Introducing Bob Armstrong

The artist, Bob Armstrong

AG - I've noticed that the native environment of an artist often leaves the strongest visual imprint. Where did you grow up and how do you see this primary environment affecting your work?

BA - I grew up in San Francisco, and that has deeply affected my perceptions of the world. SF is at once the most European and most Asian of all the cities in the US, and that influence is present in my artwork. I value the history and practice of art in both Europe and the US, but I also am drawn to Asian art, particularly Japanese art, with its subtlety and quiet beauty. I used to visit the Brundage Asian Art collection at the old deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. That collection now provides the basis of the current collection at the much newer Asian Art Museum. Having friends and going to school with people of Asian ancestry has also clearly influenced my sensibility and therefore my artwork.

AG - How did you first come to doing art? Was it ever a hobby or part-time passion before you went full-time?

BA - I was initially interested in doing political cartooning at the end of my stay in college, which was an outgrowth of my interest in American history and politics. When I graduated from Cal, I started to take cartooning classes, and realized that I would have to become a much better draftsman. This led me to take classes in figure drawing, and then in watercolor painting, which got me hooked on fine art.

Carved Yellow Quince, mixed media, 12"x24"

AG - What other jobs have you done? 

BA - I have been a retail clerk, a college enrollment clerk, a handyman, a house painter, a bartender, a waiter, a truck driver, a delivery manager, and an elementary school art coordinator.

Waterfall (for Hawaii)
acrylic on canvas, 18"x12"

AG - When did you commit to doing art full-time?

BA - When I first joined the Artists Guild, I wanted to do art full time. My first year was a slow year in terms of sales, but the years thereafter were much better, and allowed me to continue doing art professionally.

AG - Many people have described the move to being a full-time artist as a "leap of faith". How did this transition affect you?

BA - I have a restless mind, and enjoy doing new styles of work and learning constantly about painting. I have tried to the best of my ability to be experimental and creative while acknowledging the demands of selling artwork in a public venue.  Making the transition to being a full time artist meant that my life was more cleanly aligned with my interior and exterior goals, and that I did not have to split my focus in the way that I had to do formerly.

Vertical Quince
acrylic on canvas, 20"x16"

AG - Did your family support you in your artistic passion? How has the support, or lack thereof, affected your artistic direction?

BA - My family has always supported me in my drive to be an artist. My parents, both of whom are now deceased, supported me in my goal to do art, and used to bring me tea and cookies at Guild art shows. My wife continues to support me to this day, both emotionally and economically, in my art pursuits. I would not have been able to be an artist without their support. This has allowed me to go my own direction with my work, and to remain creatively freer.

AG - Describe a day in the life. What studio hours do you keep and how do you balance other demands in your life?

BA - I work part time as the art coordinator at a public elementary school in the Mission district of San Francisco. My job there is to bring art into the lives of the school children as deeply and in as varied a manner as I can. I teach the parents there how to teach art in their child's classroom, and administer the dance, music and movement teachers. I also schedule assemblies and field trips to museums and cultural institutions, as well as report to the parents about my activities. This job takes from 3 to 4 hours per day. When I finish there, I come home and paint for 3 hours or so. Then, I drive my daughter to various sports activities, and help her in the evening with whatever homework she has. I answer emails and do my art business in the evening, while trying to find time for my lovely wife.

AG - Art making is intrinsically a domain of much uncertainty. Artists tend to be adventurous people. Have you taken big risks in other areas of your life? Tell me a wild story about yourself!

BA - I lived for two years in West Berlin, before the Wall came down, when it was an island in the midst of East Germany. While in Berlin, I audited classes at the Hochschule der Kunst, the Art University there. I took classes in portraiture and figure drawing and painting, but not in art theory, as my German language skills were so poor. I bartended part time there at the Olympic Stadium, working at a British junior ranks military pub. After work, I would sometimes visit the Egyptian Museum on my way home, which at that time had free admission. I would park my bicycle and stop in to view the bust of Nefertiti, which was foremost among the many treasures that were on view there.

Carved Green Birch, mixed media, 10"x22"

Introducing Carole Moore

Carole in her studio at Hunter's Point

AG - I've noticed that the native environment of an artist often leaves the strongest visual imprint. Where did you grow up and how do you see this primary environment affecting your work?

CM - Ah, that's always a tricky question to answer. I grew up an Air Force brat, but spent the longest part of my childhood in coastal New Hampshire. The beauty of the coastline and the constant access to water have inspired the ongoing water themes in my work. More than where I grew up, I've been influenced by places I've traveled. I was a high school exchange student in Japan and also in Mexico.

AG - How did you first come to doing art? Was it ever a hobby or part-time passion before you went full-time?

In Hot Pursuit, Acrylic on canvas

CM - I've been making art ever since I can remember. I've had a passion for all of the arts all of my life; I play guitar, love to dance, have made ceramics, sculpture, and of course painting. One of my first clay experiences came from a home construction site at the age of eight. The earth that they'd dug up was very clay-rich, and I made sculptures and "dishware" for my friends to "eat" from!

AG - What other jobs have you done? 

CM - I had my first job at eight, a paper route. I started working again at thirteen busing tables. Since then I've organized nonprofits and telephone fundraising campaigns for SaneFreeze, managed political offices in Western Massachusetts, led huge peace walks, waited tables, and for the past 17 years I've been a massage therapist in private practice as well as having taught massage at the National Holistic Institute. I'm currently the president of the Artists Guild of San Francisco.

AG - When did you commit to doing art full-time?

CM - After my son turned three, about five years ago, I joined the Artists Guild to become a full-time painter. Since I already had a full-time massage practice, I've actually got two full-time jobs. Life is full!

AG - Many people have described the move to being a full-time artist as a "leap of faith". How did this transition affect you?

Refuge, Acrylic on canvas

CM - For me, it was more about embracing the possibility of becoming a professional artist. I began treating my work as a viable career. Artists these days have to know how to run all aspects of a career (marketing, promotion, website design) and at the same time develop a daily studio practice. It was very exciting to finally do this. It had been a lifelong dream that I hadn't believed could be an option for me.

AG - Did your family support you in your artistic passion? How has the support, or lack thereof, affected your artistic direction?

CM - My family has always loved my artistic leanings, but were very clear that "artists don't make a living." They did support my talent by sending me to art classes when I was young. My great-grandmother was a painter and the family has always been very proud of her. I received her easel and supplies when she died. I use it to this day.

AG - Describe a day in the life. What studio hours do you keep and how do you balance other demands in your life?

After All These Years
the Sound of Your Voice Still Thrills Me
 Acrylic on canvas

CM - My life is incredibly full and varied, but every day includes some amount of painting. Other art-related work, such as helping run the Guild operations, contacting collectors and potential galleries, hanging shows, having works shipped to buyers, following up with networking, etc. It's very busy. When I am preparing for a new show I'm often in my studio painting for up to ten hours a day, for weeks on end. I often forget to eat when I'm in production mode!

AG - Art making is intrinsically a domain of much uncertainty. Artists tend to be adventurous people. Have you taken big risks in other areas of your life? Tell me a wild story about yourself!

CM - Well,  I took off to Japan and Mexico on my own in high school. New Hampshire, at the time, was a bit of a one-note place, culturally. These trips influenced my artistic aesthetic (especially Japan) to this day. I also love to go rock climbing, water skiing, and snow skiing. I like to go fast! Adrenaline is fun for me. I'm looking forward to doing all of these things more with my son as he gets bigger.

Introducing Lynne Sonenberg

Lynne Sonenberg with her work

AG - I've noticed that the native environment of an artist often leaves the strongest visual imprint. Where did you grow up and how do you see this primary environment affecting your work?

LS - Southern California:  Light and color and play and joy.  Being a teenager in the 50’s, I was exposed to great album and movie titles which were a big influence on my art.

AG - How did you first come to doing art? 

Loosening up in the studio

LS - My mom had wanted to be an artist herself and encouraged my early interest in drawing.  First drawing memory was mom teaching me how to draw a face by first drawing an egg and then proportionately intersect lines to indicate the eyes, nose and mouth. I drew “girls” from early on.  Probably inspired by “Draw Me” contests in magazines.  I secretly thought I could win.  I loved my mother’s ladies’ magazines’ illustrators (a favorite was Jon Whitcomb) who painted a little window of light on the luscious lower lip of a young woman featured in the story he illustrated.  I also adored “Pinky” and “Blue Boy” – my favorite trading cards and probably the first representations of “great art” I’d ever seen.

A horizon painting

AG - Was it ever a hobby or part-time passion before you went full-time?

LS - Of course!   I was singled out early in school as having artistic talent, probably because I was able to represent something fairly accurately (oh, and I have moved away from representational art!). In the art club, on decorating committees for this or that school event, my first serious gig was cartooning for the high school annual.  I was encouraged to apply to Art Center in LA which had a hot reputation for commercial art, the direction I thought matched my talent and from which I imagined money came from.  I was scared of what I saw there:  very finished renderings of food mixers and automobiles.  Scurried to UC Santa Barbara instead and settled for minoring in Art.

AG - What other jobs have you done?

A tree painting

LS - With my degree in Sociology and Art minor, that set me on a path to be the one and only Secretary in the Department of Sociology at Stanford.  Fell in love with one of my bosses (a no-no) and quit that job to go to Academy of Art in San Francisco and become an artist of some sort.  Returned to being a secretary with Scientific American.  Met my former husband doing improvisational theater in Palo Alto.  Did a long stint at being wife and mother and took art classes on the side.  Created a little graphics business out of our home where I designed stationery, logos, flyers, wrapping paper, note cards, and illustrated and designed newsletters for several non-profits.  Also involved with running lots of heart-filled, community special events.  In my mid-40’s is when friend, painter and teacher, Barbara Clark, got me started painting on a weekly basis.  The was around the same time I had my most fulfilling professional job, working in the Community Affairs Department at Levi Strauss & CO., coordinating the employee giving programs (volunteering and fundraising for non-profits and charities of interest to the employees) in the home office in San Francisco.

A gorgeous abstract

AG - When did you commit to doing art full-time?

LS - 1996, a couple years after I joined the Guild and found out I could earn enough from sales of my art without doing another job.  But, frankly, I’ve never thought of myself doing any one thing full time, for money or otherwise.  I have always had and will ever have other interests than “doing art.”  What’s driven me are a need to love what I do with my day, and to find a way to be of benefit with my particular qualities and talents.

AG - Many people have described the move to being a full-time artist as a "leap of faith". How did this transition affect you?

LS - I didn’t make it a big, big, big deal.  I thought:  if this doesn’t work, I’ll try something else.  So far, good enough.

AG - Did your family support you in your artistic passion? How has the support, or lack thereof, affected your artistic direction?

LS - I always got strokes for making art, but, there were always the concerns of my folks and myself that I not rely on art for all my income.

AG - How do you actually go about making art in your studio?

Another gorgeous abstract

LS - First:  I show up.  I immediately wonder why it took me so many diversions and distractions to get there.  The colors, the smells, a place to make a glorious mess:  all so inviting.  I usually unscrew most of the 30+ jars of acrylic paint so that I can see them, whether I use a fraction of them or not.  I usually have at least one painting I’ve already started to greet me. However, I like to start pushing paint around on a fresh canvas to loosen up. I move back and forth between the two (or more) paintings during the day.  Most of the time I have music playing.  Some of my faves are the Ella & Louis album and Miles Davis’ “Kinda Blue.”  I paint standing up – I need the ability to move my whole body as I apply paint.  I usually go for two to four hours at a stretch.  Five is good, because that last hour of being happily tired is when I can really let go and surprise myself.

Celebrating her birthday

AG - Art making is intrinsically a domain of much uncertainty. Therefore, artists tend to be adventurous people. Have you taken big risks in other areas of your life? Tell me a wild story about yourself!

LS - Traveling in Asia for four months as a middle-aged woman, solo (but supported by the kindness of others at most every turn), appeared to be pretty wild to family and some friends.  It helped me make the jump to doing art full-on.  Kinda along the “nothing ventured, nothing gained” line of thinking.

For more information on Lynne and to see more paintings, please visit her web site.

Introducing Richard Bolingbroke

Richard in his studio, 2003 (photo Greg Day)

AG - I've noticed that the native environment of an artist often leaves the strongest visual imprint. Where did you grow up and how do you see this primary environment affecting your work?


RB - I grew up in southern England. I don’t think this environment had any noticeable impact on my work except that my initial sources of inspiration were English. I clearly remember seeing Blake and Turner watercolors at the Tate gallery, however as soon as I was living in London, I left behind my rustic country roots.

AG - How did you first come to doing art? Was it ever a hobby or part-time passion before you went full-time?

Richard in the woods in Tennessee (photo Jok Church)

RB - Art initially was an escape for me from the frustrations of school.  My early work was sculpture, often wall reliefs made from plaster casts of clay moulds that I had beaten and carved with large pieces of wood! The art teacher recognized my talent and encouraged me to draw and paint. I got a place at Winchester School of Art, and attended for a pre-diploma year in 1969, and then went on to do a degree in Geography. I painted constantly, and taught myself to draw. I learned watercolor while travelling to India and around Europe. It wasn’t until I arrived in San Francisco in 1986 that I focused on my art full-time.

Parrot Tulip Abstraction, 1993, watercolor 41x29

AG - What other jobs have you done? 


RB - I was a professional chef for 10 years and co-wrote a cook book. I started my own handman business called The House Doctor here in San Francisco which supported me as I began my art career.

AG - When did you commit to doing art full-time?


RB - When I moved to San Francisco in 1986 I discovered I was HIV+ and at that point I decided that I had no time to lose. It took me a couple of years to put together a body of work and by 1989 I was showing with the Artists Guild. I figured I might have 10 years ahead of me. In 2000 when it was clear I was going to live, I refocused my career to be even more creative. I started to take courses in Monotype and Intaglio at City College as an alternative to my main medium of watercolor, and I started to paint more challenging work such as the work from the series Rituals and Meditations.

AG - Many people have described the move to being a full-time artist as a "leap of faith". How did this transition affect you?


RB - I made the transistion slowly, supporting myself with my other business. However I was clear from the time I made the decision to be supported by my art that it was what I wanted. It was never really a “choice” but a necessity to “do it”. For a while I was working two jobs, my art in the evening and on weekends, and my other job in the day. This was really intense, and took a lot of commitment.

Gesture and Feeling #11, 2005,
watercolor on paper 29.5x29.5

AG - Did your family support you in your artistic passion? How has the support, or lack thereof, affected your artistic direction?


RB - I have never received any support from my family. In fact they were shocked that I had obtained a place at an art school, and this probably affected my decision to pursue a Geography degree instead of an MFA. My mother came round to letting me do it as it became clear that I was never going to have that “safe” job.

AG - Describe a day in the life. What studio hours do you keep and how do you balance other demands in your life?

Love and Death, 2007,
watercolor on paper 40x40

RB - Being an artist for me is about totally giving in to the daily needs of my art. I try and maintain a regular studio practice, usually working at home on business, website and promotional ideas in the morning. I try and head to the studio around 11 or noon and working til 6 or 7pm. Some days involve very creative work, painting or printing, others are more about photographing my work, maintaining my studio, and other things that having a studio involves. Probably of an  average 8 hour day only half is actually working on art. I balance it with the other demands of my life by adjusting my schedule around them.

AG - Art making is intrinsically a domain of much uncertainty. Therefore, artists tend to be adventurous people. Have you taken big risks in other areas of your life? Tell me a wild story about yourself!


RB - When I was 24 I went to India to study meditation with my teacher on a one-way ticket and stayed there nearly 5 years. It was the best decision I ever made.


For more information about Richard, please visit his website.

Introducing Marilyn Kuksht

The artist Marilyn Kuksht, in studio garb

AG - I've noticed that the native environment of an artist often leaves the strongest visual imprint. Where did you grow up and how do you see this primary environment affecting your work?

MK - I grew up in Spokane, Washington. I honestly don't see growing up here as any direct influence on my art. I tried more to escape than incorporate the basic middle class morays and lack of depth I felt in Spokane. But I must say, it seems to be growing up a little. You can actually find a bit of good food and art there now. Who'd have guessed?

AG - How did you first come to doing art? Was it ever a hobby or part-time passion before you went full-time?

MK - When I left the corporate world I needed something more tactile and direct in my life. I knew that money was really just a bunch of electronic data points put in this or that account somewhere, making one person rich and another person poor.  The intangibility of what we call money,  started to freak me out. So I took a complete leap of faith to make something beautiful for corporate environments and hoped I could sell it. I didn't think what I was doing was art. I started out to make moss gardens for corporate lobbies until I learned that moss just isn't an indoor sport. So moss gardens evolved into floral and plant displays, which evolved to encorporate glass and metal and all manner of strange stuff. That got bigger and bigger and required structural armatures which led me to welding, which led me to metal sculpture. I love it and I'm here to stay. Art was never a hobby. My upbringing was so far removed from the art world it's laughable.

One of Marilyn's sculptures in situ

AG - What other jobs have you done? 

MK - Well, I worked for Lockheed Missles and Space as a project specialist helping to build submarines. I was a technical writer,  a methods and procedures specialist, a project management consultant, and for an impressive title, I was a Senior Vice President at Bank of America managing a department of over 800 people. 

AG - When did you commit to doing art full-time?

MK - Oh gosh. Athough I didn't consider myself an "artist", I think I really committed to "creativity" about a year after I left my corporate livelihood. That's nearly 25 years ago. It was leap of faith to leave a steady paycheck, but I'll live longer and be happier because of it.

AG - Many people have described the move to being a full-time artist as a "leap of faith". How did this transition affect you?

MK - Interesting. I just used that phrase in answering an earlier question. Well, my mother said at the time, "Marilyn, you've always said you weren't materialistic. Now's going to be your chance to prove it." She was right. You have to be willing to take what comes and give up a lot of luxuries. The way I look at it is that I traded a six figure salary for a heart and soul. It was a good trade.

AG - Did your family support you in your artistic passion? How has the support, or lack thereof, affected your artistic direction?

MK - My family is small and sweet and simply doesn't really understand what I'm doing. I don't think they really comprehend how I've been able to make a living all these years doing "art". 'Matter of fact, I'm not sure I understand that myself!  

Marilyn on the job

AG - Describe a day in the life. What studio hours do you keep and how do you balance other demands in your life?

MK - I used to have typical days. I would go to the studio and make art. Now I start out by sitting at the computer and doing business, and then hopefully make it to the studio. I'm struggling with this. I think managing the business and promotion side of being a full time artist is taking almost 75% of my time and I get to actually "create" about 25% of my time. From talking to many other artists, I think this might be pretty typical.

AG - Art making is intrinsically a domain of much uncertainty. Therefore, artists tend to be adventurous people. Have you taken big risks in other areas of your life? Tell me a wild story about yourself!

MK - I confronted the head of Bank of America (ex-head ofthe World Bank) and refused to comply with what I considered an unethical request. I refused to let employee's email be searched without notifying them. That might not seem like much, but I thwarted one of the most powerful people in the world and I'm proud I stood up. Beyond that...well, I scuba dive and ride motorcycles for more physical challenges, but that's not so special any more.

Thinking back, when I was in third grade we were supposed to draw a picture of a turkey at Thanksgiving. My drawing of a turkey had been laughed at and I was so embarrassed that I went home and made a huge turkey out of crepe paper stuffed with newspaper, a paper towel tube for a neck and so forth. I put it my red wagon and took it to school. That was a big risk for a little kid, and maybe that's the real start of my being a sculptuor!

For more information about Marilyn, please visit her web site.

Introducing the Artist Hines

The Artist Hines

AG: I've noticed that the native environment of an artist often leaves the strongest visual imprint. Where did you grow up and how do you see this primary environment affecting your work?

Hines: I grew up in Queens, New York. Of course you know New York is a mecca for art and culture. Having access to places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum, Guggenheim and N.Y Moma was invaluable to my education in art. Lets not forget all the galleries uptown, in the village and Soho. I am a self taught artist but growing up in New York I was never for lack of inspiration, influence or education.

AG: How did you first come to doing art? Was it ever a hobby or part-time passion before you went full-time?

Some of his older work

Hines:  I have done art for as long as I can remember. I remember drawing in kindergarten. I remember teachers trying to force me to use crayons which even as a child I thought was messy. I was always drawing, first figures, nudes and eventually surrealism. Though I was obsessed with drawing I definitely thought of it, not so much as a hobby, but as something very personal. For me it would be a slow progression from art being private, to showing publicly and eventually becoming a full time artist.

AG: What other jobs have you done? 

Hines: My father was not too keen on my going to an art high school despite the fact that I was always drawing and showed a lot of talent. So I basically followed a more academic route. I had many jobs...selling hamburgers, photocopier supplies, I even had jobs doing what was then called phototypsetting and paste-up mechanicals. That was in the days before personal computers. Eventually I got a degree in computer programming and worked for many years as a computer operator.

AG: When did you commit to doing art full-time?

One of Hines' ethereal abstracts

Hines:  I was living in Atlanta Georgia and had artist friends who were full-time artists who continually urged me to quit my day job. I was very intimidated to make the leap but they were very persuasive. In 2001 just before 911, I was told I was being laid off at the end of the month. I was really tired of working for someone else so I took it as a sign and never looked for a new job. Instead I simply focused on trying to make a living from my artwork. 

AG: Many people have described the move to being a full-time artist as a "leap of faith". How did this transition affect you?

Another painting by Hines

Hines:  For me I think it was more of a leap of passion fueled by the support of my artist friends. It was not easy in the beginning. I suddenly had time to focus on my artwork but I soon realized that I knew nothing about the business and marketing of being a full time artist. I wasn't starving but there were times I survived with the help of some financial assistance from my family. I got part-time jobs at art stores until eventually I was able to support myself solely from my art income.

AG:  Did your family support you in your artistic passion? How has the support, or lack thereof, affected your artistic direction?

Hines:  I was the first artist in my family and looking back, my mother and father were not overwhelmingly supportive of me choosing art as a profession. I was crushed when my father refused to let me attend Art & Design High School in Manhattan. I think for them art was more of a hobby than an occupation. My older brother, on the other hand, was the first one to push me to exhibit my work and join a local art group. This eventually lead to my first art show, an outdoor group exhibition with The Flushing Art League. The rest is as they say, history.

AG: Describe a day in the life of the Artist Hines. What studio hours do you keep and how do you balance other demands in your life?

Hines in the studio

Hines:  Being a full time artist is really great. It is a lot of work but I love my job. I get up every morning, spend time with my wife and son, take care of art business on the computer and make whatever phone calls are necessary before heading off to the studio. I usually get to the studio around noon and paint till around five or six before cleaning my brushes and heading back home. Of course my day could also entail buying supplies, visiting museums, galleries and other artists, doing art exhibits, teaching, presenting demonstrations, delivering or shipping art to clients.or galleries. Like I said it is a lot of work.

AG: Art making is intrinsically a domain of much uncertainty. Artists tend to be adventurous people. Have you taken big risks in other areas of your life? Tell me a wild story about yourself!

Hines with his students after a recent workshop

Hines:  Artists are adventurous only in the sense of creativity. This notion of uncertainty I think is part of the myth and misconception of what it is to be a contemporary artist. Like every other profession, artists work hard studying, practicing and honing their skills. Being a full time artist is actually not as risky as many people think. It is simply a business like any other business. The better your business skills the better you will fare as a full time artist. You have to learn the business of being an artist. Nowadays it is probably far riskier to get a corporate job where in most circumstances there is little allegiance to workers and little of any job security. As a full time artist I am my own boss and I have no intention of retiring or firing myself. Remember, Picasso is said to have painted right up till the time of his death at age 91.

For more information about the Artist Hines, please visit his web site