Exposure…
It’s something that business people and artists are supposed to want. People do all sorts of questionable things to get it. Some say that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
It could be possible…
I interview people off and on and I really enjoy thinking up questions that might help us all get passed the pre-written, PR type answers that people give when they talk about their businesses, their work and themselves. In fact another series of artist interviews are starting this week with a special eye on Etsy artists.
In a slight turn on how things usually are, I was asked for an interview.
Exposure!
Naturally, I wrote back an enthusiastic “Yes, please!” So a short time later I found myself watching the little black cursor blink back at me from the white of my computer screen, just behind the words “Tell us something about Laura…”
Big, broad spectrum question…
In the course of filling everything out I felt different things – excitement (someone is interested in me!), trepidation (how much is too much?) and I wondered where the line is between fascinating interview and not enough or too much info…
Overthinking, may be one of my fatal flaws.
Anyways, here’s a sample of the interview – my prelude to public nakedness. I thought you guys should get a sneek peek before everyone else.
Tell us a bit about Laura (background, education, current life, etc.)
Hmm… I would say that I am in love with the stories that images tell. I grew up divided between words and pictures and it is hard to say what came first, and which I love more. In first grade I was convinced I was going to be a fashion designer and drew little outfits for all my friends while watching the half hour segments of Fashion Television. My first story (written for a grade school assignment) must have had at least 10 drafts. The instructions said to write a rough draft and then copy it neatly onto good paper. The problem was that every time I was copying the story onto good paper I changed something. The character’s name, a plot element… there was always a better word. My teacher was a stickler for detail, and I had the attention span of a fruit fly.
I still hadn’t resolved the artist/writer conflict by the time I went to university, so I completed a double major in English and Visual Art at Windsor University. By the time I graduated, I was in love with the motion and colour of painting, and although art is dominant I wouldn’t say that it has gained a complete victory over words. I write regularly for my blog (you lovely people) and occasionally for the CKDP (Chatham Kent Daily Post).
I’ve been a bit of a nomad, first with my parents (my Dad’s job involved a lot of moving) and now with my husband (before returning to London, we spent two years in Seattle, WA.) but I think that my travels inform my story-telling, both verbally and otherwise. Right now, I live in London with my husband Steve and two year old daughter Chloe. When I am not reminding Chloe that the kitty doesn’t like to have his tail pulled, I am planning, painting and completing commissions – especially wedding art commissions….
To Be Continued…
I’ll post a link to the full interview as soon as it goes live.
What do you think? What makes a good interview? Where is the line between a “great interview” and a “not-great interview”?
Dec 17th – the Interview is live now and you can read about it in the arts and culture section of the CKDP