brothers until I was about 12, when we moved to New Mexico to live on the
international school campus my dad taught at, the Armand Hammer United World College. So I’m Bajan by birth, but American by culture.
When I was 17, I had
the opportunity to attend the United World College of the Adriatic in Italy,
which is part of the family of international schools I grew up in. What should
have been a two year experience turned into only one, though. I mean, it was
Italy and I was 17. Studying just wasn't a priority. So I had a chance to start
over at the school in New Mexico where I graduated with my International
Baccalaureate degree.
After that, I joined
the Marines to be an Arabic linguist and spent 5 years doing what people told
me (sort of) and translating “things” from Arabic to English. Sorry, if I gave
you more details, I’d have to kill you. ;)
These days, I’m working
as a freelance artist here in Denver, designing t-shirts, business cards,
logos, as well as drawing and painting portraits when I can. I would love for
portrait painting to be my primary source of income.
Can you tell us a little bit about how your life inspires your art?
People fascinate me.
I think that’s why I love drawing faces so much. We all have the same five
features – two eyes, a nose, a mouth – but they can be configured in so many
different ways to make each face we see so incredibly unique that even twins
who share almost identical genes, can look different from one another.
I am also amazed by
what the human body is capable of whether it’s pull-ups, hand stands, or flips.
That we can use our muscles to create enough momentum to launch ourselves into
the air is astounding to me.
(Blogger's note; Adrienne hasn't mentioned this, but she's also a very capable capoeira practioner!)
And tell us about the art, too. What are you working on now? What is your
artistic background? What's your medium?
I would say that a
lot of what I love creating most, the portraits, is self-taught. I remember sitting
for hours on guard duty sketching faces from magazines, photographs, even
military ID cards in an effort to master capturing a likeness. That doesn't mean I didn't have formal training, though.
I took a number of
art classes during my early school years, and after leaving the Service, I
attended the Art Institute of Colorado for my degree in Media Arts and
Animation. This opened the doors of the digital art world and has allowed me to
earn money as a graphic designer.
As far as medium
goes, I love pen and ink, watercolor, and acrylic paint, each for different
reasons. I call ink drawing the strategic placement of lines. I love the
challenge of creating depth in an image using lines alone, though there is no
such thing as a line in nature.
I love the delicacy
of watercolor, a medium that has a mind of its own, that lends a certain
brightness to your subject when you’re done.
And I love the
traditional look I can achieve with acrylic. The thicker medium calls to mind
most peoples’ idea of what a painting “should” look like.
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| An Afro-Triangle original watercolor portrait. Find out more here. |
Do you feel your art connects the different cultural and social influences in
your life? Can you tell us more about how if it does?
I think it does. My
tendency is to draw or paint realistically, so most of my work is based on
photographs. Most of these have been photos I have taken myself, of friends or
of people in a place I happened to be.
I think I also
capture the universality of what it is to be human. I love painting expression
and no matter where you are in the world, what your cultural background, our
expressions hold the same meanings. A frown means you’re unhappy about
something, a smile expresses joy. We are all working with the same five
features.
What's your favorite work of art(either by yourself or someone else)?
It’s so hard to pin
down one specific piece… Yeah, I’m gonna have to pass.
Can you tell us a little about your etsy shop? What kinds of items are
available there?(Quick note, SweetShoppers...etsy is an online craft and design bazaar. If you don't know about it, you should!)
I am very new to
Etsy, so my shop is still growing. Portraits are the main listing right now. I
offer custom portraits in a variety of media, as well as a series of what I
call Geek-tastic celebrity portraits in which I have drawn characters from my
favorite sci-fi/fantasy television shows and movies. There are also a few of
the t-shirts I have designed and printed so far.
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| Any Supernatural fans in the house? Purchase this one and more like it here |
Have you got any live exhibitions coming up soon? Can you tell us anything
about that?
Glad you asked! I have a
show starting on January 1st at Love Sick Ink, a tattoo parlor off Broadway and Iliff. It runs until January 31st and it would be great to see new people there. Keep an eye on the Afro Triangle Facebook page and website for more information.
So there you have it, SweetShoppers--hope you enjoyed being introduced to Adrienne as much as I enjoyed doing the interview. If you want to know more, check out the official Afro Triangle Designs website HERE and like and follow on Facebook HERE. If you want to purchase your very own Afro Triangle Designs shirt or portrait, check out the etsy shop HERE. There's also some very cool shirts available to purchase only on the official site. Many thanks to Adrienne for your time and best of luck with your future art and business!
