Interview with Celia

I have a set of questions that I came up with that are a little bit Krista Tippett, a little bit Danielle Krysa, and a lot bit my own curiosity. I think talking about our creative stories is a way to bind us together and encourage us to keep going on our own creative path. I’m excited to be asking these questions and to be sharing these creatives’ answers with you. This month’s interview is Celia.

Tell my readers a little bit about you.

I’m a home decor designer in Cincinnati, Ohio. I married a guy I met in driver’s ed (who does that, c’mon) and have a collection of struggling house plants. I like learning things which is a nice way of saying I look at maps like I might be quizzed on geography at any time and at one point had a job answering questions from the general public about dinosaurs. I also tend to have multiple hobbies at any given time, right now they’re mostly dancing (belly dancing and Argentine Tango to be specific).

What is your first memory of creativity?

I’m honestly not sure. I’ve always loved to draw, I was one of those kids who was drawing as soon as I could hold a crayon. I do remember when I was first asked “what do you want to do when you grow up” I said I wanted to be an artist, because that was the one thing I could see myself wanting to do all day. I’ve remained remarkably consistent about some things throughout my life.

What did you love to make as a kid and are you still making some variation of that now?

I really liked playing with sculpey, I went through a whole jewelry making phase with it and anything. I picked it back up as an adult as an easy way to do sculpture every now and then. I enjoy sculpting, I would like to do it more, but there’s just too many logistical issues involved in something like stonecarving to do it casually. 

What is your favorite creative supply and why can’t you live without it?

Realistically, Photoshop because I’m not making a living without it. In my heart though it’s oil paints. I’ve played around with a lot of different types of paint over the years but oils remain my favorite for the sheer flexibility of looks you can achieve with them. They’re SO impractical, mostly because they take one million years to dry.

I’ve attempted to do plein air painting with them exactly once since I graduated, and no, just no. A: I’m not fast enough and don’t really like painting wet on wet B: everything about transporting a wet oil painting in a car (or even just carrying it any distance) is very annoying. I would never want to use them for any project that had a deadline. But every other type of paint I’ve tried feels constraining, I’m more limited in what I can get the paint to do. My second favorite is watercolors, mostly for the portability and convenience factors. 

What is a creative question you ask over and over?

How do I get the thing that I’m making match what’s in my head? I’m always trying to get better and I like pushing myself technically, so I pretty much never make anything that I’m 100% satisfied with. But there’s always the next project.

What gets you to start a new project?

If I go too long without one my brain gets itchy. It depends what all I’ve got going on, if I’m drawing a lot or doing smaller projects on the side, but I usually don’t go longer than a month between finishing up one painting and starting another. I collect photos and reference and when I’m ready to start a new painting I’ll go through them to see what I’m in the mood for. Sometimes I start with a technical challenge I want to give myself, sometimes I start with a mood that I’m feeling, but the paintings that get me most excited, and I think the ones that other people respond to the best, are the ones that include both.

Misty: Itchy brain is so REAL! Like a break can be really good and relaxing but then all of a sudden I feel like “There’s something I’m supposed to be doing!” And that something is art.

What is a book on creativity that you come back to again and again? Why?

So this is going to be something I’m very unhelpful about, because I don’t think I’ve ever read a book specifically on this topic. Generally my non-fiction reading tends towards history or science because I want to learn about a thing. The closest I can come to books about creativity specifically are either straight up art history, for example Mad Enchantment by Ross King is a biography of Claude Monet that I quite enjoyed, or The Politics of Design by Ruben Pater, which is about exactly what it sounds like and I highly recommend everyone read. 

Misty: I read The Politics of Design on your recommendation and it’s a fascinating read. It really explores the cultural differences we have imbedded in our design aesthetics. I talk about it in my 2022 Art Practice Reading List post.

How did we meet?

At DragonCon, via mutual friends, specifically Emily/Seelix who is the reason I’ve met a LOT of people.

Misty: Emily is a serious connector of people. I’ve also met so many folks through them.

Your work is incredibly moody and evocative. I love your focus on architecture. What draws you to that? You and I have talked a couple of times about gathering inspiration and you have endless reference photos of your neighborhood. Talk about why these things speak to you.

Oh gosh that sure is a question. 

There’s a few background influences that I think are very obvious as soon as you know about them. First, my dad is an architect and random detours to go look at buildings he thought were cool was a feature of my childhood. At least once I complained that I didn’t want to go “wandering aimlessly looking at dead people’s houses” and never heard the end of it until I was an adult. More fool me, as I now do the same thing. Sometimes I’ll be out and about and a certain angle of a certain view will just click in my head as being a composition, or rather a configuration of shapes that pleases me.

Second, I imprinted on the Impressionists, specifically Monet, at a very young child (5 maybe?) and as is famously known Monet was ALL ABOUT lighting. It’s similar to the above where sometimes the light will hit just so, and I’ll be struck by it, how these particular conditions suddenly make a building I’ve walked past 1000 times look new and interesting and special.

Third, I’ve always lived in cities, in areas with decaying industry, places where everything isn’t new and shiny. It’s my environment and I’m interested in it, I think there is beauty in the imperfections and the history. Also, since it’s MY environment it makes my landscapes more personal to me than they would be otherwise, because we are all shaped by where we live. I also take a lot of photos when I travel, because I never stop being interested in and wanting to document the world around me, but most of the time when I’m painting a place that I only visited it’s just not the same. Visually interesting, good for building and refining my technical skills, but they don’t have a piece of my soul. 

Misty: I’ve loved your work for a while now and knowing this about your process puts so much context behind it. I have one of your works in my dining room and my family loves it.

How can people find you?

I’m @mocknot on Instagram (and most other socials, but instagram is the only one I use much).

Celia, thank you for sharing your creative stories with us! I had so much fun reading your answers to my questions. And I know my readers will enjoy it too. Celia messaged me just as I was putting her artwork in this post and said “fun fact: all of these paintings except for the one that’s just a wall with windows are different views from my house.” That is amazing! (These photos belong to Celia. She graciously let me use them in this interview.)

What about you? Are you formulating your answers to these questions? I’d love to know your answers! If you want to know more about this series read the post What about these Interviews? Catch up with me on socials, email me, or go oldschool and leave a comment on this post to be immortalized for all of time.

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