Featured Artist: Nadine Takvorian

My Background: I was one of those little kids thoroughly enthralled with Richard Scarry books. (I found Lowly Worm to be rather fascinating. How did he get his clothes, hat, and one shoe on without any hands?) When my grandfather did some doodles in the books themselves and faithfully recreated Huckle Cat, it was pure magic to me. And I wanted to be able to make that kind of magic with a pen, or pencil, or crayon, or anything else I could get my hands on. Once in high school, I took what boils down to sorry excuses for art classes. My first real experience was when I took a free summer session of life drawing classes at the Academy of Art for high school seniors, drawing (GASP) naked people. Coming out of high school I thought I’d get into graphic design, but discovered a couple years later that what I really wanted to do was create pictures. I received my BFA from CCAC in 1999, and have been slowly building my freelancing career since. At this time, I’m also an art director, which has provided me with a wealth of experience and growth, both in working and collaborating with other artists, and handling multiple projects with very tight deadlines.

I’m working on a children’s book now, a story told completely in Haiku. Beautiful poetry that lends itself particularly well to letting your mind run loose with crazy ideas. My first children’s book, “The Flight of the Sunflower” will be released in October of 2002.

My Technique: I really enjoy getting dirty and doing most everything by hand. Most of my pieces end up being mixed media – acrylics, pastels, watercolor, pen and ink, etc. I really believe that you can’t hold your work to be too sacred. Elements of chance and destruction/re-creation can lead to something you perhaps never thought of, and can ultimately be quite beautiful. That being said, sketching is an incredibly important part of the process. I don’t like to get too tight with final sketches though, because it has a tendency to take the freshness away from the final piece.

My involvement with the Guild: I helped in mailing invites for the Peep Show and try to attend luncheons when I can. Stepping up my involvement is something I look forward to.

Favorite client story: I don’t have any particularly stand-out stories. But I would like to say that working with the art directors of Utne Reader was a good experience. They were open to different approaches and concepts, and were not interested in dictating how you should go about your process. Although the particular article I worked on ended up not running, the staff was cordial and attentive.

Anything else? I’m learning how to salsa!

All artwork © 2002 Nadine Takvorian. Not to be used without permission.