Thursday, June 11, 2015

erin alice gray :: about the artist


New Urban Sassafras Artist Erin Alice Gray creates colorful mixed media paintings, encasings and collage pieces which are a blend of paint and added objects, giving each one its own personality.

Erin says she has been an artist as long as she can remember, and credits her family for allowing her creativity to flourish. “As a kid my parents greatly encouraged all art forms. My dad even had an idea for making paperweights with a process he was experimenting with at the time using clay and polymer molds. He encouraged me to use his ideas and I started making paperweights and jewelry from found objects.”

A graduate of SIU in Carbondale with an Associate Degree in Commercial Graphic Design, she says graphic design was her calling for 15 years when her desire to turn off the computer and make something tactile with her own two hands (that did not include pixels) led her back to her traditional roots in mixed media.

Erin, who now lives in Marion with her husband and two children, also works as an event planner for SIU. “Alice Art is my creative outlet. My mixed media paintings flaunt a feeling of joy, peace and a smidge of whimsy,” she says. When she’s not working or painting, she enjoys reading, gardening, decorating, cooking for friends and spending time with family.






Describe your work: My paintings are acrylic on canvas and usually feature buttons and other items such as lace, paper, fabric or even metal objects sewn onto the canvas. I also create encasings and desk bling - 3D collage pieces that include found objects, vintage ephemera and costume jewelry. These one of a kind items undergo quite a journey to finished piece. The vintage items are assembled along with some found objects and other goodies and encased in resin, giving them a shiny, glossy finish.

At what age did you realize you liked to create? I don't even know - I just always was an artist. As long as I can remember, that is just who I was.

What inspired the name of your business, Alice Art? My middle name is Alice and my sweet husband always called me Alice when I pulled out my paints, so I thought it was appropriate to name my business Alice Art.

What is your favorite medium? My favorite medium for expressing what is in my head is painting. My favorite medium that always surprises me is collage work. I just never know what will end up coming together in my encasings and it is always amazing to sit back and see the final result.

What or who inspires you? Where do you draw inspiration from in everyday life? My husband is my biggest fan and has encouraged me to follow my dreams. Everything inspires me: nature, scripture, museums, song lyrics, my kids.


follow erin on facebook: www.facebook.com/AliceArtMixedMedia
or on etsy: etsy.com/shop/ErinAliceArt

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