Interview by Jimon

1-Where do you currently reside and work?  Edmonton, Canada.

2-How would you describe Alayne Spafford?  That’s a question I hoped I’d never be asked in an interview because its not something I can easily define. I guess if I had to I’d describe myself as contradictory. I think my artistic nature prevails over all the other facets of my personality in some way though. I’m an artist but I love sports; road riding, mountain biking, running or rowing. My favorite music is Country/Americana but I love my Gucci shoes and Balenciaga handbags. I can be irreverent, outspoken, and swear too much but I spend an inordinate amount of time knitting and crocheting, collecting rocks, and baking cakes. So, contradictory I guess.

3-Did you attend an art school or is it inherent?   I did attend art school. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking and drawing. Funny enough I never once picked up a paintbrush during my degree. After I graduated I studied textiles at Concordia University in Montreal which led me to a job with the Cirque du Soleil costume department. I worked with dying and printing as well as hand painting costumes. It was the experience I had painting those costumes that led me to painting on canvas. Once I started I continued on with that career path.

4-How long have you been making art and what lead you to start?  I guess I cover some of that in the previous question, but beyond that, I have always been making art for as long as I can remember. Making things is what drives me and I can’t explain it any better than that. I’m not sure there was one specific thing that led me to art making, I honestly feel like it was just my path and it was always my only choice.

5-How did you acquire your style?  Another difficult question in that I know my style has a tendency to vary too much for my liking sometimes. I feel like I’ve come to a place in my career where I feel comfortable with my style, but it took a long time. I think about it a lot actually and it takes effort for me to remain true to a style because I love to experiment. Like a lot of abstract artists, I really need to consciously step back and not overwork things, try to leave some mess. I’m a very left-brained artist and if I’m not careful when I paint things will end up neatly aligned and tidy. That said, I feel like I’ve found a happy balance of loose and controlled. I’ve always had a natural inclination for balancing shapes and colors so the style that has evolved feels very much like me. I try to strip down my shapes to be completely un-representational, I want people to feel the color and the shapes and not to make it into something that it isn’t.

6-Have you ever come across a piece of art that you could not or did not want to stop looking at?  Yes, many many times. I can’t pinpoint just one specific one though.

7-Tell us something about the art world that you want to see changed?  I’m not sure how to answer that question exactly. I think there is a dichotomy between the gallery world and the social media art world at present when it comes to promotion, opportunity and sales. There is good and bad on both sides and I think there is a need to merge the two a bit more though I’m not sure how that would look.

8-Why make art?  I make art because it is my passion. It is my most natural language.

9-The future is ____? Unknown

10-What’s a day typically look like for you, from start to finish?  A typical painting work day starts with dropping the kids off at school then some sort of exercise, usually weights, running or riding. Afterwards I make coffee and catch up on email and messages, then head straight to my studio for the day. I’m pretty diligent because I work at home and it’s easy to be distracted if I let myself. I generally wrap things up around 4 or 5 then have dinner with my family and maybe take the dog for a walk or practice guitar.

11-What is the origin of your paintings?  My paintings begin with a spontaneous and unstructured first layer of collage, drips, scribbles and spray paint. The next layer I add more depth and mark-making, I then try to find the shapes within that. It all builds from that point and is almost never pre planned but all happens in the process.

12-What advice would you give putative collectors?   You hear it all the time, but buy what you love. I’ve bought art from high end galleries which is great, but more often than not I’ve found gems at graduate shows, through Instagram, or from beginning artists.  I’m always on the lookout for interesting work in unexpected places.

13-What’s the best advice you’ve ever received in regards to your art?  It wasn’t in regards to my art per se and it’s not especially deep, but it came from a celebrity interview I once read. An actress was asked how she felt about being overshadowed by her co-star’s much greater fame and she just simply said “Everyone has their own path”.  I’ve thought about that a lot over the course of my art career and it always makes the bumpiest of roads feel straight again.

14-How do you define success?  For me success is about being true to myself and being confident in that.

15-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  I find inspiration everywhere. Literally everywhere. From nature, other artists, books and magazines, travel, Instagram, fashion, music…….. It can be overwhelming sometimes.

16-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  I’m going to make it six……

Squeak Carnwath

Robert Rauschenberg

Joan Snyder

Wanda Koop

Rex Ray

Cy Twombly

17-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio?  Music, coffee, good light.

18-How would someone find you on Social Media?  Instagram : alayne_spafford